Qabd and Bast - Contraction and Expansion

Qabd - Manazil As-Saireen (Dr. Hatem Al-Haj's Translation)

Allah, the Almighty, said:

{Thereafter We grasped it to Us, an easy (or gradual) grasping.} [al-Furqân 25:46] 725

قَالَ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: "ثُمَّ قَبَضْنَاهُ إِلَيْنَا قَبْضًا يَسِيرًا"

Constriction in this chapter refers to the station of the precious ones 726 whom the Real has spared for Himself. 727 They are of three groups:

الْقَبْضُ فِي هَذَا الْبَابِ اسْمٌ يُشَارُ بِهِ إِلَى مَقَامِ الضَّنَائِنِ الَّذِينَ ادَّخَرَهُمُ الْحَقُّ اصْطِنَاعًا لِنَفْسِهِ. وَهُمْ ثَلَاثُ فِرَقٍ:

A group that He protectively constricted towards Himself, sparing them from the eyes of the people. 728

فِرْقَةٌ قَبْضُهُمْ إِلَيْهِ؛ قَبْضُ التَّوَقِّي، فَضَنَّ بِهِمْ عَنْ أَعْيُنِ الْعَالَمِينَ.

A group that He constricted towards Himself by covering them with the garment of disguise729 and draping them with forms,730 so He concealed them from the eyes of the people. 731

وَفِرْقَةٌ قَبَضَهُمْ بِسِتْرِهِمْ فِي لِبَاسِ التَّلْبِيسِ، وَأَسْبَلَ عَلَيْهِمْ أَكِلَّةَ الرُّسُومِ، فَأَخْفَاهُمْ عَنْ عُيُونِ الْعَالَمِ.

A group that He constricted from themselves towards Himself, so He brought them secretly into His intimate company and spared them from their selves. 732

وَفِرْقَةٌ قَبْضُهُمْ مِنْهُمْ إِلَيْهِ، فَصَافَاهُمْ مُصَافَاةَ سِرٍّ، فَضَنَّ بِهِمْ عَلَيْهِمْ.

725 This is Dr. Ghâli’s translation. The verses talk about the shadow and how Allah stretches it and then pulls it back. The word ‘qabḍ’ for contraction/constriction appears in this context.

726 The word ḍanâ’in in Arabic means ‘too precious to be shared.’

727 Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah bestow mercy on him) points out in Madârij that the qabḍ in this chapter is not the qabḍ of the beginnings, where Allah causes people distress (tightness in the chests) when they sin in order to invite them to repentance, or when they get distracted in order to save them from heedlessness. This qabḍ belongs to the section of realities, so it is a much higher station. These are people Allah finds too precious to share with anyone. He constricts their hearts from as-siwâ (other than God) so that they become His alone.

728These are the people who seclude themselves and stay away from people. This would be a favorable station in cases of severe fitnah, as at the end of times. The Prophet ﷺ said:

يُوشِكُ أَنْ يَكُونَ خَيْرَ مَالِ المُسْلِمِ غَنَمٌ يَتْبَعُ بِهَا شَعَفَ الجِبَالِ وَمَوَاقِعَ القَطْرِ، يَفِرُّ بِدِينِهِ مِنَ الفِتَنِ

A time will soon come when the best property of a Muslim will be sheep which he will take on the top of mountains and the places of rainfall (valleys) in order to flee with his religion from afflictions. (Bukhari)

729 People see those awliyâ’ mixing with them like ordinary folks but they are still different, so the people are confounded about them.

730 The mundane forms and phenomena of life most people share, so they go to work, marry, have children, walk through the markets, dress in regular clothes, and so forth.

731 By their ordinariness, not by their seclusion or isolation. The Prophet ﷺ said:

الْمُؤْمِنُ الَّذِي يُخَالِطُ النَّاسَ وَيَصْبِرُ عَلَى أَذَاهُمْ أَعْظَمُ أَجْرًا مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِ الَّذِي لاَ يُخَالِطُ النَّاسَ وَلاَ يَصْبِرُ عَلَى أَذَاهُمْ

“The believer who mixes with people and bears their harm with patience will have a greater reward than the believer who does not mix with people and does not put up with their harm.” (Related by Ibn Mâjah, Aḥmad, and at-Tirmidhi with a sound chain)

732 These seekers are not paying attention only to the people, but their awe of the Lord makes them unaware of themselves, so they do not see their actions as theirs and they do not see their agency in any of the good they do; they see only His.

From Imam Suhaib Webb:

When you feel a constriction in your soul:

One of the righteous said: "There are three reasons for that constriction: a sin you committed, a worldly matter that you lost, or a person who harms you in yourself or your honor. If you have sinned, seek forgiveness. If the worldly matter has left you, return to your Lord. If you have been wronged, be resilent, work for change and, if you are stuck, endure; this is your remedy. 

If Allah does not reveal to you the reason for the constriction, remain calm under the flow of His decree, for it is like a passing cloud."

Bast - Manazil As-Saireen (Dr. Hatem Al-Haj's Translation)

Allah, the Almighty, said:

{…He multiplies you thereby…}733 [ash-Shoorâ 42:11]

قَالَ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: "يَذْرَؤُكُمْ فِيهِ"

Expansion is when [Allah] accords the exterior of the servant with the indications of knowledge and dresses their interior with the garment of devotion. These are the people of disguise.734 They have been expanded in the realm of expansion for one of three purposes; for each purpose a group is dedicated:

الْبَسْطُ: أَنْ يُرْسِلَ شَوَاهِدَ الْعَبْدِ فِي مَدَارِجِ الْعِلْمِ، وَيُسْبِلَ عَلَى بَاطِنِهِ رِدَاءَ الِاخْتِصَاصِ، وَهُمْ أَهْلُ التَّلْبِيسِ،وَإِنَّمَا بُسِطُوا فِي مَيْدَانِ الْبَسْطِ، لِأحَدِ ثَلَاثِ مَعَانٍ، لِكُلِّ مَعْنًى طَائِفَةٌ.

One group has been expanded as a mercy for the creation. They are pleasant towards them735 and mix with them so that they may find illumination in their light, while the realities are collected736 and the inner secrets are protected. 737

فَطَائِفَةٌ بُسِطَتْ رَحْمَةً لِلْخَلْقِ، يُبَاسِطُونَهُمْ وَيُلَابِسُونَهُمْ، فَيَسْتَضِيئُونَ بِنُورِهِمْ، وَالْحَقَائِقُ مَجْمُوعَةٌ، وَالسَّرَائِرُ مَصُونَةٌ.

Another group has been expanded for the strength of their beholding738 and the steadiness of their visions,739 for their insights are not scrambled by indicators740 and the winds of the forms do not attack their procurements,741 so they are expanded in the grip of qabḍ(constriction). 742

وَطَائِفَةٌ بُسِطَتْ لِقُوَّةِ مُعَايَنَتِهِمْ، وَتَصْمِيمِ مَنَاظِرِهِمْ؛ لِأَنَّهُمْ طَائِفَةٌ لَا تُخَالِجُ الشَّوَاهِدُ مَشْهُودَهُمْ، وَلَا تَضْرِبُ رِيَاحُ الرُّسُومِ مَوْجُودَهُمْ، فَهُمْ مَبْسُوطُونَ فِي قَبْضَةِ الْقَبْضِ.

Another group was expanded as flags on the path, imams of guidance, and beacons for the travelers.

وَطَائِفَةٌ بُسِطَتْ أَعْلَامًا عَلَى الطَّرِيقِ، وَأَئِمَّةً لِلْهُدَى، وَمَصَابِيحَ لِلسَّالِكِينَ.

733 The verse is about the expansion of provisions and offspring.

734 They act like ordinary people in their customs and habits, but they are completely unlike them in their inner state, manners, and etiquette.

735The Prophet ﷺ said:

"إنَّ أحبَّكم إليَّ أحسانُكم أخلاقًا المُوطَّؤون أكنافًا الَّذين يألَفون ويُؤلفون وإنَّ أبغضَكم إليَّ المَشَّاؤون بالنَّميمةِ المُفرِّقون بين الأحبَّةِ الملتمِسون للبُرآءِ العنت."

“The most beloved to me of you are the those best in manners, those who are humble and easygoing, those who befriend and are befriended. The most hated to me of you are those who spread tales among people, separate between those who love each other, and seek to cause harm to the innocent.” (aṭ-Ṭabarâni; and it is corroborated by many other similar reports)

736 They are not distracted by mixing with them.

737 They do not uncover their special relationship with Allah, seeking to safeguard it.

738 Their beholding of the realities beyond the images and ultimately their beholding of the Real with the eyes of their hearts.

739 Their visions penetrated all the variables, so they became immune to change.

740 The indicators (signs) have taken them to His door. After they arrive, they do not depend on them anymore. They leave them in the front yard.

741 The exterior forms and transient phenomena do not ruin the purity of their spiritual procurements.

742 None of the virtues of the last station of qabḍ (constriction) is lost by them. They straddle the stations with ease. Allah moves them between them to ensure their ultimate devotion in all conditions. Imam Ibn ‘Aṭâ’ (may Allah bestow mercy on him) says:

بَسَطَكَ كي لا يبقيك مع القبض، وقَبَضَك كي لا يتركك مع البسط، وأخرجك عنهما كي لا تكون لشيء دونه.

“He expanded you so as to not keep you in contraction; He contracted you so as to not keep you in expansion; and He took you out of both so that you do not belong to anything apart from Him.”

From Fethullah Gulen - Emerald Hills of the Heart

Qabd (contraction) and bast (openness), emotions felt by almost everyone during their lives, relate especially to those who live their lives consciously. Literally meaning being caught, being in straits or distressed, and being grasped by the hand, Sufis use qabd to mean that the link between an individual and the source of his or her spiritual gifts and radiance has been severed for a certain period. This causes distress and makes one suffer from a spiritual obstruction and blockage. On the other hand, bast can be described as openness, expansion, development, relief, being freed from spiritual blockage, and developing inwardly or spiritually to the point that the seeker becomes a means of mercy and embraces all things or beings in existence.

Fear and hope or expectation are deliberate attitudes and are a first station for a traveler on the way to God. Contraction and openness are mysterious “bargains” that have been made without the will or intention of the traveler. The first one blocks his or her way; the second one gives him or her wings to fly to the heights. If fear and hope represent anxiety about and the joy of expectations for the future, as well as liked and disliked things, contraction and openness can be regarded as the heart’s contracting with gloom and depression and expanding with joy.

Contraction and openness have the same meaning for travelers on the slopes of knowledge of God as do fear and hope or expectation for the newly initiated. Both are in the hands of God, even if we cannot exclude from them part of one’s free will: God contracts and expands (2:245). As the whole of existence is in His grasp and at His free disposal, it is He who directs and disposes of all things, from the heavens to the human heart. The Prophetic saying: "The heart is between the two ‘Fingers’ of the All-Merciful; He turns it from state to state and gives it whatever form He wills," reminds us of this fact. When God wills, He contracts a heart so tightly that only He can provide what will satisfy it. By contrast, He expands and exhilarates it to such an extent that it needs nothing. Contraction is caused by God’s Majesty; openness is caused by His Grace. While the Grandeur and Magnificence relating to the manifestation by God of His Names on the whole of existence are displayed in the former, Mercy and Condescension are manifested in the latter. In the former, there is the frightening, awesome, and majestic nature of the Power that turns all existence from huge systems into particles, while in the latter there are affectionate breezes for those spirits trembling in awe at this infinitely vast, overwhelming Power, this overpowering Majesty.

Not everyone can feel such manifestations of Majesty and Grace at the same level, for the extent of contraction and openness is proportionate to one’s emotional and spiritual capacity. What an ordinary person feels as distress and relief or rejoicing differs markedly from the spiritual joy and anxiety experienced by one awakened to the Divine truths, one who is ever-alert for what will come through the half-opened door from the realms beyond, and who is conscious of God’s continuous and direct supervision.

Like every element of existence, contraction and openness are at the disposal of the Creator, Who alternates them continuously, like night and day. Even if this alternation appears to originate in the deeds performed in accordance with one’s free will, the Divine Will extends or shortens the periods of contraction and openness, and causes one to be consumed with tension or to overflow with delight. Sometimes a lover experiences openness for a long time, feeling as if flying like a bird, without being touched by any form of contraction; other times, contraction is a constant companion that stays so long that the lover feels that he or she is going from one hardship to another (and greater) hardship.

As neglecting the requirements of one’s spiritual position bestowed by God causes contraction, sins usually come together with contraction. For this reason, a believer must always be alert against committing new sins and deviations while suffering contraction, must not be overpowered by heedlessness, and must strive for self-purification through sincere repentance and the performance of good deeds. Then, the believer must wait for what will come from the realms beyond. While contraction is accompanied by fear, perplexity, and feelings of spiritual emptiness, openness manifests itself as joy, rapture, and feelings or utterances of pride. For this reason, openness may be risky for those spiritually less-developed people who have not yet attuned themselves to journeying in “celestial” realms.

Although there are risks associated with contraction, those associated with openness are greater and more numerous. One caught in contraction usually feels in his or her conscience an absolute need of the Almighty, and so turns to Him in sincere acknowledgment of this neediness with the words: "Hold me! Hold me, lest I should fall!" and, escaping the spiritual waste he or she feels, is favored with the Almighty’s help and reaches those heights that are beyond reach during times of openness.

This is why some people are exposed to heedlessness and loss of spiritual energy during times of openness, and why contraction leads almost every believer to new levels of alertness. In addition, the contraction originating from our sins or neglect usually signals the beginning of a new wave of openness; similarly, an expansion that causes pride and loss of spiritual energy may give rise to a new contraction.

A true believer is one who can judge each state experienced or achieved as it really is, with all of its aspects, and make it fruitful. Contraction and openness are manifestations from Him for one who knows. He causes openness so that the servant will thank Him, and causes contraction so that the servant may become more alert.

O God! Open our breasts for Islam and establish our hearts on belief. And bestow blessing and peace on our master Muhammad, and on his Family and Companions, great and illustrious.

Sources:

• Ibn Hanbal, al-Musnad, 2:173
• at-Tabari, Jami‘u’l Bayan, 3:126