The Analysis of the Mystical Attribute of Dhikr (Invocation) Based on the Three Levels of Spiritual Wayfaring (Severance, Annihilation, and Persistence)

This study analyzes the mystical attribute of invocation (dhikr) in some of the most important mystical works up to the seventh century AH. The ground of this research is based on the analysis of dhikr from the perspective of steps of mystical journey. This study, written in a descriptive-analytical way, shows that the attribute dhikr in the words of some mystics, in each of the three levels of wayfaring, has been treated with a different approach and has undergone a change in content. In the first stage of the spiritual journey, which is the status of severance, dhikr has a positive and active nature so that in this step, the wayfarer tries to be attributed to dhikr and its implications. In the second step which is the status of annihilation, however, the Divine attraction annihilates the seeker’s virtual existence and all his attributes. Therefore, dhikr in the mystic finds a negative and purifying characteristic, his effort is lost and he is no more attributed to dhikr. But in the third stage, that is, the level of persistence, the mystic becomes the manifestation of the Divine names and attributes, so that dhikr again appears in the mystic in a positive but transformed state. The result of this study shows that although the statements of most mystics about dhikr are consistent with the characteristics of severance step, the words of some of them conform with the characteristics of all the three levels of severance, annihilation, and persistence