“Mawhiba (favor) literally means benevolence, kindness, and extra Divine bounties, while** waridat (gifts)** denotes what occurs to or emerges in one’s heart as a Divine gift. The Sufis use them to signify God Almighty’s special attention and consideration for those who travel toward Him, and His particular enlightenment and guidance, which can be described as ‘the lights of Divine Attributes’ or “‘the lights of Divine Names.‘ They are manifested in certain circumstances in the inner world of initiates so that they can see and evaluate everything correctly.

First and foremost, the Prophets and then all saints and pure, saintly scholars, including even minor saints, are favored with such gifts. However, the gifts that come to the Prophets, whether in the form of inspiration or Revelation, are certain to be from God, and it is impossible for Satan and the carnal soul to interfere with them. For this reason, they have a certainty and strength of evidence, and are therefore binding for believers. As for the gifts coming to saints or saintly scholars in the form of inspiration, since neither saints nor saintly scholars have absolute protection against Satan or the carnal soul, they are acceptable only in the case when they are in perfect accord with the Qur’an and the Prophet’s Sunna, and are not binding for others.

Although there are differences between the literal meanings of ‘gifts’ and ‘favor,’ and these terms are sometimes used to denote feelings of joy or sorrow, or exhilaration or distress, or expansion or contrition, appearing in the inner world of humans, the majority of Sufis tend to use them interchangeably and mean by both the sacred meanings that emerge in, or the breezes of inspiration that come to, the heart. Human free will has no part in their emergence or coming. Both the gifts and favor are Divine presents bestowed on the beloved servants of God without the means of either eyes or ears; they cannot be obtained through reason or logic.”¹⁾

“A philosophy that is not grounded in Divine gifts is a false note in thought—a failure of true thinking.”²⁾

“Light-houses are the barracks of the ‘knights of light’—the retreat-homes and lodges of the people of truth; they are climates of Divine gifts for the holy ones whose eyes open and close with knowledge and insight.”³⁾

“For a person whose feelings and faculties have reached serene certainty through unshakable faith, Satan’s ominous hand cannot reach the heart—the very source of Divine gifts.”⁴⁾

“A philosophy closed to the Divine gifts of faith and revelation could never truly satisfy a person with a heart and conscience—let alone satisfy these dimensions of the human being. For what gives the human being meaning and depth is religion alone. Yet throughout history, humanity has turned to both systems—and the struggle has come from that: from one arise faith and beautiful character; from the other, disbelief and moral corruption.”⁵⁾

“Souls who have awakened to truth—or are on the verge of awakening—remain constantly alert, watchful, ready to ‘catch’ the manifestations that come from God: secrets, Divine gifts, and spiritual outpourings; gnosis, love, and spiritual relish. Those who are heedless—defeated by oblivion—neither feel the winds of those manifestations as they blow, nor taste the excitement of placing even a single warid (gift) or a single fayz (spiritual effusion) into the bowls of their hearts.”⁶⁾

“What we call the ‘sense of spiritual effusions’ (fuyuzat), in our terminology, is a state of the soul—difficult to define—that comes from our Lord as a result of love of God: sometimes in the form of Divine gifts, and sometimes as an inner expansiveness (inshirah).”⁷⁾

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