ABSTRACT
Books like the Tazkirat al Awliya abound in stories of striking and miraculous conversions. The first stage on the way, then, is tawba—repentance or conversion. The second stage which the convert must aim at and which is, as it were, necessarily called for by the first, is wara', which may be translated as 'fear of the Lord'. Fear of the Lord leads necessarily to the third stage, zuhd, which can be translated as detachment or renouncement of the world in order to give oneself to God. By easy stages the salik now reaches the important stage of poverty, which, it is easy to see, follows logically upon those that preceded it, may, indeed, be looked upon as their fuller flowering or explicitation. The stage that follows immediately and logically upon the stage of poverty is sabr, which can be translated as patience, steadfastness or perseverance. The last of the stages, following logically from tawakku, is rida.
