Glossary of Sufism 9. Zuhd

لزهد

Detachment

(zuhd)

The detachment –ascetism-  is the emptiness of the heart which doesn’t know any other commitment  than what is in relation to God, or the coldness of the heart and the dislike of the soul in relation to the world.

For the vulgar it is renunciation, in everything, to what surpasses the strict necessity. For the elite, it is the reinforcement to what diverts the connection towards God at any circumstance. For the elite chosen ones, detachment means renunciation to see other than God, in all times. In short words, it is the coldness of the heart regarding what is not Him, in relation to any other desire than the Beloved’s. It is the cause of love (mahabba), as it has been said by the prophet: “Pull away from the world. God will love you.”, etc; it is the cause of slow progression [towards God] and the arrival to the highest purpose (wusuul), as the heart would not be able to walk when it is attached to everything but the Beloved.

Translated from Glossaire du Soufisme, by Iban Agibah, edited by A. Saleh Hamdan.
For further reading:
zuhd. Encyclopedia Britannica

Practizing Az- zuhd

Labels: English, glossary of sufism, sufi masters, sufi teachers, tasawwuf, zuhd