Four Stages of the Heart

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Shaykh Ahmad ibn Abu al-Husayn an-Nuri (q.s.) wrote, in his classic text, Maqamat al-Qulub, using the Qurʾanic text as his basis, about the four stages of the spiritual heart. 

Firstly, there is swadr, literally, “chest”, which is expanded from the pain of constriction and becomes joyful, the first part of something.  Shaykh an-Nuri (q.s.) quoted: 

سُوۡرَةُ الزُّمَر

أَفَمَن شَرَحَ ٱللَّهُ صَدۡرَهُ ۥ لِلۡإِسۡلَـٰمِ فَهُوَ عَلَىٰ نُورٍ۬ مِّن رَّبِّهِۦ‌ۚ فَوَيۡلٌ۬ لِّلۡقَـٰسِيَةِ قُلُوبُہُم مِّن ذِكۡرِ ٱللَّهِ‌ۚ أُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ فِى ضَلَـٰلٍ۬ مُّبِينٍ (٢٢) 

Is one whose heart Allah has Opened to Islam, so that he has received enlightenment from Allah, (no better than one hard-hearted)?  Woe to those whose hearts are hardened against celebrating the praises of Allah!  They are manifestly wandering (in error)! (Surah az-Zumar:22) 

This expansion suggests that in the Islamic tradition, it is the swadr where feelings of joy are felt. 

The second is the qalb, that which is turned according to the Revelation.  Shaykh an-Nuri (q.s.) quoted: 

سُوۡرَةُ الحُجرَات

... وَلَـٰكِنَّ ٱللَّهَ حَبَّبَ إِلَيۡكُمُ ٱلۡإِيمَـٰنَ وَزَيَّنَهُ ۥ فِى قُلُوبِكُمۡ ... (٧) 

… but Allah has Endeared the faith to you, and has Made it beautiful in your hearts … (Surah al-Hujraat:7) 

The third is fu’ad, from a root meaning “to hit or strike in the heart”, or “to be ardently excited”.  Shaykh an-Nuri (q.s.) quoted: 

سُوۡرَةُ النّجْم

مَا كَذَبَ ٱلۡفُؤَادُ مَا رَأَىٰٓ (١١) 

The (Prophet’s) (mind and) heart in no way falsified that which he saw. (Surah an-Najm:11) 

And finally, lubb, kernel, heart or pith, the best part of something and hence in relation to the human, the deepest understanding or consciousness, free from any negative characteristics.  Shaykh an-Nuri (q.s.) quoted: 

سُوۡرَةُ آل عِمرَان

إِنَّ فِى خَلۡقِ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَٱخۡتِلَـٰفِ ٱلَّيۡلِ وَٱلنَّہَارِ لَأَيَـٰتٍ۬ لِّأُوْلِى ٱلۡأَلۡبَـٰبِ (١٩٠) 

Behold!  In the Creation of the Heavens and the Earth, and the alternation of night and day, ― there are indeed Signs for men of understanding. ― (Surah Ali ‘Imran:190) 

Some later writers also speak of lubb al-lubb, the kernel of the kernel. 

Each of these “hearts” acts as a “mine” or container for its principle: the swadr for submission, islam; the qalb for faith, iman; the fu’ad for direct knowledge, ma’rifat; and the lubb for affirming or realising unity, tawhid.  In this manner, Shaykh an-Nuri (q.s.) delineated four successive stages of realisation, as a person moves from outer submission, to inner faith, to inner knowledge and finally full realisation.  He also spoke of the heart, that is the qalb al-mu’min, the heart of the person of faith, as a ‘house’, recalling the prophetic hadits, “The heart of the person of faith is the house of the Lord (or the All-Compassionate)”.  The root meaning of qalb, q-l-b, is “to alter, convert one thing into another, or turn over”, hence the idea of responsiveness since the heart is turned or can alter according to what it is presented with.  We can also see here the seeds of the idea that the heart is the place where the influx of the spirit is “converted” into the mind and other parts of the being. 

Shaykh Muhyi ad-Din Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn ‘Arabi (q.s.) followed Shaykh an-Nuri (q.s.) in distinguishing these words on the basis of how they are used in the Qurʾan, though he tended to use the term “sirr” instead of “lubb”.  There is an illuminating passage of his Kitab al-Isfar Kitab ‘an Nata’ij al-Asfar, where he discussed the Qurʾanic verse about the Prophet's ascension, which Shaykh an-Nuri (q.s.) also quoted: 

سُوۡرَةُ النّجْم

فَأَوۡحَىٰٓ إِلَىٰ عَبۡدِهِۦ مَآ أَوۡحَىٰ (١٠) مَا كَذَبَ ٱلۡفُؤَادُ مَا رَأَىٰٓ (١١) 

So did (Allah) Convey the Inspiration to His Servant (conveyed) what He (meant) to convey.  The (Prophet’s) (mind and) heart in no way falsified that which he saw. (Surah an-Najm:10-11) 

Shaykh ibn ‘Arabi (q.s.) made an important distinction regarding two aspects of the heart: The fu’ad is the heart of the heart, qalb al-qalb, just as the heart, qalb, has vision, so the heart of the heart has vision.  The heart’s vision can be affected by blindness, when it departs from the Real by preferring other than Him after He has Made it close: 

سُوۡرَةُ الحَجّ

... فَإِنَّہَا لَا تَعۡمَى ٱلۡأَبۡصَـٰرُ وَلَـٰكِن تَعۡمَى ٱلۡقُلُوبُ ٱلَّتِى فِى ٱلصُّدُورِ (٤٦) 

… Truly it is not their eyes that are blind, but their hearts which are in their breasts. (Surah al-Haj:46) 

But the heart of the heart does not suffer blindness because it does not know the Created world; it has no attachment except to its Master.  The same distinction is made in Kitab al-Fanaʾ, where he speaks of the heart, qalb, as having an interior which is pure establishment, or affirmation, and an exterior where things can be established and erased.