1. The heart of a lover is like a furnace of love. Whatever goes into it is burnt to nothingness because there is no fire like the fire of love.
2. The way of love is such that no trace remains of the one who sets out to it.
3. From the lips of an ‘aref one hears naught but the remembrance (dhekr) of God.
4. The first sign of an ‘aref is that (s)he begins to despise possessions and wealth.
5. Even if one would give up both worlds in the friendship of the Friend, that would be a small thing.
6. Though the lovers are cut off in love, they choose to do the work of people who, in sleeping and in waking, are seeking for the Beloved, and who having done with the formal aspect of friendship are absorbed in the contemplation of the Friend.
7. The Beloved Himself sees the lover’s longing; the way of love is a matter of supplication.
8. An ‘aref is (s)he who strives to achieve ‘one breath’. The breath of the ‘aref is such that it performs the remembrance (dhekr) of God and the ‘aref sacrifices his (her) whole life for this one breath. If such a breath be achieved this is a matter of great fortune, because even by seeking for such a breath in heaven and on earth, and year after year, it cannot easily be obtained.
