You must know, in short, that union does not involve any peculiar “station” (_maqám_) or any peculiar “state” (_ḥál_), for union is the concentration of one’s thoughts (_jam`-i himmat_) upon the object of one’s desire. According to some the revelation of this matter takes place in the “stations” (_maqámát_), according to others in the “states” (_aḥwál_), and in either case the desire of the “united” person (_ṣáḥib jam`_) is attained by negating his desire. This holds good in everything, e.g., Jacob concentrated his thoughts on Joseph, so that he had no thought but of him; and Majnún concentrated his thoughts on Laylá, so that he saw only her in the whole world, and all created things assumed the form of Laylá in his eyes. One day, when Abú Yazíd was in his cell, some one came and asked: “Is Abú Yazíd here?” He answered: “Is anyone here except God?” And a certain Shaykh relates that a dervish came to Mecca and remained in contemplation of the Ka`ba for a whole year, during which time he neither ate nor drank, nor slept, nor cleansed himself, because of the concentration of his thoughts upon the Ka`ba, which thereby became the food of his body and the drink of his soul. The principle in all these cases is the same, viz. that God divided the one substance of His love and bestows a particle thereof, as a peculiar gift, upon every one of His friends in proportion to their enravishment with Him; then He lets down upon that particle the shrouds of humanity and nature and temperament and spirit, in order that by its powerful working it may transmute to its own quality all the particles that are attached to it, until the lover’s clay is wholly converted into love, and all his actions and looks become so many indispensable conditions of love. This state is named “union” alike by those who regard the inward meaning and those who regard the outward expression. Ḥusayn b. Manṣúr (al-Ḥalláj) says in this sense: “_Thy will be done, O my Lord and Master! Thy will be done, O my purpose and meaning! O essence of my being, O goal of my desire, O my speech and my hints and my gestures! O all of my all, O my hearing and my sight, O my whole and my element and my particles!_”