One of the Shaykhs says: “The spirit in the body is like fire in fuel; the fire is created (_makhlúq_) and the coal is made (_maṣnú`_).” Nothing can be described as eternal except the essence and attributes of God. Abú Bakr Wásiṭí has discoursed on the spirit more than any of the Ṣúfí Shaykhs. It is related that he said: “There are ten stations (_maqámát_) of spirits: (1) the spirits of the sincere (_mukhliṣán_), which are imprisoned in a darkness and know not what will befall them; (2) the spirits of pious men (_pársá-mardán_), which in the heaven of this world rejoice in the fruits of their actions and take pleasure in devotions, and walk by the strength thereof; (3) the spirits of disciples (_murídán_), which are in the fourth heaven and dwell with the angels in the delights of veracity, and in the shadow of their good works; (4) the spirits of the beneficent (_ahl-i minan_) which are hung in lamps of light from the Throne of God, and their food is mercy, and their drink is favour and proximity; (5) the spirits of the faithful (_ahl-i wafá_), which thrill with joy in the veil of purity and the station of electness (_iṣṭifá_); (6) the spirits of martyrs (_shahídán_), which are in Paradise in the crops of birds, and go where they will in its gardens early and late; (7) the spirits of those who yearn (_mushtáqán_), which stand on the carpet of respect (_adab_) clad in the luminous veils of the Divine attributes; (8) the spirits of gnostics (_`árifán_), which, in the precincts of holiness, listen at morn and eve to the word of God and see their places in Paradise and in this world; (9) the spirits of lovers (_dústán_), which have become absorbed in contemplation of the Divine beauty and the station of revelation (_kashf_), and perceive nothing but God and rest content with no other thing; (10) the spirits of dervishes, which have found favour with God in the abode of annihilation, and have suffered a transformation of quality and a change of state.” It is related concerning the Shaykhs that they have seen the spirit in different shapes, and this may well be, because, as I have said, it is created, and a subtle body (_jismí laṭíf_) is necessarily visible. God shows it to every one of His servants, when and as it pleases Him.