Degree One
Annihilation in the love and obedience of the Sunnah
The person annihilates himself in the love of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and is continuously decorating his outer and his inner with the Sunnah.
Fourth stage of purification
The enlightenment of the spirit
The last stage is not another list of rules. It is a description of what a person becomes when the first three have done their work.
In the fourth stage, the person annihilates their inward and their outward in the love and obedience of Allah and the Messenger ﷺ — the result of which is the attainment of Allah’s closeness, His pleasure, and gnosis of Him.
The book describes it in three degrees, and it is worth noticing the order. Love of the Prophet ﷺ and the adoption of his Sunnah comes first — not last, and not as an optional refinement once the inward work is done. The outward and the inward are made to arrive together.
Degree Two
The purified soul, annihilated in the love of Allah
The person at this stage is in complete annihilation in the love of Allah. He becomes absorbed in the gnosis of Allah the Most High, and experiences such things as no eye has seen and no ear has heard.
Degree Three
The perfected soul — inner and outer together
The inner annihilated in the love of Allah, and the outer annihilated in love and obedience in following the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. The person's physical body is in complete absorption in the love and obedience of the Sunnah, and his inner self in complete absorption in the love of Allah, His Messenger and the Hereafter.
This person experiences the true faith, and enters amongst the beloved servants of Allah the Glorified. He lives his entire life as if he is looking at Allah, and the abodes of heaven and hell are fresh in his mind and heart.
His only purpose becomes seeking the pleasure of Allah — with all his body, mind, heart and soul.
What happens next
And then the seeker is sent back out
Upon completing the four stages the seeker’s inward becomes enlightened with the friendship and presence of Allah — and he begins to invite others to travel the path upon which he walked.
If a person dies in this state, then he will be, through the grace of Allah, successful in this life, and gifted in the Hereafter with the company of the prophets, the truthful ones, the martyrs, and the friends of Allah.
The end of the journey is conveying the message.