What is Fana (Annihilation)

Fana means “annihilation” or “extinction” in Arabic. It is an important idea in Sufism.

Fana refers to the annihilation or extinction of the self or ego. The ego is our sense of individual existence separate from God and creation.

Stages of Fana:

There are stages of fana. Initially, the seeker controls and suppresses the ego’s desires through spiritual practice.

At advanced stages, the ego becomes completely annihilated in God. The person becomes unified with the Divine and loses any sense of separateness.

• Fana of the ego self leads to fana of the conscious self.
• This leads to the baqa (subsistence) in God where the person abides in Divine union.

The Extinction of the Veils:

Sufis believe there are veils that keep us separated from the Divine. These include the veils of ego, intellect, desires, etc.

As the veils are peeled away through spiritual efforts, the ego-self comes closer to “death” and annihilation. One starts to experience the luminosity and closeness of the Divine reality behind the veils.

Becoming Empty for God:

The Sufi seeks to become emptier of his own selfhood and more full of God’s presence. This requires removing everything that stands in the way of the Beloved including the ego.

In fana, the lover becomes annihilated into the Beloved like a drop merging with the ocean. The lover’s will becomes fully aligned with Divine will.

Fana is Seen as a Higher Spiritual State:

Sufis consider fana a very high spiritual state as it indicates the deepest level of self-surrender and subsistence in God. But it is also seen as a temporary state that comes and goes.

So in essence, fana is the Sufi concept of annihilating the ego-self to allow awareness of the Divine Presence to shine through unimpeded. The separateness of the self is extinguished in the ocean of God’s unity.