Dervishhood

Dervishhood in all its meanings is a metaphorical poverty, and amidst all its subordinate aspects there is a transcendent principle. The Divine mysteries come and go over the dervish, so that his affairs are acquired by himself, his actions attributed to himself, and his ideas attached to himself. But when his affairs are freed from the bonds of acquisition, his actions are no more attributed to himself. Then he is the Way, not the wayfarer, i.e., the dervish is a place over which something is passing, not a wayfarer following his own will. (Hsg)
Faqr, here, is almost equated with fand, "annihilation in God," which is the goal of the mystic, as Rumi said once in the Mathnawl (M 5:672). For Attar, poverty and annihiliation constitute the seventh and last vale on the Path leading to God, after the traveler has traversed the valleys of search, love, gnosis, independence, tawhid, and bewilderment (MT).

Mystical Dimensions of Islam - Annemarie Schimmel