The annihilation of the self comes first by adoring another form or appearance. That annihilation never kills a person. It is Fana-fi-Shaikh, and later come Fana-fi-Rasul and Fana-fi-Allah; these are the three steps on the path of annihilation. One step is annihilation in the ideal of form, the next in the ideal of name, and the third step is annihilation in the nameless and formless.