Al Qushairi Tafsir — Ali 'Imran 3:1 – An-Nisa 4:176

Alif Lām Mīm His saying �Alif� alludes to His being sufficient for you in all of your states. You are captive to heedlessness and have not found the way to right action and thinking. He is the One who sets in motion what restores you and is solely sufficient for you in what helps you. Without your asking-and even without you knowing your own state-He suffices for you even if you do not perceive it. He gives to you without your seeking. The Lām alludes to His kindness luṬf to you at the most subtle and hidden level so much so that the locus of favor by which He strengthens you is not apparent to you. The Mīm alludes to the harmony muwāfaqa of the stream of the [divine] determination of events taqdīr with the circumstances requested by the friends. Nothing in the world moves no particle appears unless it is an occasion of good pleasure with respect to them. It would not be going too far to say that in His words �Every day He is upon some matter� [55:29] the �matter� is an actualization of what the friends desire. It is said that by listening to these disconnected letters [Alif Lām Mīm] which are contrary to the ordinary customs of human discourse every concept disappears from the hearts whether it be a known written cus- tomary or imagined thing and whether it arises from necessity Ḍarūra sensory perception ḥiss or independent reasoning ijtihād. When the hearts are emptied of imagined and known concepts and the innermost selves are purified of customary and familiar things the name Allāh comes to a heart sanctified from everything other [than Him] and to an innermost self purified of every mode [of inquiry] kayf.

God! There is no god except Him the Living the Eternal. He is the One who is not diverted so as to be too busy for you nor is He inattentive so that you are left without Him. He is the attentive observer raqībover all of the states of your innermost self. If you are alone He is watchful over you. If you are in the midst of human beings He is watch- ful over you. In sum however your states circle around you He is your Beloved ḥabīb.

He has revealed to you the Book by the truth �You did not know O Muḥammad what the Book was nor the story of the lovers. But a matter of pre-eternal choosing came suddenly upon you and cast you into an amazing affair its proof sublime its place of descent and occurrence precious.� confirming what was before it that is verifying His promise to you in the books that came through the prophets [���� ������]. and He revealed the Torah and the Gospel before as guidance to people and He revealed the criterion. That is to say �Even though We revealed Our books to the messengers before you We did not omit the remembrance dhikr of you from any book.� The one who spoke for them said: With me from our absent beloveds are pages. The remembrance of you is their title page. �Just as We have extended the lights of the prophets through you We have adorned all that We have revealed in remembrances with your remembrance.� As for those who disbelieve in God's signs for them awaits a terrible chastisement. [The chastisement] is the ignominy of the veil but they do not perceive [this]. God is Precious ʿazīz to His friends Lord of Retribution to His enemies. Everyone seeks what is precious but most do not find it.

He has revealed to you the Book by the truth �You did not know O Muḥammad what the Book was nor the story of the lovers. But a matter of pre-eternal choosing came suddenly upon you and cast you into an amazing affair its proof sublime its place of descent and occurrence precious.� confirming what was before it that is verifying His promise to you in the books that came through the prophets [���� ������]. and He revealed the Torah and the Gospel before as guidance to people and He revealed the criterion. That is to say �Even though We revealed Our books to the messengers before you We did not omit the remembrance dhikr of you from any book.� The one who spoke for them said: With me from our absent beloveds are pages. The remembrance of you is their title page. �Just as We have extended the lights of the prophets through you We have adorned all that We have revealed in remembrances with your remembrance.� As for those who disbelieve in God's signs for them awaits a terrible chastisement. [The chastisement] is the ignominy of the veil but they do not perceive [this]. God is Precious ʿazīz to His friends Lord of Retribution to His enemies. Everyone seeks what is precious but most do not find it.

Nothing whatever is hidden in heaven and earth from God. A servant does not breathe a single breath without God ������ ������ counting it muḥṣīhi. Not a particle exists in the heaven and earth unless He is its originator and creator mubdiʿ hi. No one has any quality or attribute except He is its governor mutawallīhi. This is the view of ordinary people ʿumūm. As for the elect khuṣūṣ no one presents a need to Him except He satisfies it qāḌīhā and no one has any resource in a calamity except He suffices for it kāfīhā.

He it is who forms you in the wombs as He wills. Talk of this has two sides: the affirmation of the form of the Creator, and the explication of His power over creatures and favor toward them through predetermination and form-giving. As for affirming the form of the Creator, in a sound report MuṣṬafā said, “God created Adam in His form, and his height was sixty cubits.” It has also been narrated as, “in the form of His face.” The folk of interpretation-the foundation of whose religion is adulteration, interpretation, and negation-have turned the referent of the pronoun away from the Real and rejected the out- wardness. The folk of the Sunnah-the foundation of whose religion is hearing, accepting, and surrendering-have left aside interpretation and gone by the outwardness. They say that in this report the pronoun refers to God, that investigation, reflection, and interpretation are not allowed, and that fancying similarity is an error, for the Real is without peer in all attributes. Concerning vision there are many reports that the Real has a shining face and form. Ibn ʿAbbās narrates that MuṣṬafā said, “I saw my Lord in the most beautiful form.” In the narrative of Abū Umāma Bāhilī, MuṣṬafā said, “My Lord was shown to me in the most beautiful form. He said, 'O MuḤammad!' I said, 'Here I am, obeying Thee.' About what are the Higher Plenum disput- ing?” This report is a long one and will be discussed in its place, God willing. The narrative of Jābir ibn Samura is this: “Surely God disclosed Himself to me in the most beautiful form.” The narrative of Anas is this: “My Lord came to me in the most beautiful form.” Anas also said, “Among the favors God will bestow on Adam on the Day of Resurrection is that He will say, 'Did I not bestow upon you My form?” Ibn ʿAbbās said, “Moses was angry with the Children of Israel, so when he came down with interdiction, he said to them, 'Drink this, you donkeys!' God said to him, 'Do you liken creatures whom I created in My form to donkeys?'” It is well known that in the reports of the resurrection MuṣṬafā said, “God will come to them in other than the form in which they recognize Him.

He it is who has sent down upon thee the Book, wherein are firm verses, which are the mother of the Book, and others ambiguous. He is neither a name nor an attribute. Rather, it is an allusion to being. It means that our Lord is, He is fitting to be, and He has been-beyond location and transcendent in attributes. ShurayḤ ʿābid said, “I saw a dervish in the mosque of the Sanctuary calling upon God by saying, 'O He who is He! O He other than whom there is no he! Forgive me.' A voice came from the Unseen: 'O dervish, you received so much reward for saying that the first time that the angels will be writ- ing it out until the resurrection.'” Huwa is two letters, h and w. The place of articulation of h is the last part of the throat, and the place of articulation of the w is the first part of the throat. This alludes to the fact that the letters begin from Him at first and return to Him at last. From Him they begin and to Him they return. It has also been said it alludes to the created things and engendered beings: all things come in the beginning from His power and return in the end by His decree. A dervish in the state of rapture was asked, “What is your name?” He answered, “He.” They said, “Where have you come from?” He said, “He.” They said, “What do you want?” He said, “He.” They said, “Perhaps you mean 'God'.” When the dervish heard the name God, he gave his spirit to the name and left this world. The painters depict Your name in a hundred meanings; remembering You and Your name they give up their spirits. They scatter their lives for the scent of union with You with nothing in hand of Your description but incapacity. Wherein are firm verses, which are the mother of the Book, and others ambiguous. These are the two great divisions of the Qur'an, one apparent and clear, the other abstruse and difficult. The ap- parent belongs to the majesty of the Shariah, and the difficult belongs to the beauty of the Haqiqah. The apparent is so the common people may reach joy and blessings by perceiving it and putting it into practice.

Our Lord, let not our hearts stray after Thou hast guided us, and give us mercy from Thee. When they were truthful in the beauty of asking for help, He assisted them with the lights of suf- ficiency. When the heart is limpid, the present moment empty, and the tongue flowing with the Real's remembrance, the arrow of supplication inevitably reaches the target of response. But the work is in this: When will this limpidness, loyalty, and supplication come together and how will they join with each other? The meaning of this supplication is this: “O God, keep our hearts far from confusion and straying and make us firm on the carpet of service with the stipulation of the Sunnah.” And give us mercy from Thee: And give what you give, O Lord, as Your bounty and mercy, not as the recompense for our works or the compensation for our acts of obedience! Our acts of obedience are not worthy for the Presence of Your Majesty, so the only thing to do is to efface them and ignore them. One of the pirs of the Tariqah said, “The gall-bladders of the travelers and the obedient ser- vants burst in fear at the verse: 'We shall advance upon what deeds they have done and make them scattered dust' [25:23]. But, of all the Qur'an's verses, I find this the sweetest.” He was asked, “What does it mean?” He said, “We will finally be released from these displeasing deeds and unworthy acts of obedi- ence and attach our hearts totally to His bounty and mercy.”

Our Lord You shall gather mankind for a day of which there is no doubt; verily God will not fail the tryst. Today is the gathering of the lovers on the carpet of approach iqtirāb and tomorrow will be the gathering of all in the place of reward thawāb and punishment ʿiqāb. Today is the gathering of innermost selves asrār for the unveiling of [divine] Majesty jalāl and Beauty jamāl and tomor- row will be the gathering of human beings abshār to witness the terrors ahwāl and endure what has been told of these states aḥwāl.

As for the unbelievers, their possessions will not take away their need for God, neither their children, and it is they who will be fuel for the Fire. What a majestic God, generous, lovingly kind, who promises the faithful in the midst of warning the unbelievers and who caresses these while blaming those! He is saying, “Tomorrow at the res- urrection possessions and children will be useless to the unbelievers and will not profit them.” In other words, they will be useful to the faithful whenever they have carried out what is rightfully due to them, making them the snare of their own religion and seeking through them their endless felicity. MuṣṬafā said, “How excellent are wholesome possessions for the wholesome man! What ex- cellent assistance are possessions for being wary of God!” This is just what the Lord of the Worlds says: “And, with what God has given thee, follow after the Last Abode” [28:77]. He is saying, “In that of this world which He has given you, bring the next world to hand! Seek the felicity of the next world!” The felicity of the next world lies in recognition of God. Recognition comes from the light of the heart. The light of the heart comes from the lamp of tawḤīd, and the root of this lamp is the divine bestowal. As for its material, that comes from the deeds and obedient acts of the body. Obedient acts come from the strength of the soul, and the soul's strength comes from food, drink, and clothing. Food, drink, and clothing are nothing but possessions. Hence possessions, by this series of steps, are the cause of endless felicity. But, one must not pass beyond the measure of sufficiency, for then these will become the cause of rebellion, just as He says: “No indeed; surely man is rebellious because he sees himself without needs” [96:6-7]. This is why God's Messenger supplicated, “Lord God, make the food of Muhammad's family in the measure of sufficiency!” When the measure of sufficiency is for the leisure to worship, then it itself is nothing but worship, for it is the supplies for the road, and the road supplies are also part of the road. Shaykh Abu'l-Qāsim Kurragānī had a lawful landed estate from which he received his suffi- ciency.

As the way of Pharoah's folk and the people before them who denied Our signs; God seized them for their sins; God is severe in retribution. �They persisted in insolence according to their way sunna and We brought them retribution according to Our way sunna.� They would not stop their persistent [insolence] fa-lā ʿan al-iṣrār aqlaʿū and did not strive to do anything good wa-lā fī l-mabārri Ṭamiʿū. By my life they are those who suffered regret and distress at what they put forward but by that time they found the door blocked wajadū l-bāba masdūdan and their repentance rejected wa-l-nadama ʿalayhim mardūdan.

Say to the disbelievers: �You shall be vanquished and mustered to hell- an evil resting place! He informed them that the speech of the Real will elude them in the future ājil and they will have no delight in living in the present #703;ājil. In the hereafter what they will encounter will be from the severity of the punishment by burning ḥurqa. What [already] afflicts them in this world is absence and separation furqa from God but their faculties of insight have become weak and they do not perceive the pain of [that] punishment.

There has already been a sign for you in two hosts that met; one com- pany fighting in the way of God; and another unbelieving; they saw them twice the like of them; for God confirms with His help whom He will. Surely in that is a lesson for people of vision. When God wants an affair to be accomplished He makes many appear to be few in the eyes of one people and few to appear as many in the eyes of another people. If He covers the inner sight baṣīra of a people the sharpness of their physical eyes abṣār will not benefit them. When He opens the innermost selves of others the obstruction of their faculties of insight baṣāÌir will not harm them.

Adorned for people is love of appetites, like women, children, heaped-up heaps of gold and silver, horses of mark, cattle, and tillage. That is the enjoyment of the life of this world. The paragon of the world and master of the children of Adam, MuṣṬafā, reported that when the Eternal Enactor created paradise, He said to Gabriel, “'O Gabriel! Go look at it.' Go gaze on this paradise and see once what I have made and created for My servants and friends.” Gabriel went and saw those adorned paradises with their infinite joy and bliss, that place of revelry made and prepared in the neighborhood of God's Presence for the exalted ones of the road and God's friends. When Gabriel came back he said, “Lord God, 'By Thy exaltedness, no one will hear of it and not enter into it!' By the exaltedness of Your Lordhood, no one will hear the attributes of this para- dise without aiming for it and becoming obedient so that he may enter it.” Then the Lord of the Worlds surrounded paradise with all the hardship and suffering of unwor- thy things and unreached desires, and He made its road a bridge of trial so that everyone who aims for the Patron must first pass over that bridge of trial. Shaykh al-Islām Anṣārī said, “How should I have known that suffering is the mother of hap- piness and that beneath one disappointment lie a thousand treasures? How should I have known which gate this is or what is the answer to the story of friendship? How should I have known that companionship with You is the greatest Resurrection and that the exaltation of union with You lies in the abasement of bewilderment?” O spirit of the world! The Kaabah is a sweet place, the nest of God's friends and the lodging place of the sincerely truthful, but there is a man-eating desert before it, mile after mile and way station after way station. Who in the end will have the seeking to pass over all those miles and way stations until he reaches the magnificent Kaabah? A world is wandering in the desert of Your love- who will be given access to the Kaabah of Your acceptance? [DS 210] After He made the road of paradise that of unreached desires and disappointment, the command came, “O Gabriel: Look again.

Shall I tell you of something better than that? For those who are godwary there shall be with their Lord gardens beneath which rivers flow, therein dwelling forever, and spouses made pure, and approval from God. After talking about the enemies, describing their life, and explaining their furthest goal, God in this verse comes back to the story of the friends. Tomorrow, the final outcome of those whose watch- word today is godwariness will be paradise and approval. He says, “For those who are godwary there shall be with their Lord gardens.” Just as godwariness has levels, so also paradise has degrees. The first degree is the Garden of the Shelter, and the first level of godwariness is to avoid the forbidden and the soul's caprice. The Splendorous Qur'an ties the two together in its words, “As for him who fears the standing place be- fore his Lord and prohibits the soul its caprice, surely the Garden shall be the shelter” [79:40-41]. The highest degree is the Garden of Eden, and better than the Garden of Eden is the Greatest Approval. So, the furthest goal of the paradise-dwellers is the Greatest Approval, just as the Lord of the Worlds says: “And goodly dwellings in the gardens of Eden; and approval from God is greatest” [9:72] The Greatest Approval belongs to those who reach the utmost godwariness. The utmost god- wariness is that someone takes whatever has the scar of new arrival and the mark of creation as his own enemy, as Abraham said: “Surely they are an enemy to me, save the Lord of the Worlds” [26:77]. You must turn away from all things and, with detached heart, busy yourself with the suf- fering of passion for the Haqiqah. You must know for certain that the intrusion of others finds no room in passion's suffering. You must cut off your heart and spirit from everything. The heart is Your garden-take it all, for this heart has room either for my intrusion or Your image. In gratitude I will also send my spirit to You- a whiff of union with You does what a hundred spirits cannot. Tomorrow, all will be taken to the furthest limit of their goals and aspirations. Here someone hopes for the Garden of the Refuge and is told, “Flee from the unlawful and be just, and that will not be held back from you.

Those who say: �O Our Lord we believe; so forgive us our sins and guard us from the chastisement of the fire� that is �they occupy themselves with Us entirely bi-l-kulliya and plead for help before Us at the mention of severe trials and afflictions al-raziyya. Those obtain nearness and intimate friendship al-qurba wa-l-khuṣūṣiyya with Us high degrees wa-l-darajāt al-ʿuliyya and pleasing fates wa-l- qisam al-murḌiyya.�

The patient, the truthful, the devoted, the expenders, those who ask forgiveness at dawn. The patient, that is, with their hearts, the truthful with their spirits, the devoted with their souls, the expenders of what they are able, those who ask forgiveness with their tongues.2 The chevaliers are those whose speaking is this and whose doing is this. In the heart they are patient with the Real's command, in the spirit they walk straight in the Real's covenant, in the body they observe the right- ful due of the Real's command, with wealth they spend in the Real's road, with tongue they ask forgiveness and seek from the Real's generosity. The patient: That is, they are patient in trial and they reject complaint until they reach the Patron, nothing of this world or the afterworld holding them back. They are patient in every trial and put aside complaint. They turn their faces away from both this world and the afterworld until they reach the Patron. The truthful: That is, they speak the truth in seeking, so they aim straight, then they speak the truth until they witness. They speak truthfully and begin traveling. They travel truthfully to reach the domicile. They think truthfully to reach the destination. Then they put aside the marks bearing witness to truthfulness and throw themselves into the ocean to reach the shore of security and the seat of truthfulness, at an Omnipotent King [54:55]. The devoted: That is, in clinging to the door, drinking down sorrow, leaving aside loved ones, and rejecting companions until they realize proximity. They put on the clothing of poverty and hold up the hands of need at the door of the house of generosity: “Until You open, we will not leave, and until You caress, we will not go away.” Sometimes they are in prostration, sometimes standing, sometimes in fear, sometimes in hope. From the Exalted Presence comes this caress: “The field of friendship's road is solitariness, and the drinker of its wine is promised vision. Who- ever is truthful will one day reach his desire.” Some day good fortune will enter my door, some day the sun of elation will rise, Some day You will cast a glance at me, some day this sorrow of mine will end. The expenders: That is, they are munificent with their property to the extent they are able, then with their souls in respect of deeds, then with their hearts through truthfulness of states.

God bears witness that there is no god but He-and the angels, and the possessors of knowledge-upholding justice; there is no god but He, the Exalted, the Wise. The Real bears witness to the Real that He is the Real. He Himself praised Himself and He Him- self gave witness to Himself concerning His attributes as is worthy of Himself. In His speech He reported of His existence, His self-sufficiency, His self-standingness, and His self-lastingness. He bore witness to the majesty of His measure and the perfection of His exaltedness while there was no refusal, no ignorance, no recognition by any created thing, no intellect, no conformity, no hy- pocrisy, no new arrival, no heaven, no space, no shadows, no brightness. There was no universe and no Adam, no air and no space, no land and no sea, no light and no darkness, no understanding and no virtue, no conformity and no hypocrisy when the Lord of the Worlds spoke in the majesty of His measure and the perfection of His exaltedness, giving witness to His oneness and peerlessness and reporting of His attributes and Essence. Today He is exactly what He was and will be forever. It has never been that He was not, and it will never be that He will not be. He is the First and the Last, the Outward and the Inward. He is the First who always is and who knows the beings and nonbeings. He is the Last who always will be, and He will know what He knew. He is the Outward through His enactorship, dominating over everyone through His all-compellingness and above everything through His greatness. He is too inward for the percep- tion of how, outside the reasoning of imaginations, and pure of supposition, fancy, and being thus. In Your subtle Essence thoughts are bewildered, in Your eternal knowledge hidden things appear. And the angels, and the possessors of knowledge. Great is the eminence of the angels, the prophets, and the knowers, and magnificent the result of their work, that God should join their bearing witness to His bearing witness! This is not because His bearing witness to His unity needs to be joined with bearing witness by created things. No, no, for it is His exaltedness that recognizes Him and His exaltedness that knows His unity. There cannot be joining from something that was not, then came to be. There is no tawḤīd-voicer that perceives His unity, nor any attester that perceives His being. Heaven and the heaven-dwellers, earth and the earth-dwellers, do not perceive the permanence of His kingdom. This world and the next, paradise and hell, do not perceive the perfection of His divinity. It is His exaltedness that perceives His magnificence and His exaltedness that knows His unity. Her own face has itself as a moon, her own eye has itself as collyrium. * Who knows You? It is You who know You, You. No one knows You-You alone know You. Yes, it was He who wanted and brought about the felicity of the angels, the prophets, and the know- ers, bestowing eminence and honor on them, and singling them out from the creatures, caressing them and giving them access to recognizing Him. And God singles out for His mercy whomsoever He will [2:105].

Surely the religion with God is the submission. The approved religion-by which people look up to God in servanthood, worship Him according to His decree, seek for His approval, and go back to Him-is the religion of the submission. The submission has three way stations. The first way station is the acknowledgment that spares blood and wealth: the person's neck is safe from the sword and his wealth is left with him, whether he is a conformer or a hypocrite, a follower or an innovator. The next way station is the acknowledgment that is right belief, following the Sunnah, and the loyalty of deeds. The third way station of submission is surrender, which is the utmost end of the work. It is pleasing to God and is the refuge of recognition. It is to throw oneself on the Real's exalted thresh- old and follow Him, approving of His decree, not protesting against it or turning away from it, and having reverence and respect for it. What Abraham asked for himself and Ishmael in his supplica- tion-that they be submitters-is the utmost end of this third way station: “Our Lord, make us submitters to Thee!” [2:128]. This is the same as when it was said to him, “Submit!,” he said, “I submit to the Lord of the worlds” [2:131]. It is also alluded to in His words telling about Joseph: “Receive me as a submitter and join me with the wholesome” [12:101].

So if they dispute with you say: �I have surrendered my countenance to God and whoever follows me�: and say to those who have been given the scripture and to the uninstructed: �Have you submittedḍ� And so if they have submitted they have been guided but if they turn their backs your duty is only to deliver; and God sees His servants. �Look at them through the eye of [God's] free disposal taṣrīf so that your state does not become unsettled at the differences and the disparity of their stages. One who looks at created beings through the eye of [God's] delib- erative power qudra knows that the One who determines for all based on what He has chosen for each is One. Call them publicly when in public and bear witness privately to Our free disposal taṣrīf with regard to them when in private.� Occupy your tongue by counseling them but empty your heart of their talk and separate your innermost self from witnessing them for We have not charged you with their affairs [but only] with deliver[ing] [the message]. The One who brings about affairs and originates is Us.�

Those who disbelieve in the signs of God and slay the prophets without right and slay those who enjoin to equity. So give them good tidings of a painful chastisement. �Those whom We have bound to disappointment khidhlān and branded with the state of deprivation ḥirmān-tell them that Our turning away from them is perpetual and that We have already determined their transference from one abode of disgrace hawān to another from disap- pointment khidhlān and deprivation ḥirmān to punishment and fires nīrān.�

Those are the ones whose works have failed in this world and the here- after; they have no helpers. Those are the ones for whom no success is granted in their works tawfīq bi-aʿmāl today nor realization of their hopes taḥqīq li-āmāl tomorrow. That is only because they have lost Our help in both abodes and did not bear witness to Our might and power.

Have you not seen those who were given a portion of the Book being called to the Book of God that it might decide between them and then a party of them turned away yatawallā opposedḍ [This means] �We have tested you with calling those whom We already know will not answer. So be patient with what you have been commanded regarding them. Know the misfortune of their states. They are the people who turn away ahl al-tawallī from answering ijāba because they have been deprived of the beauty of divine self-disclosure ḥusn al-tajallī by Our prior will irāda.�

That because they said �the fire shall not touch us except for a number of days�; and the lies they used to invent have deluded them in their religion. We have punished them in this world drawing them on by degrees bi-l- istidrāj until they [presume to] determine salvation and the lessening of punishment for themselves but they will come to know the doubling of affliction upon them. They think they understand something but they tell a lie. Those in error think that [what they have said] is a determination ḥukm.

But how will it be when We gather them for a day of which there is no doubt and every soul shall be paid in full what it has earned and they shall not be wrongedḍ This address is remarkable because by it He gives information about the imposing grandeur and intensity of the [Day of Gathering] at which point the intellects [of those who turned away] will be perplexed their innermost selves astonished their pretensions cut off their hearts torn from their hidden places and [their souls] will rise to their collar bones. Then there will be what will meet them from the reckoning and censure al-ḥisāb wa-l- ʿitāb the torment and punishment al-ʿadhāb wa-l-ʿiqāb and the lack of honoring and approval ʿadam al-ikrām wa-l-ījāb etc. The resurrection of the disbelievers will take place on the Day of Gathering while the resurrection of the lovers takes place in the present moment; to explain this fully would take a long time.

Say: �O God Allāhumma Master of the kingdom Allāhumma: Its meaning is �O God yā Allāh.� The letter mīm at the end of the word is a substitute for the vocative particle yā. This is a teaching of the Real on how to praise the Real that is �describe Me as I should be described in exalted measure� by saying: �O Master of the kingdom there is no associate to You no assistant no helper no companion no partner to You in essence no sharer in the kingdom no competitor in creating.� you give the kingdom to whom You will and seize the kingdom from whom You will; �... so that we will know that You are the King.� Among created beings the king is he before whom one is humbled and the kingdom that is seized is the kingdom of those who are haughty toward him. [In a similar manner] created beings are beautified tajammul by abasing themselves tadhallul60 before the Real. Their honor and might ʿizz61 is in their effacement maḥw in Him and their remaining baqāÌ is in their annihilation fanāÌ in Him. You exalt tuʿizzu whom You will by the might ʿizz of Your essence. and You abase tudhillu whom You will; by Your forsaking. You exalt whom you will guiding him to witness You and declare Your oneness and You abase whom You will such that he denies You and is deprived of You. You exalt whom you will with the good fortune of Your drawing near and You abase whom You will by the estrangement of Your turning away. You exalt whom You will by bringing him to intimacy with You and You abase whom You will by estranging him from You. You exalt whom You will by occupying him with You and You abase whom You will by distracting him from You. You exalt whom You will by eliminating the controlling elements of his lower self and You abase whom You will by giving the upper hand to its clamor. You exalt whom You will by the gleams of the rising Ṭawāliʿ of his intimacy [with You] and You abase whom You will by the night visitors Ṭawāriq of his lower self. You exalt whom You will by expanding basṬ him through You and You abase whom You will by constricting qabḌ him from You.

You make the night pass into the day and You make the day to pass into the night; You bring forth the living from the dead and You bring forth the dead from the living You provide whom You will without reckoning. You make the night pass into the day such that the authority of the light of unity tawḥīd prevails and nothing remains of the traces of the lower self and its darknesses. You make the day pass into the night so that it is as if the suns of the hearts were eclipsed or as if the night continued and the morning never came. You bring forth the living from the dead such that it is as if listlessness was no more and the pledge of union returned as a youth and the prom- ises of hearts became young and fresh. You bring forth the dead from the living such that it is as if the tree of discontent sprouted and blossomed thorns and as if the hopeless found nothing good and could not smell [the fragrance] and their hearts and eyes were confounded just as they did not believe in it the first time [6:110]. You provide whom You will without reckoning such that there is no labor kadd no exertion jahd no sweat on the brow jabīn and no toil of the right hand yamīn. His night is refreshment and repose rāḥa and His day is joy and delight bahja. His hours are special gifts karāmāt and His moments are ways of drawing near qurubāt. The different kinds of acts of His favoring cannot be enumerated by the tongue lisān and the inquiry into their full depth cannot be given expression or explanation bayān. But in the glimmers we have given here there is some indication of how to speak of this. It is said that when He said �and seize the kingdom from whom You will� [3:26] anyone who thinks that he is a king [experiences] a rude awakening from [his] drunken intoxication because he now sees [that] his kingdom is vulnerable to extinction and [he] knows that abasing himself to [God] in preserving His kingdom is worthier than vainglorious delusion and pomposity. It is said that the king-in the true sense of the word-is someone who is not distracted by anything from witnessing the One who is the real King.

Let not the faithful take the disbelievers as friends instead of the faithful…. And God warns you of Himself, and God is clement to the servants. The reality of the servant's faith and the final goal of his traveling on the path of tawḤīd takes him back to God's friendship. The reality of friendship is conformity, that is, being a friend of His friend and an enemy of His enemy. The master of the Shariah alluded to this with his words, “The most reliable handhold of faith is love in God and hate in God.” The traditions say that the Lord of the Worlds sent a revelation to one of the former prophets: “Say to the servants, 'In this world you have taken up renunciation in order to hurry to your own comfort and be relieved of this world's suffering. With your obedience and worship you have sought your own exaltation and your own good name. Now look: What have you done for Me? Have you ever loved My friends? Have you ever taken My enemies as your enemies?” This is exactly what He said to Jesus: “O Jesus, if the worship of all the inhabitants of heaven and earth accompanies you in the path of the religion, but you have no love for My friends and no enmity for My enemies, then your worship has been useless and without profit.” It is reported that Abū Idrīs Khawlānī said to Muʿādh, “I love you in the path of God.” Muʿādh said, “Let it be good news! I heard God's Messenger say that on the Day of Resurrec- tion, God will place seats around the Splendorous Throne for a group whose faces will be like the full moon. Everyone will be fearful because of the awe of the resurrection, but they will be secure. Everyone will be in dread, but they will be still. It was said, 'O Messenger of God! Which group is this?' “He said, 'Those who love each other in God.'” It has also been related that God says, “I have obligated My love on those who love each other in Me, sit with each other in Me, visit each other in Me, and spend freely on each other in Me.” Mujāhid said, “When God's friends smile in each other's faces, their sins fall away like leaves from a tree.

Say: �Whether you hide what is in your breasts or disclose it God knows it and knows what is in the heavens and what is in the earth; and God is Able to do all things.� There is nothing that escapes His knowledge so do not be grieved by any calamity that afflicts you. Soon He will bring you succor and response and soon the affliction and trial will disappear. He will hasten [His] assistance and protection.

On the day when every soul shall find the good it has done made present, and the ugly it has done. It will wish that there were a far interval between itself and that. God warns you of Himself, and God is clement to the servants. He said this here so that the servant would fall into changing states-sometimes fear, sometimes hope; sometimes contraction, sometimes expansion; sometimes harshness, sometimes generosity. The severity and harshness of God warns you about Himself throws the servant into confounded- ness and bewilderment and he becomes selfless of self. Then He caresses: “And God is clement to the servants.” He sits him on the ship of gentleness and takes him from the whirlpool of con- foundedness to the shore of intimacy. One of the pirs among the great ones of the religion said, “I wonder if I will ever escape the whirlpool of self in the ship of deliverance. Will the hand of compassion ever take my hand among the waves of wishes? Will the proof of unity ever lift the veil of dispersion from before my eyes? Will this heart ever come to rest in this body?” In the road of avarice the purses of a hundred thousand merchants have been emptied of pure gold in search of this alchemy. [DS 210]

Say: If you love God, follow me; God will love you and forgive you your sins. In terms of the Haqiqah this verse has another intimation and another taste. He is saying: “Who- ever has fervor in his breast because of these words, say to him: 'Come out in my tracks, for all the work has been made ready in my footsteps. Do not bind your heart to intellect, for intellect is a watchman, not a leader to whom the reins should be given. It is not a road that you should set out in. Do not seek what you are seeking from intellect, seek it from prophethood. Intellect carries the saddle-cloth of the religion's ruling. The exalted magnificence of the religion does not fit into the scales of intellect, nor does it come under the confines of substance and accident.'” Our religion is the same as the religion of the 124,000 prophets and messengers. The testi- mony of the Qur'an contains these words, for He says, “He has set down for you as the religion that with which He counseled Noah” and so on [42:13]. That which holds up the level of our religion is two things: “God said” and “God's Messenger said.” If everything that is the basis of the religion of the innovators-the substances, accidents, and specific differences of the Kalam experts and the determinations of their intellects-suddenly ceased to be in creation, came to nothing, and entered into the concealment of nonexistence, not an iota of deficiency would reach the threshold of the religion's exaltedness or the gate of the Sun- nah's tremendousness. By the decree of good fortune this address has come from the Exalted Lord to the folk of the Sunnah: “Today I have perfected your religion for you and I have completed My blessings upon you” [5:3]. Here there is no room for the Kalam of the theologians and the med- dling of the philosophizers, nor for their explanations of substance and accident. The path of Kalam is the path of shadows, and the worst shadows are the shadows of Kalam. You should take the road of the folk of Hadith- it is enough to have MuṣṬafā as imam. Put away confusion, for this is “the religion of old women.” You should have that, and the religion of servants. Say: If you love God, follow me. “Many thousands of years before the existence of the world and of Adam's dust, We gathered together the spirits of the creatures and made a covenant with the spirits of the prophets and messengers: 'Say: If you love God, follow me.' Whoever wants to serve the threshold of that chieftain of the empire and that center point of good fortune, from now on let him tighten his belt in serving him and assent to be his helper. This is why the Lord of the worlds recounted from them, 'They said, “We assent.” He said, “So bear witness”' [3:81]. Then We took them all at once to the concealment of nonexistence. We took a few breaths in the playing field of power and decree, and one by one We gave them entrance into this world. Adam came and went, Abraham came and went, Moses came and went, Jesus came and went. In the same way, many thousands of prophets entered the dust. Then We called out, 'O MuḤammad! Now the playing field is empty, and the moment is yours.'” That master took a step into the empire, and fourteen battlements fell from the castle of Caesar. In the Kaabah there were 360 idols and all of them fell on their faces. From the four corners of the world the call arose, “The truth has come, and falsehood has vanished away” [17:81]. The pearl of prophethood settled down on the carpet of exaltedness and the pavilion of messengerhood was pitched on the face of the earth, its ropes reaching from the east to the west of the world. The mask was lifted from the face of beauty, and because of the scattering of sweet words the world was filled with pearls and gems and adorned and trimmed with the noble character traits of the noble. Thus he said, “I was sent out with the all-comprehensive words to complete the noble character traits.” As soon as he lifted the mask from the face of his sanctified spirit, every possessor of eyes detached spirit from heart. In the whole ocean of love he saw no one's mark- he opened one shell, and the ocean was filled with pearls. Say: If you love God. The beginning of this verse goes back to what the Folk of the Tariqah call togetherness and dispersion. You love God is dispersion, and God will love you is togetherness.

Say: �Obey God and the Messenger.� But if they turn their backs God loves not the disbelievers. He commanded them to obedience and then He said �But if they turn their backs� that is fall short in obedience by opposing [God's command] then God loves not the disbelievers. He did not say �the disobedient� ʿāṣūn but rather �the disbelievers� kāfirūn so the address indicates that He loves the believers even if they are disobedient.

Lo! God preferred Adam and Noah and the house of Abraham and the house of ʿImrān above the worlds the seed of one another; God is Hearer Knower. Adam and his seed are made of the same substance but the characteristic of being chosen iṣṬifāÌ is something that comes from [God] not through lineage or relation.

Lo! God preferred Adam and Noah and the house of Abraham and the house of ʿImrān above the worlds the seed of one another; God is Hearer Knower. Adam and his seed are made of the same substance but the characteristic of being chosen iṣṬifāÌ is something that comes from [God] not through lineage or relation.

When the wife of ʿImrān said �Lord I have vowed to You what is within my womb as a consecration muḥarraran. Accept this from me. Lo! It is You who are the Hearer Knower. [3:36] And when she gave birth to her she said �Lord I have given birth to a female�-and God knew very well what she had given birth to-the male is not as the female. �And I have named her Mary and commend her to You with her seed to protect them from the accursed Satan.� The one who is consecrated muḥarrar is someone who is not in bondage to any created being. The Real ������ in His prior decree has emancipated such a person from the bondage of preoccupation [with anything other than the Real] in all aspects and states. When the mother of Mary made this vow and gave birth to a female she was ashamed. When she saw her she said �Lord I have given birth to a female who cannot be consecrated.� God most high said �and God knew very well what she had given birth to.� By my life the male is not like the female outwardly but when the Real ������ ������ accepted her every miracle appeared from her. When she said �I have vowed to You what is within my womb as a consecration� she added �Accept this from me.� He granted her request and the effects of the acceptance appeared in [Mary] and her son. One set of beings was saved by their story and another was destroyed and expe- rienced a trial fitna because of the two of them. She said �And I have named her Mary and commend her to You with her seed to protect them from the accursed Satan.� She sought protection from God from anything in her words that [might] belong to Satan.

When the wife of ʿImrān said �Lord I have vowed to You what is within my womb as a consecration muḥarraran. Accept this from me. Lo! It is You who are the Hearer Knower. [3:36] And when she gave birth to her she said �Lord I have given birth to a female�-and God knew very well what she had given birth to-the male is not as the female. �And I have named her Mary and commend her to You with her seed to protect them from the accursed Satan.� The one who is consecrated muḥarrar is someone who is not in bondage to any created being. The Real ������ in His prior decree has emancipated such a person from the bondage of preoccupation [with anything other than the Real] in all aspects and states. When the mother of Mary made this vow and gave birth to a female she was ashamed. When she saw her she said �Lord I have given birth to a female who cannot be consecrated.� God most high said �and God knew very well what she had given birth to.� By my life the male is not like the female outwardly but when the Real ������ ������ accepted her every miracle appeared from her. When she said �I have vowed to You what is within my womb as a consecration� she added �Accept this from me.� He granted her request and the effects of the acceptance appeared in [Mary] and her son. One set of beings was saved by their story and another was destroyed and expe- rienced a trial fitna because of the two of them. She said �And I have named her Mary and commend her to You with her seed to protect them from the accursed Satan.� She sought protection from God from anything in her words that [might] belong to Satan.

Her Lord accepted the child with gracious acceptance and made her grow excellently and Zachariah took charge of her. He caused [Mary] to attain more than what her mother had wished for. It is said that [God] accepted her with a gracious acceptance qabūl ḥasan by making her unique in obedience to Him and entrusting her with that which He entrusts His friends awliyāÌ-so much so that every person of her time was astonished by the excellence ḥusn of that which He had entrusted to her even though she was a girl. It is said that the gracious acceptance was the excellence ḥusn of [God's] care for her in spite of His ������ knowing what would be said about Him because of her for He is not concerned with the shamefulness of the words of enemies. I find blame in passion for you sweet. Out of love of hearing you mentioned let them blame me. Just as it is said: Let anyone who wishes say what he wishes. I do not care! It is also said that the gracious acceptance was His causing her to grow preserved [from sin and error] ʿiṣma until she said: Lo! I seek refuge in the Compassionate One from you! If you fear God [19:18]. And made her grow excellently until she stood straight in obedience and preferred His ������ good pleasure in every moment and until the fruit from her was such a person as Jesus ���� ������. This was the excellent growth. Zachariah took charge of her and it was part of [God's] gracious acceptance and [His granting her] excellent growth that He made one such as Zachariah ���� ������ among the prophets her guardian and the caretaker and protector of her affairs. God revealed to David ���� ������ �If you see someone seeking me become a servant to him in raÌayta lī Ṭāliban fa-kun lahu khādiman.� Whenever Zachariah went into the sanctuary where she was he found her with provisions. �O Mary� he said�Whence comes this to youḍ� She said �From God. Truly God provides for whomever He will without reckoning.� Among the signs of [God's] gracious acceptance was that she could never be found anywhere except in the sanctuary miḥrāb. Whoever dwells and stays where He is worshiped where the sanctuary is-that is a rare and precious servant.

Then Zachariah prayed to his Lord saying �Lord bestow upon me from You a goodly offspring verily You are the Hearer of supplication.� That is when he saw the special gift karāma of God ������ with her he grew increasingly certain and ever more hopeful so he asked for a son in spite of his advanced age. The granting of his request was a rupture of ordinary reality naqḌ al-ʿāda. It is said that Zachariah ���� ������ asked for a son to help him in obedience and an heir from his progeny in prophethood so that he might uphold the right of God ḥaqq Allāh. So it was a request which deserved to be granted. When a request is for the right of the Real ḥaqq al-ḥaqq and not for the worldly concerns of the lower self ḥaẓẓ al-nafs He will not refuse it. Zachariah ���� ������ saw Mary with summer fruits in the winter and winter fruits in the summer so he asked for a son in his old age so that it might be a sign āya and a miracle muʿjiza.

And the angels called to him as he stood praying in the sanctuary at worship When the petitioner asks and remains at the door the request is granted to him. This alludes to the fact that anyone who needs something from kings should remain at the door until the request is granted. It is said that the ruling of God ������ is such that He only responds to the request of those who embrace service khidma to Him and He casts those who turn away from obedience into the lowliness of estrangement. that �God gives you good tidings of John who shall confirm a word from God; a lord and one chaste and a prophet of the righteous.� It is said that he named him John Yaḥyā because of the life ḥayāt of his heart through God. Exegetical writings tell us that the barrenness of his mother was brought to life ḥayy through him. It is said that [the name means] the quickening of life in the heart of one who believes in Him. His saying who shall confirm a word from God Allāh means his con- firmation of the word Allāh by which he worshiped Him or that he was brought into being by the word of God. His saying a lord: The lord is one who is not in bondage to any created thing. He has been freed taḥarrara from captivity to whims and from [captivity to] any created thing. It is said that the lord is someone who has actualized his servanthood ʿubūdiyya to [God] ������. It is said that the lord is the one who is superior to the people of his age and John was such. It is said lord because he did not seek any station for himself nor did he view himself as having any worth. When he dedicated himself in humility to God in every way [God] caused him to rise above the group and made him a lord to all. His saying and one chaste that is liberated from passions and spared from carnal human properties despite being human. It is said that [it means] being protected from the demands of his lower self restrained from that through [his] engagement in exaltation [of God] and seeking to draw near [to Him]. It is said his restraint came from being uprooted by the intuitions of realities coming to him such that he no longer had any preference for worldly things. And a prophet of the righteous that is he was worthy of attaining their rank.

He said �My Lord! How shall I have a boy when old age has overtaken me and my wife is barrenḍ� He said 'so it will be.� �God does what He will.� It is said that there was a long time between his petition and the reply and because of that he said �How shall I have a boyḍ� It may mean that he said �By what right would I receive a response [to my prayer] if not by Your favorḍ�93 It may mean that he said �How shall this be: by adoption or sexual procreationḍ� It may mean that [he questioned] whether this was to be from a woman other than his wife since she was [also] of advanced age [that is] from taking a slave as a concubine. So it was said to him �No not through these means for both you and your wife have suffered loneliness together so the good news of the son is for both of you.�

He said, “My Lord, appoint for me a sign.” He said, “Your sign is that you shall not speak to the people for three days, except by intimation. And remember thy Lord often and glorify Him at evening and dawn.” Zachariah asked for a mark of his child's existence. It was said to him, “The mark is that I will stop your tongue from talking to the people for three days so that all your secret whispering will be with Me, and all on your tongue will be talk of Me.” By way of allusion He is saying, “I will give you a child whom I will cut off from this world and the creatures and the face of whose heart I will turn toward Me. Then he will know that his kiblah is nothing but My Presence and he will be at ease only in talking with Me.” Only Your name, image, and passion, O Spirit of the world, appear to me in speech, heart, and eyes. This is why He commanded Zachariah, “And remember thy Lord often and glorify Him at evening and dawn.” He commanded the faithful in general to the same thing: “And remember your Lord often” [8:45]. He is saying, “Remember God, and carry out your days in obedience and service to Him. Belong totally to Him, calling upon Him and knowing Him in every state and every work! If you are at ease, be at ease with His remembrance and message, and if you are joyful, be joyful in His name and mark. Once in a while knock on the door of My house- it is not right to pass by like a stranger. And if you talk, talk only of Me, and if you drink, drink only in remembrance of Me. And remember thy Lord often. It is said that remembrance of God has three degrees: The first is outward remembrance with the tongue of laudation and supplication. God says, “And remember thy Lord often.” Second is concealed remembrance in the heart. Thus God says, “Or with more intense remem- brance” [2:200]. The Prophet said, “The best remembrance is the concealed and the best provision the sufficient.” Third is true remembrance, which is witnessing God's remembrance of you. That is His words, “And remember thy Lord when thou forgettest” [18:24].

And when the angels said �O Mary God has preferred you and made you pure; He has preferred you above all women of the worlds.� It is possible that this was the beginning of a message from the angels to Mary elevating her state. It is possible that she may have heard their words and seen them or that she did not see them but heard them as a voice call- ing out to her: �God has preferred you by your being favored and singled out from among your kind and peers and made you pure from what is indecent and sinful with a beautiful immunity and [pure] from having physical contact with men. He has preferred you above all women of the worlds in your time.� The point of repeating the mention of her being preferred is first �He has chosen you through special gifts position and an exalted state�; and second �He has chosen you to bear Jesus ���� ������ without a father and no woman can ever be compared to you until the Day of Resurrection.� Because of that He said �above all women of the worlds.�

�O Mary be obedient to your Lord prostrating and bowing with those who bow.� �Persevere on the carpet of worship and practice obedience continually. Do not fall short from continuous service khidma. The Real has singled you out by your station so be without equal in your time in your worship of Him.�

That is of the tidings of the unseen. We reveal it to you for you were not with them when they were casting quills which of them should have charge of Mary; nor were you with them when they were disputing. That is �We have told you [Muḥammad] of these stories and have spoken with you about their meanings. Although We have related these stories to you Our speech is rare and precious-it is more valuable and more perfect than if you yourself had been a witness to [these events].�

When the angels said, “O Mary, surely God gives thee the good news of a word from Him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, celebrated in this world and the next, and one of those given proximity.” In this verse the God of the universe, the enactor of the world's folk, the assigner of daily provi- sions to the servants, the bestower of bounty and the lovingly kind, the caresser of the friends, caresses Mary and honors her. With this honoring He gives her excellence over the women of the world and separates her from all of them. First, He calls her with the vocative of honor, saying “O Mary.” Exalted is this address! Exalted is this call! Thousands of thousands of prophets and friends went, either in the repose of having found it, or in remorse and hope for it. O spirit of the world! If a thousand times you call on Him saying, “My Lord, my Lord,” that is not like His calling on you once, “My servant, My servant.” Even if you accept Him in lordhood, that gains you nothing, for in any case His lordhood is inseparable from you. What does the work is that once He should accept you for servanthood. Abū Yazīd BasṬāmī said, “God stood me before Him in a thousand standing places, presenting the empire to me, but I was saying, 'I do not desire it.' In the last standing place He said to me, 'O Abū Yazīd, what do you desire?' I said, 'I desire not to desire,'” that is, I desire what You desire. “Then He said, 'You are My servant in truth.'” Even if you do not have the gall to speak with God like Abū Yazīd, you are not too small to present your need to Him, to show Him your burning and hope, and to say, “O Lord, a name and mark is enough for me! You have come from Your threshold to place a name on me. Whatever name You want, let it be.” A man went to the bazaar to buy a slave. They presented the slaves to him and he chose one to buy. He said, “O slave, what's your name?” He said, “First buy me so that I may belong to you. Then call me by whatever name you want.

When the angels said �O Mary God gives you good tidings of a word from Him whose name is the Messiah Jesus son of Mary honored shall he be in this world and the hereafter and of those brought close. He shall speak to mankind in the cradle and in his manhood and he is of the righteous.� She was not given good tidings about her portion in this world or her fortunes in the hereafter. Rather she was given good tidings verifying that [she was receiving a] tremendous sign in [the birth of Jesus] and [that] he was a prophet of God-it was a confirmation of the miracle. It is said that He informed her that whoever succumbs to the over- whelming force of the divine power qudra and ends up before His ruling ḥukm will encounter miracles of that power the likes of which no one has experienced. Mary had surely lived for a long time with an excellent reputation and was well-known as a chaste [woman] but then [God] caused confusion about her situation [when she] appeared in a state deemed blame- worthy by people. In actuality it was not as the foolish thought. Their eyes were blocked from seeing the flow of the divine decree jaryān al-taqdīr. It is said that He informed her of what would happen to [her son] step by step and in detail. He told her that he would live in such as way that he shall speak to mankind as a young child and in his manhood and that the deception of [his] enemies would not affect him. It is said in manhood [means] after his descent from the heavens. It is said that He fortified her heart by informing her that while she herself would hold her tongue regarding her innocence [after the birth] God would cause Jesus ���� ������ to speak [as a child] as proof of her sincerity and exalted honor.

She said �Lord how shall I have a child when no mortal has touched meḍ� He said �It is such. God creates what He will. Just as you witnessed the appearance of things contrary to ordinary reality in the provision We gave [to you] likewise We will break with ordinary reality by creating a son without a man having touched [you]. When He decrees a thing that is He desires a ruling ḥukm to come to pass He says to it only: 'Be' and it is. Producing [things] from the beginning and bringing [them] forth are not difficult for Him. When they began to blame her God caused Jesus ���� ������ to speak when he was [only] one day old; [he] said �I have come to you with a sign from your Lord� [3:49].

And He will teach him the Book, the wisdom, the Torah, and the Gospel. Until the end of these verses are all his miracles. Because it was in God's knowledge that the Christians would exaggerate concerning him, the Lord of the Worlds gave him speech in the cradle in the state of infancy to reject those Christians, so he said, “Surely I am the servant of God” [19:30]. In other words, it is not as the Christians say. Rather, “I am the servant of God, created by Him, and He is my Lord.” It is also a rejection of those who criticized his mother: “O sister of Aaron! Your father was not a man of ugliness” [19:28]. The Lord of the Worlds declared her in- nocence and, to brighten her eyes, He made those words come to his tongue in the state of infancy. Here there is an exalted point: Since it was in God's knowledge that Jesus would be the brightness of Mary's eyes and the joy of her heart in this world and the afterworld, the Lord of the Worlds placed the burden and pain of Jesus on her at the time of birth. That is in His words, “And the birth pangs took her to the trunk of a date palm” [19:23]. Thus what was rightfully due became incumbent for her. As the counterpart of that suffering and hardship, blessings and ease reached her. MuṣṬafā's state with his mother was the opposite of this. Since it was in God's knowledge that his mother would have no portion of him, whether in this world or in the next, He did not place the burden of MuṣṬafā upon her, and at the time of birth no suffering reached her, so that no rightful due would become incumbent for her. Similar to this is the story of Noah and his community and that of MuṣṬafā and his community. It was said to Noah, “Do not let yourself suffer for the community and do not carry the load of their trial, for they will never give you brightness of the eyes and joy of the heart: None of your community will have faith except those who already have faith” [11:36]. It was in keeping with this address that he supplicated, “My Lord, leave no disbeliever dwelling on the earth” [71:26], and God did that.

And He will teach him the Book wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel. To be a messenger to the children of Israel �I have come to you with a sign from your Lord I will create for you out of clay [something] like the shape of a bird then I will breathe into it and it will be a bird by the leave of God. I will also heal the blind and the leper; and I bring the dead to life by the leave of God. I will inform you too of what things you eat and what you treasure up in your houses. Surely in that is a sign for you if you are believers.� These were His outward signs and dazzling overpowering proofs: bring- ing life to the dead healing the blind and the leper telling [them] what they did secretly and other miracles. [God] stated that [Jesus] confirmed what came before him in laws but was chosen to abrogate part of what came before and to establish another part for them according to the details articulated in the QurÌān.

Likewise confirming that which was before me of the Torah and to make lawful for you some of that which was forbidden to you. I have come to you with a sign from your Lord: so fear God and obey me. Surely God is my Lord and your Lord so worship Him. This is a straight path.� And when Jesus sensed their disbelief he said �Who will be my helpers [in the cause of] Godḍ� The disciples said �We will be helpers of God; we believe in God; witness that we have submitted. When the message reached them and they differed-some of them believed him and some of them called him a liar and they were the majority-he came to know that prophecy does not spare one from affliction and the oppression of enemies. So [Jesus] separated his heart from them and held to his goal qaṣd. He said to his people �Who will be my helpers [in the cause of] God so that they may help me in my exclusive devotion to His true reality and sincere dedication to His goalḍ� Then those who were touched by the effects of [God's] providence āthār al-ʿināya and chosen through the effects of [divine] selection āthār al-takhṣīṣ said �We will be helpers of God; we believe in God; bear witness to us in truth and let nothing come from us that would cast doubt on you.�

Likewise confirming that which was before me of the Torah and to make lawful for you some of that which was forbidden to you. I have come to you with a sign from your Lord: so fear God and obey me. Surely God is my Lord and your Lord so worship Him. This is a straight path.� And when Jesus sensed their disbelief he said �Who will be my helpers [in the cause of] Godḍ� The disciples said �We will be helpers of God; we believe in God; witness that we have submitted. When the message reached them and they differed-some of them believed him and some of them called him a liar and they were the majority-he came to know that prophecy does not spare one from affliction and the oppression of enemies. So [Jesus] separated his heart from them and held to his goal qaṣd. He said to his people �Who will be my helpers [in the cause of] God so that they may help me in my exclusive devotion to His true reality and sincere dedication to His goalḍ� Then those who were touched by the effects of [God's] providence āthār al-ʿināya and chosen through the effects of [divine] selection āthār al-takhṣīṣ said �We will be helpers of God; we believe in God; bear witness to us in truth and let nothing come from us that would cast doubt on you.�

Likewise confirming that which was before me of the Torah and to make lawful for you some of that which was forbidden to you. I have come to you with a sign from your Lord: so fear God and obey me. Surely God is my Lord and your Lord so worship Him. This is a straight path.� And when Jesus sensed their disbelief he said �Who will be my helpers [in the cause of] Godḍ� The disciples said �We will be helpers of God; we believe in God; witness that we have submitted. When the message reached them and they differed-some of them believed him and some of them called him a liar and they were the majority-he came to know that prophecy does not spare one from affliction and the oppression of enemies. So [Jesus] separated his heart from them and held to his goal qaṣd. He said to his people �Who will be my helpers [in the cause of] God so that they may help me in my exclusive devotion to His true reality and sincere dedication to His goalḍ� Then those who were touched by the effects of [God's] providence āthār al-ʿināya and chosen through the effects of [divine] selection āthār al-takhṣīṣ said �We will be helpers of God; we believe in God; bear witness to us in truth and let nothing come from us that would cast doubt on you.�

Lord we believe in what You have revealed and we follow the Messenger; write us down therefore with those who bear witness. As for the remainder they worked to create dissension and intensified their enmity. They plotted and schemed against him but God made them taste the evil of their scheming. They imagined that they had crucified and killed Jesus ���� ������ but that was from their ignorance and confusion. God ������ raised Jesus ���� ������ as His prophet nabī and His friend walī. Banishment and cursing was the rightful due of his enemies-this was [God's] schem- ing with them. And they schemed; and God schemed; and God is the best of schemers.

And they deceived, and God deceived, and God is the best of deceivers. Ibn ʿAbbās said, “The deception of God is that when they increased in unbelief and sin, He in- creased their blessings until He pulled them into total recklessness. They brought immense unbe- lief and applied their heads to rebellion and misguidance. Then He took them little by little from whence they did not know.” It has come in the traditions that someone tormented Abū Dardā. Abū Dardā said, “Lord God, bestow upon him a healthy body, long life, and great wealth!” An intelligent man who ponders these words will know that this is the worst of supplications. When anyone is given this, recklessness and heedlessness will make him heedless of the next world so that he will be de- stroyed.

When God said �O Jesus I am gathering you and raising you to Me and I am cleansing you of those who disbelieved The allusion in it: �I am gathering you from yourself seizing you from yourself raising you above the mortal human attributes and purifying you from your own desire irāda completely so that you will act as Our agent muṣarrif through Us and for Us. You will have no free choice ikhtiyār in anything. In its place divine governorship tawallī will descend upon you and stand in for you.� By this quality the dead were brought to life through the hands [of Jesus]. These were occurrences that could only happen by the divine deliberative power may it be exalted. It is said that He purified his heart from looking to others aghyār and from seeing simulacra and traces al-amthāl wa-l-āthār in all states and phases al-aḥwāl wa-l-aṬwār. and I am setting those who follow you above those who disbelieved until the Day of Resurrection In help nuṣra force qahr and proof ḥujja. His followers-those who have not changed his religion dīn and those who follow his creed ʿaqīda in the declaration of oneness tawḥīd-are believers muÌminūn. They are in the right until the Day of Resurrection and they will be helped [by God] until the Day of Resurrection. Then God ������ will judge between them and their enemies on that day. The disbelievers will be in hellfire ammā l-kuffār fa-fī l-jaḥīm and the believers will be in felicity wa-ammā l-muÌminūn fa-fī l-naʿīm. Then to Me shall be your return and I will decide between you as to what you were at variance about.

As for the disbelievers I will chastise them with a terrible chastisement in this world and the hereafter; they shall have no helpers. But as for the believers who do deeds of righteousness He will pay them in full their wages. God loves not the evildoers. This We recite to you of verses and wise remembrance. �This We recite to you O Muḥammad to inform you of the meanings of what We have revealed to you. [These meanings do not reach you] through your exertion to attain knowledge nor by your learning from parables nor by your deduction by any sort of reasoning.�

As for the disbelievers I will chastise them with a terrible chastisement in this world and the hereafter; they shall have no helpers. But as for the believers who do deeds of righteousness He will pay them in full their wages. God loves not the evildoers. This We recite to you of verses and wise remembrance. �This We recite to you O Muḥammad to inform you of the meanings of what We have revealed to you. [These meanings do not reach you] through your exertion to attain knowledge nor by your learning from parables nor by your deduction by any sort of reasoning.�

As for the disbelievers I will chastise them with a terrible chastisement in this world and the hereafter; they shall have no helpers. But as for the believers who do deeds of righteousness He will pay them in full their wages. God loves not the evildoers. This We recite to you of verses and wise remembrance. �This We recite to you O Muḥammad to inform you of the meanings of what We have revealed to you. [These meanings do not reach you] through your exertion to attain knowledge nor by your learning from parables nor by your deduction by any sort of reasoning.�

Truly the likeness of Jesus in God's sight is as Adam's likeness. He chose to purify the spirit rūḥ in them from the act of passing from one body to another tanāsukh in the loins but He singled out Adam as the first [of men] while He singled out Jesus ���� ������ for the special distinc- tion of breathing the spirit into him in the most exalted way. But even though these two were weighty beings the imperfection of being in time and being mortal was nonetheless unavoidable for them: He created him of dust then He said to him �Be� and he was [3:59].

The truth is from thy Lord, so be not among the doubters. “O MuḤammad, take care not to suppose that I have associates and partners in the power of ex- istence-giving. I do not need or require anyone in that. No one besides Me has the power of existence-giving and devising.” One of the pirs of the Tariqah said in his whispered prayer, “O Lord, the one who does the work is the one who can, and the one who bestows is the one who has. What do I have and what can I do? Who has ability like Your ability? In praising You who has a tongue? Without Your love, who has the joy of spirit?” Without the breeze of the heart-taker's love, the garden has no ease, without the radiance of that rose-colored face, there's no light or fire.

And whoever disputes with you concerning him after the knowledge that has come to you say: �Come! Let us call our sons and your sons our wives and your wives our selves and your selves then let us humbly pray and invoke God's curse upon those who lie.� And whoever disputes with you concerning him means that �After you have sincerely proclaimed what you were told and have come to know the truth of the knowledge We imparted to you in your heart do not be reticent in challenging them to mutual cursing. Trust that you have the force qahr and help nuṣra and that We are protecting you and have sheltered you in the wing of Our nearness.� If they had sought this mutual cursing the valley would have rained fire down upon them but God ������ gave them respite because He knew of the believers [yet to come] of their progeny. This verse alludes to those whose states are no longer those of the sincere ṣiddīqūn. When the lights [of the sincere] appear what remains in [the others] fades away completely.

This is the true story. There is no god but God and assuredly God is Mighty Wise. This is the true story: The dust of confusion has no authority over the wit- nessings of divine unity. No delusion of any created being reaches the secret of His ruling ḥukm. Nothing that is known in existence can come close to it and nothing that is imagined can conceive of the divine decree taqdīr.

And if they turn their backs God knows the agents of corruption. �And if they turn their backs O Muḥammad the confusion of those who talk falsely cannot withstand the rays of your light.� God knows the agents of corruption: either He will sweep them away or He will forbear until their conjectures have become firmly established. Then He will seize them suddenly and [then] they cannot be helped.

Say: “O Folk of the Book! Come to a word common between us and you: that we worship none but God, that we associate nothing with Him, and that some of us not take others of us as lords apart from God.” In terms of realization, this is addressed to the folk of tawḤīd and the desirers on the road of the Haqiqah. He is saying, “If you who are traveling on the path of truthfulness today want to be dwellers in the seat of truthfulness [54:55] tomorrow, be careful to protect your walkway from the debris of customs, to sweep away the opacities of mortal nature from the carpet of your present moment, and to make the drinking place of your aspiration pure of the dust of others. Be one in heart, one in desire, and one in aspiration. 'When someone comes to have one concern, God will suffice him against the concerns of this world and the next.'” This is why He says, “and that some of us do not take others of us as lords apart from God”: Do not settle down in every street with each scatteredness of the heart. Do not obey the commanding soul, do not worship blameworthy caprice, and take not two gods; surely He is but One God [16:51]. As long as the talk of some defiled fellow grabs you, you're the servant of your own fancy, not a servant of God.

�O people of the scripture Why do you argue about Abrahamḍ when the Torah was not revealed neither the Gospel but after him. What do you not comprehendḍ He put a cloak niqāb of possessiveness and a veil ḥijāb of jealousy over His friend ���� ������ and severed his connection to all of them after their accusation about him and [thus he] decisively contradicted their confused arguments. How could Abraham ���� ������ belong to the religion of those who came after himḍ This makes no sense.

Lo! You are those who dispute about what you know; why do you then dispute concerning that of which you have no knowledgeḍ; and God knows and you know not. That is �Your scripture includes clear evidence bayān that should be a proof burhān for you. Regarding that [evidence or proof] you have chosen either truly or falsely. As for that for which you have no defini- tive evidence dalīl or any way of knowing maʿrifa how can you begin to judge it or make claims to have comprehended itḍ�

No; Abraham in truth was not a Jew neither a Christian but he was a Muslim and a ḥanīf The ḥanīf is one who stands straight mustaqīm in truth while the aḥnaf stands straight mustaqīm with curved legs-one who leans on a [twisted] foot is called mustaqīm optimistically. Abraham ���� ������ was a ḥanīf not bend- ing from the truth not swerving from the law and not stumbling this way and that with every promise of personal gain. He surrendered his wealth his self his son-everything altogether-to the decree of God and [stood in] a state of readiness for His command. and he was never of the idolators.

Surely the people with the best claim Abraham are those who followed him and this Prophet and those who believe; and God is the Protector of the believers. Whereas whims ahwāÌ and blameworthy innovations bidaʿ break up [a group] so that each faction ends up in error the people of truth ahl al-ḥaqq in every era and every time and moment hold to the best proof and will be a single party. They will be those with the best claim [to Abraham] over others. Abraham was a companion of truth ṣāḥib al-ḥaqq. Whoever professes his religion dīn-as in the example of our Messenger ﷺ and his community-belongs to the religion of Abraham ���� ������ which is the declara- tion of the unity tawḥīd of God ������ ������. And God is the Protector walī of the believers because they have been entrusted108 with His religion dīn and they act in harmony with the declaration of His unity tawḥīd. The protecting friendship walāya of God comes with aid ʿawn help nuṣra selection takhṣīṣ and nearness qurba.

There is a party of the people of the scripture who yearn to make you go astray; yet they cause none to stray except themselves; but they are not aware. Those who had succumbed to discord who had been afflicted by tribulation and seduced by temptation wished for all people what had befallen them. Although [this party of] the people of the scripture wanted the believers to turn from the truth God refused to do other than perfect His light and sent back upon them the evil consequences of their actions.

O people of the scripture! Why do you disbelieve in God's verses when you yourselves bear witnessḍ �[You bore witness] before his mission ﷺ to the authenticity of his prophecy. What is it that brings you to error so that you disavow what you knowḍ�

O people of the scripture! Why do you confound truth with falsehood and conceal the truth while you knowḍ �You conceal the truth regarding the affair of Muḥammad ﷺ while you know that he is the Prophet who speaks truly.� Can this be anything other than the divine ruling to forsake ḥukm al-khidhlān and the decision to deprive qaḌiyyat al-ḥirmān [those who confound and conceal the truth]ḍ Then He informed them that among them there were some hypocrites. They wanted to forestall any trouble with the Muslims while also avoiding conflict with their brothers among the disbelievers. Thus they conspired to pretend to agree publicly with the Messenger ﷺ and the Muslims while secretly to remain true among themselves to their corrupt beliefs.

A party of the people of scripture say �Believe in what has been revealed to those who believe at the beginning of the day and disbelieve at the end of it so that they might then turn back. [By this verse] God ������ showed that their hypocrisy was exposed to the Muslims and that it had not benefited them either in this world because God informed His Prophet ���� ������ and the believers of it or in the hereafter because [their hypocrisy] deprived them of sincere devotion [toward God].

Do not have faith in any but those who follow your religion. Say: “Surely the guidance is God's guidance,” lest anyone should be given the like of what you have been given, or dispute with you before your Lord. Say: “Surely the bounty is in God's hand. He gives it to whomso- ever He wills.” And God is all-embracing, knowing. Some of the commentators have said that here God is addressing the Muslims and caressing the folk of recognition and faith. He is reminding them of His favor toward them with the religion of the submission. The address then has two paths. In one respect it is addressed to the common faithful of this community, and in the other respect it is addressed to the recognizers and the elect among the folk of the Tariqah. The first respect is this: “O assembly of submitters! Do not suppose or hold firm that anyone has been given what has been given to you. There is no religion like the religion of the submission, and it was given to you. There is no book like the Qur'an, and it was given to you. There is no prophet like MuḤammad, and he was given to you. There is no month like Ramadan, and it belongs to you. There is no day like Friday, and it belongs to you. All the shariahs have been abrogated by your shariah, and all the compacts have been abrogated by your compact. The perfection of the religion and the Shariah and the beauty of the Tariqah and the Haqiqah are all in your covenant.” This is in His words, “Today I have perfected your religion for you and I have completed My bless- ings upon you and I have approved the submission for you as a religion” [5:3]. “Now give gratitude for this blessing, give thanks to your Object of worship, and obey the command. The command is this: 'Do not have faith in any but those who follow your religion.' Do not exercise friendship with any but those who share your religion, and do not show brother- hood to any but the faithful. Keep away from the irreligious and the estranged.” This is just what He says in this verse: “Do not lean upon those who do wrong, lest the Fire touch you” [11:113].

He singles out for His mercy whomsoever He will. That is, He singles out for His blessings whomsoever He will. He singles out a group for provisions, He singles out a group for the blessing of character traits, He singles out a group for the blessing of worship, others for the blessing of desire, others for the success of outwardness, others for the realiza- tion of the secret cores, others for the gift of outer skins, others for the encounter with the secrets. God says, and His words are truth: “If you count God's blessings, you will not enumerate them” [14:34].7 He singles out for His mercy whomsoever He will. He brought them together obscurely and did not specify anyone so that the hopeful would increase in their hope and the fearful would not remain in their fear. In the station of worship and obedience the servants will not find any states better than hope and fear, for the Lord of the Worlds praises the servants in these two states and says, “They hope for His mercy and fear His chastisement” [17:57]. He is also calling attention to the fact that even if the servants strive to the utmost in obedience and perform all the conditions of servanthood, in the end it is God's mercy that will deliver them. Concerning this the following has been narrated from the Prophet: “No one will enter the Garden by his deeds.” It was said to him, “Not even you, O Messenger of God!” He said, “Not even I, unless God envelops me with His mercy.”

And of the people of the scriptures is he who if you trust him with a hundredweight he will return it to you; and of them is he who if you trust him with one dinar will not return it to you; unless you keep standing over him. That is because they say �We have no duty toward the Gentiles. They speak falsehood against God while they are aware. He relates that [the people of the scripture] notwithstanding their error and disbelief vary in their moral qualities. All of them have broken the trust amāna of the religion dīn but among them are those who have regard for proper [human] interactions. Even though they interact with sincerity it will not benefit them in receiving reward but it will benefit them in lessening [their] punishment since disbelievers are held accountable in the details of the laws. If in their disbelief they sinned less they will suf- fer less punishment than those who have lost the most even though their punishment will also be in perpetuity. Then He explained that the judgment is not theirs so that when they say �We have no duty toward the Gentiles� the situation is not as they would have it nor will these words benefit them. Rather the judgment belongs to God ������.

Nay but whoever fulfils his covenant and has fear for truly God loves the God-fearing. Those who hold to the covenant are deserving of being united in friendship honor and the garden. Those who are in error are deserving of aversion ignominy and shame.

Those that sell God's covenant and their own oaths for a small price there shall be no share for them in the hereafter; and God shall not speak to them nor look upon them on the Day of Resurrection nor will He purify them and theirs will be a painful chastisement. Those who prefer their caprice hawāhum over their final outcome ʿuqbāhum and have given priority to their desires munāhum over har- monious agreement with their Protector mawlāhum will have no share in the hereafter. Because they have chosen to seek pleasure in the present they have lost in the two abodes and they remain apart from the Real. The pleasure they sought in worldly things ḥaẓẓ has brought upon them all kinds of tribulations but they are not aware of what has happened to them: God shall not speak to them nor look upon them on the Day of Resurrection nor will He purify them. Moreover He will cause them to remain in the punishment beyond the count of time.

And there is a group of them who twist their tongues with the Book so that you may suppose it as part of the Book; yet it is not part of the Book; and they say �It is from God� yet it is not from God and they speak falsehood against God while they know. This verse alludes to those who are false in their claims on this path Ṭarīqa. They embellish what they say and let loose their tongues concerning what their hearts have no information or verification about. In this they deceive the foolish ordinary people and novices. They imagine that they have attained realization of what they say. In describing them God most high said so that you might suppose it is as part of the Book; yet it is not part of the Book. In a similar manner the lords of deception and fraud direct their talk to the weak so that the secrets of the people of realities ahl al-ḥaqāÌiq are exposed before them. God most high said and they speak falsehood against God while they know that is they know that they are speaking falsely. Thus the people of falsehood and deception on this way Ṭarīqa speak from hearts qulūb that are ruined and innermost selves asrār that are veiled. We seek refuge in God from deserving wrath.

It belongs to no mortal man that God should give him the Book, the judgment, and prophet- hood, and then he should say to the people, “Be servants of me instead of God!” But, “Be you lordly ones from having taught the Book and from having studied!” Before giving existence to the universe and creating Adam, the majestic compeller, the great God, the renowned enactor, knew in His eternal knowledge who among the children of Adam would be worthy of prophethood and friendship and who would be qualified for love and suited for messen- gerhood. God knows better where to place His message [6:124]. How can he upon whom He has placed the brand of deprivation and the inscription of unawareness be sinless and truthful on the road today? And how can he to whom He has given good fortune gratis and whom He has placed on the road of truthfulness and sinlessness be roadless and bad in state today? So, what will take form and how can it enter into imagination? It could never happen that the chosen MuṣṬafā and the caressed Jesus, after the honor of prophethood, the confirmation of sinlessness, and the strength of messengerhood, take a step out of line and say to the people, “Be servants of me instead of God!” By virtue of the beginningless choice and eternal solicitude, the Lord of the Worlds answered on their behalf as their deputy: “They do not say this. Rather they say, 'Be you lordly ones!'” In other words: Be among those singled out for God, those who are described by His words, “When I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears and his eyesight with which he sees.” In keeping with the tasting of the folk of recognition, the lordly ones are those who become one for God with disengaged intention, sound trust, and intimacy's breeze. They step beyond the two worlds and seize hold of the gentleness of the Patron's love. They say the prayer of the dead for their own attributes. When someone steps into the field of passion for the beautiful, night and day will recite for him the prayer of the dead. [DS 210] They have souls undergoing annihilation and hearts full of thirst. They have burnt souls, secret cores lit by passion, and spirits hanging in hope. I want a heart for choosing only You, a spirit for breathing the pain of Your passion, A body for desiring only Your love, an eye for seeing You and only You. Their aspiration goes beyond this world, their desire beyond paradise, their repose beyond heaven and earth. They are waiting: When will the sun of love rise, when will the moon of good fortune come forth, when will the breeze of felicity blow, when will the beginningless remembrance bear fruit? When will I throw off this cage and build a nest in the divine garden!? It is also said that the lordly ones are those singled out for God. Through this they are ascribed to Him, described by His attributes, and come forth with His character traits as long as their servant- hood lasts and their makeup stays in place. This view is taken from the saying of MuṣṬafā, “Be- come characterized by the character traits of God!” He also said, “God has a number of character traits. Whoever becomes characterized by one of them will enter the Garden.” The folk of knowledge have said that the commentary on these character traits is the meaning of the ninety-nine names of God. In his traveling, the servant must pass by way of these meanings to reach union with God. The Pir of Khurasan, Abu'l-Qāsim Kurragānī, said, “As long as the servant is acquiring these meanings and bringing together these descriptions, he is still in the path and has not yet reached the goal. He is traveling on his own and has not yet received God's attraction. As long as he stays in recognition, he is held back from the Recognized. As long as he is seeking love, he is unaware of the Beloved.” Hurry to passion and don't sit in attachment, take a few steps beyond passion and being passionate! A great man was asked, “When does the servant reach the Patron?” He said, “When he reaches himself.” They asked, “How does he reach himself?” He said, “Seeking becomes lost in the Sought and recognition in the Recognized.” They said, “Explain more.” He said, “Of the body the tongue remains, and that's it. Of the heart the mark remains, and that's it. Of the spirit face-to-face vision remains, and that's it. Hearing goes, the Heard remains, and that's it. The heart goes, the Shown remains, and that's it.

He would never order you to take the angels and the prophets as lords. Would He order you to disbelieve after you have submittedḍ That is �do not attribute to them so much as an atom in the establishment of good and evil ithbāt al-khayr wa-l-sharr.� It is said that He is informing you of the boundary of human nature ḥadd al-bashariyya and the truth of lordship ḥaqq al-rubūbiyya. It is said that He orders you to respect tawqīr them with regard to the command and the law sharīʿa but to disdain taḥqīr the worth of cre- ated things in comparison to lordship rubūbiyya. Would He order you to disbelieve after you have submittedḍ �Would He order you to affirm ithbāt created things after bearing witness shuhūd to the Realḍ� It is said: �Would He order you to look to outward appearances ashkāl and to attribute events to simulacra amthāl after the lights of unity tawḥīd have appeared in your innermost selves and after the suns of singular devotion tafrīd have arisen in your heartsḍ�

And when God took the compact of the prophets, “I have given you of the Book and wis- dom. Then a messenger will come to you confirming what is with you. You shall surely have faith in him and you shall surely help him.” In the whole Qur'an, there is no verse more complete in explaining the excellence of MuṣṬafā, to whom this verse is devoted without the association of anyone else. The Lord of the Worlds made two covenants with His creatures and took two compacts from them. One was the compact He took from the creatures concerning His Godhood and Enactorship, as He said: “When your Lord took from the children of Adam, from their loins, their offspring and made them bear witness concern- ing themselves. 'Am I not your Lord?' They said, 'Yes indeed'” [7:172]. The other is the compact He took with the angels and the prophets concerning MuḤammad's prophethood and helping him, as He says, “And when God took the compact of the prophets.” This is an utmost bestowal of eminence and a perfect acknowledgment of excellence, for He made his name great with His own name and lifted up his measure with His measure. Several thousand years before the existence of MuḤammad, a command came, “O Gabriel! I will have a friend whose name is MuḤammad. He will be praised and caressed by Me, his name will be placed next to My name, his measure will be lifted up by My bounty, his being obeyed will be obedience to Me, his words will be My revelation, and following him will be friendship with Me. O Gabriel! You make a covenant with Me to have faith in him and help him.” This was when He said, “You shall surely have faith in him and you shall surely help him.” Gabriel said, “O Lord, I make a covenant that my hand will be one with his hand, I will help, and I will have faith in him.” God said, “O Gabriel! Keep to this covenant and do not oppose it.” He said, “O Lord, who would have the gall to oppose You?!” Then He said, “O Michael! You be a witness to Gabriel's covenant.” Then in the same way He made a covenant with Michael, and He told Gabriel to be witness to Michael's covenant.

Then whoever turns his back after that they are the wicked. This alludes to whoever abandons [the Prophet's] way sunna or wan- ders [away] from following his path Ṭarīqa after the appearance of [the Prophet's] evidence and the clarity of his miracle. They are those whose condition has become corrupted. They have become deserving of wrath because of their denial and the breaking of their attachment to the divine solicitude.

What! Do they desire other than God's religion when to Him has sub- mitted whoever is in the heavens and the earth willing or unwillingly and to Him they shall be returnedḍ Anyone who pays attention to what is not real ghayr al-ḥaqīqa or looks to what is other than Him in imagining divinity ilāhiyya is like one who sees a mirage he thinks is water māÌ but when he comes to it he finds only dust habāÌ. The errors of mere suppositions cut one off and confuse; those who descend into them have entered a desolate wadi. To Him has submitted whoever is in the heavens and the earth willingly because of the lights of divine self-disclosure coming down continually to their innermost selves or unwillingly because of the flow of the divine decree overpowering them.

Say: �We believe in God and that which has been revealed to us and that which has been revealed to Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes; and in that which was given to Moses and Jesus and the prophets from their Lord; we make no division between any of them; and to Him we submit.� We believe in God not our lower selves nor our strength or our power. We believe through God in that which has been revealed to us and through God ������ we make no division between any of them-not through our own strength choice effort or acquisition. If He had not taught us who He is we would never have known-for otherwise how could we have learned thisḍ

Whosoever wants a religion other than the submission, it will not be accepted from him. Any religion that is not the submission is false. Any deed that is not following the Sunnah is the seed of remorse. The submission is the tree, the Sunnah is its water source, faith its fruit, and the Real the one who planted and nurtured it. When the wellspring of the Sunnah takes replenishment, it takes it from divine solicitude. If-refuge in God!-He should take back the solicitude, the wellspring would go dry. The tree would become ineffectual and barren, it would not give the fruit of faith, and it would be on the verge of disappearance and destruction. This is like the group who became apostates and turned away from the submission. Again, if the lordly solicitude should go forth and replenish the wellspring of the Sunnah, then the branches of the tree will be made from the goodly word [14:24] and its fruit from pure belief. The heaven of guidance will make the branch into a ladder, and in the state of life and death its fruit will become constant and never be cut off. This is why the Lord of the Worlds says by way of similitude, “God has struck a similitude: A goodly word is like a goodly tree, its roots fixed, and its branches in heaven. It gives its fruit every season by the leave of its Lord” [14:24-25]. It has also been said that if a similitude is struck for the submission, it is a lamp that has been lit by the Most Tremendous Light, its material and nurture made to appear from the light of the Sunnah. To this is the allusion in His words, “Is he whose breast God has expanded for the sub- mission, so he is upon a light from his Lord [...]?” [39:22]. He is saying, “Whenever the Exalted Lord lights the lamp of the submission in a breast, assistance from the light of the Sunnah makes it appear so that the breast may always be adorned and lit. Hence, whenever someone does not have a whiff of the Sunnah, he will have no portion of the submission. It is narrated from Shāfiʿī that he said, “I saw God in a dream and He said to me, 'Ask a wish from Me.

How shall God guide a people who have disbelieved after their belief and bore witness that the Messenger is true and after the clear signs had come to themḍ God guides not the evildoing folk. Those whom He made unsuitable for the communion [of lovers] in His prior decree-how shall He draw them near to Him on the carpet of service through His favor nowḍ It is said [with regard to] those whom He made far removed in the pre- eternal decree-when would He bring them nearer to sincerity in [their] actionsḍ God prevails over His affair.

Those-their requital is that there shall rest on them the curse of God and of the angels and of men altogether. Those-their state in the end is the same as it was from His decree in the beginning of their affair. The beginning for them is fate's rejection radd al-qisma [of them] their middle part is being turned away from service al-ṣaddu ʿan al-khidma and then finally [their] outcome is banishment and abasement al-Ṭard wa-l-madhalla.

Abiding therein the chastisement shall not be lightened for them and they shall not be reprieved. Abiding in that abasement [their] punishment will not abate for even a moment lā yaftur ʿanhum al-ʿadhāb laḥẓatan nor will the separation be lightened for them for even an hour lā yukhaffafu dūnihim al-firāq sāʿatan.

But those who repent thereafter and make amends then truly God is Forgiving Merciful. [Those who repent] are those whom mercy reaches. They were not among the group [distanced by the prior decree] although people imagined them to be part of it.

Surely those who disbelieve after they have believed and then increase in unbelief their repentance shall not be accepted; those are the ones who go astray. This alludes to those who return to the states of the people of habit ahl al-ʿāda after having traveled the path of spiritual desire Ṭarīq al-irāda. They prefer this world and to submit to their whims over seeking the Real ������ ������. Then they renounce the people of the path ahl al-Ṭarīqa and become ever more alone in their [inner] darknesses. Their repentance shall not be accepted; those are the ones who go astray from the path of the Real for trust amāna cannot be regained once treachery khiyāna has been displayed. As the days pass their punishment is the increasing estrange- ment of [their] hearts from the path and they are not distressed by the felicitous state that has slipped away from them. If they had persevered their repentance would have been accepted but the Real ������ follows His way sunna with those who are listless on this path when they revert to habitual states aḥwāl al-ʿāda and do not feel regret for the moments that have passed away from them. God most high said �And We shall confound their hearts and eyes; just as they did not believe in it the first time� [6:110]. The apostate from Islam is a more powerful enemy to Muslims than the original disbeliever. Likewise the one who reverts from this path is more powerful in rejecting it and more oppositional to its people than those who were always alien to it.

Surely those who disbelieve and die disbelieving the whole earth full of gold shall not be accepted from any one of them if he would ransom himself thereby; for them awaits a painful chastisement and they shall have no helpers. This alludes to the one who dies after becoming listless. Even if he had a beautiful beginning he will not be gathered in the hereafter with the people of this story ahl hādhi al-qiṣṣa even if a thousand of those with deeper knowledge were to intercede for him. Indeed the perfection of the ruse with him is that his image will be cast onto someone else in the hereafter so that his acquaintances among the people of deeper knowledge ahl al-maʿrifa will think that it is him but it will not occur to anyone that he should intercede for him.

You will not attain piety birr until you expend of what mimmā = min mā you love; and whatever thing you expend God knows of it. When the object of seeking is piety and goodness birr [the preposition] min is used which is [the particle of speech] for dividing something into portions. He said �of what mimmā = min mā you love.� Whoever desires piety and goodness birr should expend some portion of what he loves while whoever desires the One who is All-Goodness al-bārr should expend everything he loves. Whoever expends what he loves in this world will find what he seeks from the Real most high. Whoever is attached to the fortunes of the lower self man kāna marbūṬan bi-ḥuẓūẓi nafsihi will not find fortune in nearness to his Lord lam yaḥaẓẓu bi-qurbi rabbihi. It is said that if you can only attain piety and goodness birr by expend- ing what you love how will you ever reach the One who is All-Goodness al-bārr so long as you prefer your worldly fortunes to Himḍ And whatever thing you expend God knows of it. There are those who expend looking for reward and compensation those who expend looking to defend themselves from affliction and tribulations and those who expend content with His knowing. One of them said: He wishes to walk in a weak way so that she might when she hears of his suffering send a message to him. He trembles because of what has become known in seeking the sublime that his qualities might be mentioned one day before Salmā.

All food was lawful to the children of Israel save what Israel forbade for himself before the Torah was revealed. Say: �Bring the Torah now and recite it if you are truthful.� Whoever invents falsehood against God after that those are the evildoers. [God] does not declare things permissible or prohibited in their original state; in [this state] there is no divine ordinance ḥadd regarding them. That is a liberality and kindness from the Real ������ [and this state exists] until such a [time] as a command or a law comes regarding it. God ������ has eased the precepts of religious obligation aḥkām al-taklīf for advanced disciples ahl al-nihāya. Their way is to adopt what is easiest in order to perfect what comes to them from the precepts of the hearts aḥkām al-qulūb-surely the difficulties made incumbent on their hearts are harder for them. As for novices ahl al-bidāya the affair is made difficult for them with tasks and litanies-their way is to adopt what is more onerous and difficult [in these areas] so as to empty their hearts of thoughts. Whoever thinks otherwise is in error. This verse also alludes in His saying �Whoever invents falsehood against God� to the states of the people of false claims and errors. They absolve themselves and attribute to God ������ their false notions hawājis but God is free of these. It is a rare servant who can distinguish between [true] incoming thoughts khawāṬir and false notions hawājis.

All food was lawful to the children of Israel save what Israel forbade for himself before the Torah was revealed. Say: �Bring the Torah now and recite it if you are truthful.� Whoever invents falsehood against God after that those are the evildoers. [God] does not declare things permissible or prohibited in their original state; in [this state] there is no divine ordinance ḥadd regarding them. That is a liberality and kindness from the Real ������ [and this state exists] until such a [time] as a command or a law comes regarding it. God ������ has eased the precepts of religious obligation aḥkām al-taklīf for advanced disciples ahl al-nihāya. Their way is to adopt what is easiest in order to perfect what comes to them from the precepts of the hearts aḥkām al-qulūb-surely the difficulties made incumbent on their hearts are harder for them. As for novices ahl al-bidāya the affair is made difficult for them with tasks and litanies-their way is to adopt what is more onerous and difficult [in these areas] so as to empty their hearts of thoughts. Whoever thinks otherwise is in error. This verse also alludes in His saying �Whoever invents falsehood against God� to the states of the people of false claims and errors. They absolve themselves and attribute to God ������ their false notions hawājis but God is free of these. It is a rare servant who can distinguish between [true] incoming thoughts khawāṬir and false notions hawājis.

Say: �God has spoken the truth therefore follow the creed of Abraham a ḥanīf and he was not an idolater.� The creed milla of Abraham was complete abandonment to God al-khurūju ilā Allāh bi-l-kulliya and surrender to His decree without hold- ing back in any way wa-l-taslīmu li-ḥukmihi min ghayri an tabqā baqiyya. In truth to affirm ithbāt anything [other than God] in accounting for what comes into being is idolatry shirk.

The first house established for the people was that at Bakka a blessed place and a guidance to all the worlds. Therein are clear signs the station of Abraham; and whoever enters it is secure. It is the duty of people toward God to make the pilgrimage to the House if he is able to make his way there. As for the one who disbelieves God is independent of all the worlds. The House is a bit of stone ḥajara and the servant is a bit of mud madara. The bit of mud is bonded to the bit of stone rabaṬa al-madara bi-l-ḥajara so that mud madar is with stone ḥajar and the One who has always been is magnified and sanctified. It is said that the House is the object of the circumambulation of bodily selves nufūs while the Real ������ is the object of the quest of hearts qulūb. The House consists of the remains and traces [of the past]. These are but relics and stones yet These traces of ours point to us. So after we [are gone] look to the traces. It is said that the House is stone but not all stone is alike. [It is] stone but it causes the hearts of the lovers to awaken muzʿij and the souls of the poor fuqarāÌ to leap munfij. Indeed for the hearts of some it is cooling and pleasant muthlij wa-mubhij and for the hearts of others [it is] stimulating and arousing munfij wa-muzʿij. [What people see in the House depends on the] different types [of people]: A House that is a place you go to seek out your loved ones and visit them mazār [or] where you hear news akhbār of them and see the traces āthār [of their having been there]. A House-whoever looks to it with the eye of separation returns with an innermost self laid waste kharāb. Whoever observes it with the eye of connection wins every approach and approval ījāb. As it is said: Truly houses even when they are silent have a pact with Our lovers since they stop at them. A House-whoever visits it with his bodily self finds His kindnesses and whoever visits it with his heart finds His unveilings. It is said that He said �and purify My House� [2:125 and 22:26] attrib- uting it to Himself.

The first house established for the people was that at Bakka a blessed place and a guidance to all the worlds. Therein are clear signs the station of Abraham; and whoever enters it is secure. It is the duty of people toward God to make the pilgrimage to the House if he is able to make his way there. As for the one who disbelieves God is independent of all the worlds. The House is a bit of stone ḥajara and the servant is a bit of mud madara. The bit of mud is bonded to the bit of stone rabaṬa al-madara bi-l-ḥajara so that mud madar is with stone ḥajar and the One who has always been is magnified and sanctified. It is said that the House is the object of the circumambulation of bodily selves nufūs while the Real ������ is the object of the quest of hearts qulūb. The House consists of the remains and traces [of the past]. These are but relics and stones yet These traces of ours point to us. So after we [are gone] look to the traces. It is said that the House is stone but not all stone is alike. [It is] stone but it causes the hearts of the lovers to awaken muzʿij and the souls of the poor fuqarāÌ to leap munfij. Indeed for the hearts of some it is cooling and pleasant muthlij wa-mubhij and for the hearts of others [it is] stimulating and arousing munfij wa-muzʿij. [What people see in the House depends on the] different types [of people]: A House that is a place you go to seek out your loved ones and visit them mazār [or] where you hear news akhbār of them and see the traces āthār [of their having been there]. A House-whoever looks to it with the eye of separation returns with an innermost self laid waste kharāb. Whoever observes it with the eye of connection wins every approach and approval ījāb. As it is said: Truly houses even when they are silent have a pact with Our lovers since they stop at them. A House-whoever visits it with his bodily self finds His kindnesses and whoever visits it with his heart finds His unveilings. It is said that He said �and purify My House� [2:125 and 22:26] attrib- uting it to Himself.

Say: �O people of the scripture why do you disbelieve in God's verses when God is witness of what you doḍ� The divine address in this verse is meant to confirm the obligation of the pilgrimage [for the people of the scripture]. With respect to the law the pilgrimage is obligatory for them166 but with respect to the true state of affairs ḥaqīqa and [divine] subjugation qahr the pilgrimage is barred to them. They are called by the law and command hum madʿuwūna sharʿan wa-amran but banished by the decree and the subjugation maṬrūdūna ḥukman wa-qahran.

Say: �O people of the scripture why do you bar believers from God's way desiring to make it crooked while you yourselves are witnesses. God is not heedless of what you do.� How can one who is barred himself bar anotherḍ Surely in this is a secret belonging to the [divine] Lordship.

O you who believe if you obey a party of those who have been given the scripture they will turn you after you have believed into disbelievers. Estrangement is not restricted to just the estranged but also extends to anyone who becomes part of their circle. Whoever follows the enemy of God into this ruinous companionship will be cast down to the same level.

How can you disbelieve while you have God's verses recited to you and His Messenger is in your midstḍ Whoever holds fast to God he is guided to a straight path. It is not right that the shade of disbelief should pass over one whose heart [has seen] the rising suns of deeper knowledge ʿirfān. For surely when day comes night slips away. Whoever holds fast to God: The one who holds fast to God has [in truth] only found the holding fast from God. How could those who have not been guided by God hold fast to Godḍ The guidance from Him in the beginning bidāya causes you [to] hold fast in the end nihāya. Your holding fast does not cause the guidance hidāya. The true state of affairs of holding fast is sincerity taking oneself to Him persevering in the flight to Him and continuing to appeal for His help. Whoever has the covering of sepa- ration removed from his innermost self realizes that there is not an atom that belongs to or comes from anything other than God. The people who hold fast to Him are those who are held fast by Him. The leader of those who come first and those who come last ﷺ said �I seek refuge in You from You.� Whoever holds fast to Him through himself -without being effaced from his own strength and power in his holding-his homeland is idolatry shirk but he is unaware.

O you who have faith, be wary of God as is the rightful due of His wariness. When He says, “O people,” He says, “Be wary of your Lord” along with it. When He says, “O you who have faith,” He says, “Be wary of God” along with it. Be wary of your Lord is addressed to the common people. Their godwariness is based on seeing blessings, and their aspiration is nurturing the body to serve the Real. Be wary of God is addressed to the folk of caresses and generosity. Their godwariness is based on being watchful of the Beneficent and their aim is the repose of the spirit in witnessing the Real. What a difference between the two! Be wary of your Lord is addressed to the wage-earners, and Be wary of God is addressed to the recognizers. The wage-earners are seeking joy and blessings, and the recognizers are seeking the mystery of the Beneficent. From God the wage-earners want other than Him, but the recognizers want God Himself. AḤmad ibn Khiẓrūya saw the Real in a dream. He said, “O AḤmad! Everyone is seeking something from Me, except Abū Yazīd. He is seeking Me.” People are wishing for repose and comfort, but I, O Exalted One, wish to encounter You empty. * On the day I reach union with You I will disdain the state of the paradise-dwellers. It has been said that godwariness is of three sorts: One is wariness of God's punishment by having patience against acts of disobedience, as He says: “Be wary of the Fire that has been prepared for the unbelievers” [3:131]. Second is the godwariness of gratitude for blessings, as He says: “Be wary of your Lord” [4:1]. Third is godwariness at the vision of Unity, without taking into account reward or punishment, as He says: “Be wary of God as is the rightful due of His wariness.” The first is the godwariness of the wrongdoers, the second the godwariness of the moderate, and the third the godwariness of the preceders.

And hold fast to God's bond together and do not scatter; remember God's grace upon you when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together so that by His grace you became brothers; and you were upon the brink of a pit of fire; but He delivered you from it. So God makes clear to you His signs that you might be guided. Holding fast to His bond ������ is clinging to the traces of the intermediary āthār al-wāsiṬa-the noble one ʿazīz ﷺ. This [comes] from confirm- ing what is true and right taḥaqquq and remaining devoted taʿalluq to the Book and the sunna. It is rightly said that [the words] and hold fast to God's bond are spoken to the elite khawāṣṣ while [the words] and hold fast to God [4:146 and 22:78] are spoken to the elect of the elect khāṣṣ al-khāṣṣ. Whoever turns from His auspicious occurrences sawāniḥ back to his own choosing and devising iḥtiyāl his own thinking and reasoning istidlāl his own ways of knowing and behaving ashkāl; and takes refuge in the shade of his own planning tadbīr seeking illumination by the light of his own intel- lect and speculation tafkīr-such a person is denied the shade of divine solicitude and is left with his unfortunate state. And do not scatter: Scattering or separation tafriqa is the most intense punishment. It is the companion to associating others with God shirk. And remember God's grace upon you when you were enemies: They were enemies when they remained with their worldly concerns turning toward the narrowness of human nature and competing with one another as befits the stinginess of [their] lower selves. And He brought your hearts together through deliverance from the cap- tivity of created things. He drove away afflictions from their innermost selves. Then what they sought together became one thing. If a thousand people were to be brought together in one pursuit they would in truth be one. So that by His grace you became brothers: His grace is His safeguard- ing ʿiṣma of you as brothers united in aim and aspiration annihilated from the worldly concerns of the lower self and the furtive impulses of stinginess and avarice. And you were upon the brink of a pit of fire by your being held captive to the objects of your desire munākum and [being] bound by the shackles of your worldly concerns and whims hawākum.

Let there be a community of you inviting to the good. This is an allusion to peoples who stand up for God in God. They are not taken aback by the blame of any blamer nor cut off from God by relying on any causes. They have seen the shortcomings of their own souls and immersed their lives in gaining God's approval. They act for God, give counsel for God's religion, and call God's creatures to God. Their trade has profited them and they do not regret their handshake. This is the description of a people who stand through the Real's making them stand and who have been freed from their own power and strength and disengaged from their own desires and aims. They are outside the circle of deeds and states, free of the captivity of choice and self- determination. They know God, they call upon God, and they strive in God's religion. They do not think about people or their blame. In their hearts they have friendship for the Patron and in their eyes the collyrium of Self-disclosure. They see everything just as it is. Others look from the artisanry to the Artisan, but they look from the Artisan to the artisanry. They are the elect of the Presence, branded by the Empire. Be the elect servant of the king-with his brand you're safe from police by day and patrols by night. They are the ones burnt by union and killed by love. Their blood has been spilled and their prop- erty destroyed, but their hearts are in His grasp, their spirits in His embrace. This is why they say, You have a Heart-taker better than life. Don't grieve-let go of life. “When someone is destroyed in God, God takes his place.”

And do not be like those who became dispersed and disagreed. Dispersion is one thing and disagreement something else. Dispersion is the opposite of together- ness and disagreement the opposite of agreement. Dispersion is the scatteredness of the folk of the Tariqah and disagreement the scatteredness of the folk of the Shariah. Dispersion is that the servant desires one thing and the Real desires something else. Togeth- erness is that the servant's desire and the Real's desire are one. According to the report, “When someone makes his concerns one concern, God will spare him the concerns of this world and the next world.” It has been said that dispersion is to gaze on the creatures and to see the secondary causes such that you are never relieved of suffering and creaturely antagonism. Togetherness is to gaze on the Real and to know that the Real is one, the work comes from one place, and the decree comes from this one door. As for the disagreement of the lords of the Shariah, that is of two sorts: One is in the principles of the religion, the other in the branches. Disagreement in the principles is terrible and dangerous, since one must be right and the other wrong. When someone's goal lies in the west and he takes the road east, how can he ever reach the goal? The more he goes, the more he moves away from the goal day by day, and he falls farther behind. This is alluded to in His words, “Surely this path of Mine is straight, so follow it. And do not follow the paths, lest they disperse you from His path” [6:153]. As for the disagreement of the community on the branches, it is like a group who set out for one goal by disagreeing roads, some going nearer and some farther. Although they disagree in the traveling, they arrive at one goal and come together. This disagreement is mercy itself. To it the Prophet alluded: “Disagreement in my community is a mercy.” In other words, this disagreement in branches is God's mercy toward the creatures, so that the work of the religion would not become narrow for them and its road would not be difficult. This is in His words, “He placed no hardship upon you in the religion” [22:78]; and in God's words, “God desires for you ease and does not desire for you hardship” [2:185].

The day when some faces are blackened and some faces whitened. As for those whose faces are blackened �did you disbelieve after you had believedḍ Then taste the chastisement for what you disbelieved!� But for those whose faces are whitened they shall be in God's mercy abiding therein. The faces of the lords of pretensions daʿāwā will be blackened while the faces of the companions of meanings maʿānī will be whitened. The faces of the people of unveilings kushūfāt will be whitened through illumina- tion. The faces of the companions of the veil ḥijāb will be blackened with shame covered with dust taʿlūhā ghabara and overcast with gloom wa-tarhaquhā qatara. It is said that whoever's heart is white today his face will be white in the future and the one who is the opposite his situation will be the reverse. It is said that whoever turns away from created beings before His auspi- cious occurrences sawāniḥ his face will become white with the spirit of having committed his affairs [to God] rūḥ al-tafwīḌ. Whoever's heart is attached to what is other [than God] with wants and needs ḥawāÌij his heart will become black [and] his face [will be] in the dust of covetousness. As for those whose faces have become white they will be in intimacy and ease rawḥ. As for those whose faces have become blackened they will [experience] tribulations and lamentation nawḥ.

The day when some faces are blackened and some faces whitened. As for those whose faces are blackened �did you disbelieve after you had believedḍ Then taste the chastisement for what you disbelieved!� But for those whose faces are whitened they shall be in God's mercy abiding therein. The faces of the lords of pretensions daʿāwā will be blackened while the faces of the companions of meanings maʿānī will be whitened. The faces of the people of unveilings kushūfāt will be whitened through illumina- tion. The faces of the companions of the veil ḥijāb will be blackened with shame covered with dust taʿlūhā ghabara and overcast with gloom wa-tarhaquhā qatara. It is said that whoever's heart is white today his face will be white in the future and the one who is the opposite his situation will be the reverse. It is said that whoever turns away from created beings before His auspi- cious occurrences sawāniḥ his face will become white with the spirit of having committed his affairs [to God] rūḥ al-tafwīḌ. Whoever's heart is attached to what is other [than God] with wants and needs ḥawāÌij his heart will become black [and] his face [will be] in the dust of covetousness. As for those whose faces have become white they will be in intimacy and ease rawḥ. As for those whose faces have become blackened they will [experience] tribulations and lamentation nawḥ.

Those are the verses of God which We recite to you in truth and God desires not any injustice for the worlds. To God belongs all that is in the heavens and in the earth and to Him all matters are returned. We make our address to you continuous in all times in all things small and large a cultivation of the way of love widād. And God desires not any injustice for the worlds: How could it be pos- sible to ascribe injustice to Him in the determining of events taqdīr and existence wujūd when all created beings are His creation and what has been determined for them is His wise determination ḥukmḍ To God belongs all that is in the heavens and in the earth by way of possession milk and to Him all matters are returned by way of determi- nation ḥukm.

Those are the verses of God which We recite to you in truth and God desires not any injustice for the worlds. To God belongs all that is in the heavens and in the earth and to Him all matters are returned. We make our address to you continuous in all times in all things small and large a cultivation of the way of love widād. And God desires not any injustice for the worlds: How could it be pos- sible to ascribe injustice to Him in the determining of events taqdīr and existence wujūd when all created beings are His creation and what has been determined for them is His wise determination ḥukmḍ To God belongs all that is in the heavens and in the earth by way of possession milk and to Him all matters are returned by way of determi- nation ḥukm.

You are the best community khayra ummatin brought forth to men enjoining decency and forbidding indecency and believing in God. Because MuṣṬafā ﷺ is the most honored of the prophets his community is the best of communities. Because they are the best of communities they are the most desiring ashwāq of communities. Because they are the most desiring of communities their lives are the shortest of lives. He created them as the last of created beings so that their stay beneath the earth would not be long [before the resurrection]. Their goodness khayriyya has been obtained not by the abundance of their prayers and devotional acts but by the intensity with which He has drawn them near and selected them. Surely the standing of the earlier ones at the door has been long but when the permission comes to enter the later ones will go first. How many reach out to connect to us [yet] their palms receive no share. Enjoining decency and forbidding indecency: Decency is service to the Real and indecency is keeping company with the lower self. Decency is to prefer what is due to the Real ḥaqq al-ḥaqq and inde- cency is to choose the worldly concerns of the lower self ḥaẓẓ al-nafs. Decency is what brings you close to Him and indecency is what veils you from Him. In the command to decency you are bound to be characterized by decency and in forbidding indecency you are required to turn away from it. Had the people of the scripture believed it would have been better for them; some of them are believers; but most of them are wicked. If everyone had been included under Our command they would have attained true glory in this world and the hereafter but they were kept away from acceptance in the choice already made-most of them were branded with associating partners with God shirk.

They will not harm you except a little hurt; and if they fight against you they will turn their backs to you then they will not be helped. The Real ������ ������ does not give His enemies power over His friends except as much as will prove the sincerity of the flight [of the friends] to God for the reality of their flight firār is nobler before Him than their staying firm qarār. If [the enemies] imagine themselves to be superior to the friends in truth they suffer lowliness and degradation.

Abasement shall be cast upon them wherever they are found save a rope of God and a rope of the people; they have incurred anger from God and poverty shall be cast upon them; that because they disbelieved in God's signs and slew the prophets without right; that because they disobeyed and used to transgress. The sign of being exiled cannot be hidden the mark of distance cannot be concealed and the evidence of being cut off cannot be veiled. They are in the lowly state of having been banished and abased by rejection. Those who have eyes ulū l-abṣar learn from them while those among the dis- believers and the profligates al-kuffār al-fujjār who are of their kind are deceived by them.

Yet they are not all alike; some of the people of the scripture are a community upright who recite God's verses in the watches of the night pros- trating themselves. They believe in God and in the Last Day enjoining decency and for- bidding indecency vying with one another in good works; those are of the righteous. Just as the difference between light and darkness is one of contradiction it has likewise been established that the states of the friends and the states of the enemies are mutually exclusive. How can illumination and darkness ẓulma certainty and suspicion tuhma communion and separation furqa distance and intimacy ulfa devotion on the carpet and turning from the door being characterized by friendship walāÌ and departing from fidelity wafāÌ be considered equalḍ How can the two possibly come togetherḍ How can they be compatible or equalḍ

Yet they are not all alike; some of the people of the scripture are a community upright who recite God's verses in the watches of the night pros- trating themselves. They believe in God and in the Last Day enjoining decency and for- bidding indecency vying with one another in good works; those are of the righteous. Just as the difference between light and darkness is one of contradiction it has likewise been established that the states of the friends and the states of the enemies are mutually exclusive. How can illumination and darkness ẓulma certainty and suspicion tuhma communion and separation furqa distance and intimacy ulfa devotion on the carpet and turning from the door being characterized by friendship walāÌ and departing from fidelity wafāÌ be considered equalḍ How can the two possibly come togetherḍ How can they be compatible or equalḍ

And whatever good they do they shall not be denied it and God knows the God-fearing. One who is intent shall not be debarred from His door; one who does busi- ness shall not suffer loss on His account; one who desires companionship shall not be lonely with Him; and one who seeks shall not be contemptible before Him.

As for the disbelievers their riches shall not avail them neither their children against God; those are the inhabitants of the fire abiding therein. There is no alternate for them in the situation no substitute for them in the final outcome. They are in a state of loss in the here and now and in the future will be in separation and exile affliction and hurt punishment and rejection: She changed and we changed. Alas to anyone who has sought but did not find a replacement to let him forget.

The likeness of what they expend in the life of this world is as the likeness of a wind wherein is a blast that smote the tillage of a people who have wronged themselves and destroyed it. God did not wrong them but they wronged themselves. They found no inheritance for what they spent for other than God except continuous affliction. They obtained nothing from their calculations except one tribulation after another. That is the recompense of those who reject and turn their backs.

O you who believe do not take as intimates anyone apart from your- selves; such men spare nothing to ruin you; they would love for you to suffer. Hatred is revealed by their mouths; and what their breasts conceal is yet greater. Now We have made clear to you the signs; if you understand. To trust the adversary after difficulties have become apparent is to further facilitate the deception of the enemy. The Real ������ advised the Muslims to be wary of the opposition to declare themselves free of anyone other [than Him] and to continually persist in their devotion to the Real ������ in the heart and innermost self. He stated that from the beginning it was not unexpected that [there would be] opponents of the Messenger ﷺ among the people. How could it not be so when [Muḥammad] ﷺ [was] drawn near and they [were] turned awayḍ How can night be combined with dayḍ

Ha! There you are: You love them, but they do not love you. The faithful had limpid hearts and generous natures, and they did not keep tenderness and mercy back from the estranged. They wanted good for them and attached their hearts to their submission. They wanted their salvation and did not hold back God's mercy from them-whether they were acquaintances or strangers. This kept on crossing their minds: Bring the sweetmeat, for it is the heart's beloved, suited for both the elect and the common. This is the same tenderness that MuḤammad showed to the estranged. He said, “O God, guide my people, for they do not know.” As for the unbelievers, those who had no limpidness in their hearts or loyalty in their natures, they never wanted good for the people of faith, nor did they love them. They grieved at the good that reached them and became happy at the bad. God says, “If something beautiful touches you, it vexes them, and if something ugly strikes you, they rejoice at it” [3:120]. Indeed, everyone does what is fitting for him, for “The pot pours what is inside it.” The person of faith is generous and lovingly kind, for what is fitting for faith is generosity and chivalry. The unbeliever is base and bad-wanting, for what is fitting for unbelief is baseness and unseemliness. The person of faith calls God's creatures to salvation and deliverance. The unbeliever calls them to the Fire and captivity. To this He alludes with His words, “O my people! What is it with me that I invite you to salvation and you invite me to the Fire?” [40:41].

If good fortune befalls you it is evil for them; but if evil befalls you they rejoice thereat. Yet if you endure and fear [God] their guile will not hurt you at all; God encompasses what they do. This verse alludes to those who abandon the path of spiritual desire irāda and return to the states of the people of habit ahl al-ʿāda. They are not happy to see an aspirant murīd have a breakthrough nafādh; rather they are glad when they see listlessness in a seeker qāṣid. God in His favor and grace perfects His light for the people of His solicitude and He lets the evildoers stray from His path and their distance is punishment. He is not concerned with what comes to them.

you went forth at dawn from your family to assign the believers their places for battle and God hears knows. He put [the Prophet] ﷺ in charge of assigning the places for battle del- egating His command to him. Then He made manifest in this matter the hidden things of His secret. The axis revolves around His determination and decree fa-l-madār ʿalā qaḌāÌihi wa-qadarihi and the crossing over is by means of what He brings about and chooses wa-l-iʿtibār bi-ijrāÌihi wa-ikhtiyārihi.

parties of you were about to lose heart; and God was their protector and let the believers rely on God. He brings forth everyone in the vest of free choice ikhtiyār as if their negation and affirmation their acts and abstention from acting were at their [own] command. In truth they are only turned about by the agency of His grasp taṣrīf al-qabḌa and the turning of His deliberative power taqlīb al-qudra.

God surely helped you at Badr while you were abased. He wrote this inscription of abasement for them in respect of number and the view of the common people. But, in respect of the view of the elect and the reality of the work, how can it be said that someone is lowly and abased when God is his helper? The Pir of the Tariqah said in his whispered prayers, “O Lord, in recognizing You we are alive, with Your help we are happy, with Your generosity we are joyful, through Your exalting we are exalted. O Lord, in You we are alive, so how can we ever die? In You we are happy, so how can we ever be sorrowful? In You we are joyful, so how can we live without You? In You we are exalted, so how can we ever be abased?” A man entered in on Hārūn al-Rashīd and commanded him to do the honorable. Hārūn be- came angry and put him inside a room with a lion, with the door firmly shut. The lion entered in upon the man with humility and did not harm him. After that, they saw him in the midst of the gar- den, happily gazing at it, and the door to the room was firmly locked as it had been. They reported his state to Hārūn, and he summoned him. He said, “Who let you out of the room?” He answered, “The one who brought me into the garden.” He said, “Who brought you into the garden?” He said, “The one who brought me out of the room.” Hārūn commanded that they should put him on a seat with exaltation and honor and carry him around the city, with a caller going before him saying, “Behold, Hārūn al-Rashīd wanted to abase a servant exalted by God, and he was unable to do so.”

were saying to the believers �Is it not sufficient for you that your Lord should reinforce you with three thousand angels sent downḍ Yea if you are patient and fear and they come against you instantly your Lord will reinforce you with five thousand angels accoutred.� The tranquility sent by the Real ������ to the heart of MuṣṬafā ﷺ was from God ������ without intermediary while the strengthening of the hearts of the believers was through the intermediary of the Messenger ﷺ. If not for [the doubt that] remained in them he would not have replied to them telling [them] of the help [that would] be sent in the angel malak. Why tell of the angel when the affair is entirely in the hand of the King malikḍ

were saying to the believers �Is it not sufficient for you that your Lord should reinforce you with three thousand angels sent downḍ Yea if you are patient and fear and they come against you instantly your Lord will reinforce you with five thousand angels accoutred.� The tranquility sent by the Real ������ to the heart of MuṣṬafā ﷺ was from God ������ without intermediary while the strengthening of the hearts of the believers was through the intermediary of the Messenger ﷺ. If not for [the doubt that] remained in them he would not have replied to them telling [them] of the help [that would] be sent in the angel malak. Why tell of the angel when the affair is entirely in the hand of the King malikḍ

What God ordained was only as a good tiding to you and that your hearts might be at peace. Victory comes only from God the Mighty the Wise. God ������ follows His practice sunna with His friends is such a way that when their intentions niyyāt become weak their spiritual desire irāda low or their hearts are on the verge of listlessness fatra He shows them kindnesses alṬāf and special gifts karāmāt. By these the ties of their deeper knowledge ʿirfān are strengthened and the realities of their cer- tainty yaqīn are confirmed. He sent down this address according to this practice sunna. Then He severed their hearts and innermost selves from anything other than Him entirely saying Victory comes only from God.

And that He might cut off a party of the disbelievers or suppress them so that they fall back frustrated. God does not let enemies gloat over the misfortunes of His friends. Even if the believer is struck by a catastrophic defeat nakba there is no doubt that God will cause His enemy to suffer trial and punishment.

it is no concern at all of yours whether He relents to them or chastises them; for they are indeed evildoers. To God belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth; He forgives whom He wills and chastises whom He wills. And God is Forgiving Merciful. The deity is the One to whom belongs the command and the prohibition. Because there is no counterpart to Him in divinity [the Prophet] ﷺ has nothing to do with the command and the prohibition. It is said that in what He taught him and told him He divested [the Prophet] of everything else and every share or claim inasmuch as He stated that the command was in no way his. If no part of the command is permit- ted for the leader of the first and the last how can there be any part of the command for the one whose rank is lower in stationḍ It is said that He takes for Himself alone the secret of His servants in His decree ḥukm saying �I am the One who relents to whom I will among My servants and I punish whom I will. What happens in the end is hidden from you O Muḥammad and you are not aware of My secret regarding them.� It is said that He raised [the Prophet] up at one time to a station in which He said �and you threw not when you threw but God threw� [8:17]. [The Prophet] threw a handful of earth and hit all the faces [of the enemy]. But in another time He said to him �No part of the command is yours� [3:128] and then added in explanation �To God belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth� [3:129]. Therefore the right to possess is His right to pos- sess mulk the command is His command amr and the decree is His decree ḥukm. He punishes whom He will fa-man shāÌa ʿadhdhabahu and brings closer [to Him] whom He will wa-man shāÌa qarrabahu. He guides whom He will wa-man shāÌa hadāhu and leads astray whom He will wa-man shāÌa aghwāhu.

it is no concern at all of yours whether He relents to them or chastises them; for they are indeed evildoers. To God belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth; He forgives whom He wills and chastises whom He wills. And God is Forgiving Merciful. The deity is the One to whom belongs the command and the prohibition. Because there is no counterpart to Him in divinity [the Prophet] ﷺ has nothing to do with the command and the prohibition. It is said that in what He taught him and told him He divested [the Prophet] of everything else and every share or claim inasmuch as He stated that the command was in no way his. If no part of the command is permit- ted for the leader of the first and the last how can there be any part of the command for the one whose rank is lower in stationḍ It is said that He takes for Himself alone the secret of His servants in His decree ḥukm saying �I am the One who relents to whom I will among My servants and I punish whom I will. What happens in the end is hidden from you O Muḥammad and you are not aware of My secret regarding them.� It is said that He raised [the Prophet] up at one time to a station in which He said �and you threw not when you threw but God threw� [8:17]. [The Prophet] threw a handful of earth and hit all the faces [of the enemy]. But in another time He said to him �No part of the command is yours� [3:128] and then added in explanation �To God belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth� [3:129]. Therefore the right to possess is His right to pos- sess mulk the command is His command amr and the decree is His decree ḥukm. He punishes whom He will fa-man shāÌa ʿadhdhabahu and brings closer [to Him] whom He will wa-man shāÌa qarrabahu. He guides whom He will wa-man shāÌa hadāhu and leads astray whom He will wa-man shāÌa aghwāhu.

O you who believe do not exact usury doubled and redoubled. And fear God so that you may prosper. And fear the fire that has been prepared for the disbelievers. [God] has prohibited usury for His servants; this includes loaning one amount and asking twice as much in return. But He has asked you for a loan which He will repay seven hundredfold even up to an infinite repay- ment.This alludes to the magnanimity karam that is not inherent in humans but rather is an attribute of the Real ������. And fear the fire that has been prepared for the disbelievers: These words indicate that the believer will not be chastised by [the fire]. If he is chastised by it for a time he will not abide in it.

O you who believe do not exact usury doubled and redoubled. And fear God so that you may prosper. And fear the fire that has been prepared for the disbelievers. [God] has prohibited usury for His servants; this includes loaning one amount and asking twice as much in return. But He has asked you for a loan which He will repay seven hundredfold even up to an infinite repay- ment.This alludes to the magnanimity karam that is not inherent in humans but rather is an attribute of the Real ������. And fear the fire that has been prepared for the disbelievers: These words indicate that the believer will not be chastised by [the fire]. If he is chastised by it for a time he will not abide in it.

And obey God and the Messenger so that you may find mercy. [God] tied obedience to the Messenger ﷺ to obedience to Himself. This was to elevate [the Prophet's] rank and to make things easier for the com- munity by handing them over to the company of an individual who was one of them. It is more reassuring to be with one's own kind.

And vie with one another hastening to forgiveness from your Lord and to a garden as wide as the heavens and the earth that has been prepared for those who fear. Who expend in prosperity and adversity and restrain their rage and pardon their fellow men; and God loves those who are virtuous. The meaning here is vie with one another hastening to act in ways that will bring about forgiveness for you. The hearts [of the believers] were overwhelmed imagining that this was a difficult matter so [the Prophet] ﷺ said �Remorse is repentance� al-nadmu tawba. Nothing but repentance brings about forgiveness because the one who disobeys is the one who is in need of it. The people who vie with one another are of several types. Those who are worshipers ʿābidūn vie with one another by their feet in acts of obedience bi-qadamihim fī l-Ṭāʿāt. Those who have deeper knowledge ʿārifūn vie with one another with their aspirations in acts of drawing near bi-himam- ihim fī l-qurubāt. Those who are disobedient ʿāṣūn vie with one another with their remorse by swallowing their grief bi-nadamihim bi-tajarruʿi al-ḥasarāt. Whoever vies with others by his feet finds [God's] recompense wajada mathwabatahu. Whoever vies with others with his aspirations finds [God's] nearness wajada qurbatahu. Whoever vies with others with his remorse finds [God's] mercy wajada raḥmatahu. When He mentioned the garden He described it by the vastness of its width and in that there is information about its height because the height is comparable to the width. But when He mentioned forgiveness he did not mention height or width so some people have said that forgiveness is from the [divine] attributes of the essence ṣifāt al-dhāt and is part of the meaning of mercy raḥma. According to this way of thinking His forgiveness is His decree ḥukm in overlooking [the misdeeds of] the servant and His speech kalām. The quality of the essence is too holy for size and width. [On the other hand] those who say His forgiveness belongs with the [divine] attributes of actions ṣifāt al-fiʿl say that because of the abundance of sins He did not describe forgiveness as having any end thus indicating that it encompasses all sins. Who expend in prosperity and adversity: They do not hoard anything from God and prefer Him over everything.

Those who spend in prosperity and adversity, those who curb rage, and those who pardon people-and God loves the beautiful-doers. Those who spend in prosperity and adversity. It has been said that in this station people are three groups: First are those who spend nothing, whether in prosperity or adversity, whether in the vast- ness of blessings or in the days of famine and hardship. They are called “base” in an unqualified sense. They have seized the branch of niggardliness, which is a tree whose roots are in hell and whose branches are in this world. This is according to what Anas ibn Mālik reported from God's Messenger: “Openhandedness is a tree in the Garden whose branches are in this world; when someone latches on to one of its branches, it will lead him to the Garden. And niggardliness is a tree in the Fire whose branches are in this world; when someone latches on to one of its branches, it will lead him to the Fire.” Second are those who spend in vastness of blessings but not in narrowness and hardship. Most of God's creatures among the world's folk and those who take care of this world are in this station. In the work of this world they do not have the confidence for open-handedness and they are always in fear of poverty. To them alludes His words, “If He asks you for them, then presses you, you are niggardly, and He brings out your rancor” [47:37]. Third are those who spend in both of these states, both in ease and difficulty. Such a person has one of two states: Either he is an impudent and impure man who does not know whence he takes and where he gives and does not think about the outcome. He is numbered among the broth- ers of Satan. That is in His words, “Surely the squanderers are the brothers of Satan” [17:27]. Or he is a man who is confident in the sufficiency of God and His assignment of daily provision. He has recognized the secret of this report from MuṣṬafā: “Surely the holy spirit breathed into my mind that no one will die until his provision is complete. So be wary of God, and go lightly in your seeking. Never let the tardiness of provision make you seek something of God's bounty through disobedience, for what is with God will only be reached by obeying Him. Surely every man has a provision that will come to him inescapably. If someone approves of it, it will be made blessed for him and be expanded. And if someone does not approve of it, it will not be made blessed for him and it will not expand. Surely provision seeks out a man just as his moment of death seeks him out.” Such a person relies on God's treasury and keeps his heart straight with God. He spends all that he has and holds nothing back. He brings it to hand from its place on condition of the Shariah, and he spends it in its place in conformity with the Shariah. This is why the Lord of the Worlds praises and lauds his spending and says, “Those who spend in prosperity and adversity.” Then He says concerning their attribute, “those who curb rage.” They do not become angry at anyone, for they place all sins on themselves and consider themselves subjected and dominated over by the people. They tolerate suffering, or rather, they welcome it with patience and forbear- ance, for they bear witness that God knows and sees. And those who pardon people. “Pardon” has two meanings: One is to efface, as the Arabs say, “The winds pardoned the tracks.” The other is surplus, as God says, “Take to pardoning” [7:199], that is, take the surplus of their property. Here He alludes to the fact that those who pardon people are those who pass over and efface people's sins, but they do not limit themselves to that. Rather, they caress them and bestow upon them from the surplus of what they own. This is the attribute of the beautiful-doers, and God is their Friend, for He says, “And God loves the beautiful-doers. Beautiful doing in interacting with the Real is “to worship God as if you see Him.” In in- teracting with people, it is that, when someone is bad toward you, you are good toward him; and when someone does not act worthily toward you, you act worthily toward him. This is why God commanded, “Take to pardoning,” that is, take the excellent and beautiful things from among the character traits, and pardon those who wrong you, join with those who cut off from you, and act with beauty toward those who act with ugliness toward you.

And who when they commit an indecency or wrong themselves remem- ber God and pray forgiveness for their sins-and who shall forgive sins but Godḍ-and who do not persist in what they did knowing. Those-their requital is forgiveness from their Lord and gardens beneath which rivers flow abiding therein; excellent is the wage of those workers! God most high revealed to Moses ���� ������ �say to those who do wrong 'Until such time as they do not remember Me I have obliged Myself to remember those who remember Me and My remembrance of those who do wrong is the curse.'� But He said to those who do wrong in this community [when] they wrong themselves remember God and then says in the last part of the verse: and who shall forgive sins but Godḍ It is said that one's indecency fāḥisha is according to one's state ḥāl and station maqām as is true of one's wrongdoing ẓulm. The transgres- sions mukhālafāt that occur in the minds of the most respected people are like the actions of others. Their speaker said: You are my eye. Is it not right for my eye to lower its eyelids against the dust in the airḍ The crime on the carpet is not like the sin at the door. It is said that they commit an indecency by relying on their [own] actions or they wrong themselves by regarding their [own] states so they seek forgiveness for their sins by declaring themselves free from what they do and do not do knowing that there are no means to Him except through Him. He has purified them of the wrongdoings of their bodily and lower selves. Looking to states and actions when realities appear is wrongdoing. One whom God has purified by the light of solicitude is protected from entanglement in the delusions of people. Those-their requital is forgiveness from their Lord in returning them to witnessing the Lordship and the best possible outcome and fate that was already theirs. And gardens beneath which rivers flow in the future in paradise and in the here and now in the happiness of whispered conversations and the fullness of intimacy.

And who when they commit an indecency or wrong themselves remem- ber God and pray forgiveness for their sins-and who shall forgive sins but Godḍ-and who do not persist in what they did knowing. Those-their requital is forgiveness from their Lord and gardens beneath which rivers flow abiding therein; excellent is the wage of those workers! God most high revealed to Moses ���� ������ �say to those who do wrong 'Until such time as they do not remember Me I have obliged Myself to remember those who remember Me and My remembrance of those who do wrong is the curse.'� But He said to those who do wrong in this community [when] they wrong themselves remember God and then says in the last part of the verse: and who shall forgive sins but Godḍ It is said that one's indecency fāḥisha is according to one's state ḥāl and station maqām as is true of one's wrongdoing ẓulm. The transgres- sions mukhālafāt that occur in the minds of the most respected people are like the actions of others. Their speaker said: You are my eye. Is it not right for my eye to lower its eyelids against the dust in the airḍ The crime on the carpet is not like the sin at the door. It is said that they commit an indecency by relying on their [own] actions or they wrong themselves by regarding their [own] states so they seek forgiveness for their sins by declaring themselves free from what they do and do not do knowing that there are no means to Him except through Him. He has purified them of the wrongdoings of their bodily and lower selves. Looking to states and actions when realities appear is wrongdoing. One whom God has purified by the light of solicitude is protected from entanglement in the delusions of people. Those-their requital is forgiveness from their Lord in returning them to witnessing the Lordship and the best possible outcome and fate that was already theirs. And gardens beneath which rivers flow in the future in paradise and in the here and now in the happiness of whispered conversations and the fullness of intimacy.

Ways of life have passed away before you; so travel in the land and behold how was the end of those who denied. This is an exposition for mankind and a guidance and an admonition for such as are God-fearing. It means �Take heed from those who came before. Consider how We acted with those who showed friendship and how We took revenge on those who showed enmity.� This is an exposition for mankind: an exposition to some people through rational proofs adillat al-ʿuqūl to others through unveilings of hearts mukāshafāt al-qulūb and to others through the self-disclosure of the Real in the innermost selves tajallī l-ḥaqq fī l-asrār.

Ways of life have passed away before you; so travel in the land and behold how was the end of those who denied. This is an exposition for mankind and a guidance and an admonition for such as are God-fearing. It means �Take heed from those who came before. Consider how We acted with those who showed friendship and how We took revenge on those who showed enmity.� This is an exposition for mankind: an exposition to some people through rational proofs adillat al-ʿuqūl to others through unveilings of hearts mukāshafāt al-qulūb and to others through the self-disclosure of the Real in the innermost selves tajallī l-ḥaqq fī l-asrār.

Faint not neither grieve for you shall prevail if you are believers. [This] means when you support or launch an attack by means of [the help of] God you should not be afraid of anything other than God. Nor should you faint or become weak for surely help is from God and the One who prevails is God. Nothing is equal to God. Not even an atom or a particle [originates] from them. His words if you are believers that is it is not right that the believer should be overshadowed by fear of anything other than God.

If a wound touches you a like wound already has touched the other people. Such days We deal out in turn among mankind and that God may know those who believe; and that He may take witnesses from among you and God loves not the evildoers. �If a difficulty has come to you for Our sake they have faced something similar before you. They have been given something like what you have been given.� Those who are patient among them will be victorious fa-man ṣabara minhum ẓafira while those who suffer what comes with annoyance and anger will lose wa man Ḍajira min ḥamli ma laqiya khasira. Days come in turns al-ayām nuwabun and circumstances change wa-l-ḥālāt duwalun and nothing is hidden from the Real.

And that God may prove the believers and efface the disbelievers. The tests of the unseen are a kind of smelting for the servant. Through various stages He purifies him from faults so that he becomes like pure gold without any dross. In this way one becomes clear of defects and purified for God. And efface the disbelievers in the wadis of dispersion tafriqa. As for the scum it passes away as dross [13:17].

Or did you suppose that you should enter paradise without God know- ing who among you have struggled and who are patient. The wish of those who think they can arrive at a greatly esteemed place without enduring hardships casts them into the abyss of destruction. On the other hand those who recognize the value of [the place] that is sought will have the exertion of their pains made easy for them: Time is not generous with its pleasures for those who are reluctant to throw off restraints. Their speaker said: When youth is on the lookout for the lightning of meanings al-maʿānī the least valuable use of time is the pleasantry of sleep.

You were longing for death before you met it. Now you have seen it looking on. The pangs of longing come after being patient in enduring difficulties yet When tears flow down cheeks The one who is crying is distinguished from the one who is only pretending.

MuḤammad is only a messenger. Messengers have passed away before him. What, if he dies or is killed, will you turn back on your heels? If anyone turns back on his heels, he will not harm God in anything, and God will recompense the grateful. As much as MuḤammad is praised and chosen among all men and caressed by the God of the world's folk, as much as he is the pole of the world and the lamp of heaven and earth, the chieftain and full moon of the universe, emulated by the creatures, the paragon of the engendered beings, and the Seal of the Prophets-despite all this, he is a mortal man. Death is fitting for him and an- nihilation applies to him. As many prophets as there have been in the world, all of them went. The Real did not disappear, nor was God harmed. The Real remained after all of them, and God is their keeper in the perfection of His exaltedness. By way of allusion, the folk of realization are being addressed: “The perfection of Our ex- altedness is free of need for that which was not, then came to be. There is no link between Our lordhood and that which was not, then came to be. Our unity does not call for an existence-giver, and Our Being does not need a strengthener. Our exaltedness recognizes Our magnificence, and Our Unity knows Our exaltedness. Her own face had itself as a moon, her own eye had itself as collyrium. A sound report has come that He says, “O My servants! If the first of you and the last of you, the men of you and jinn of you, the living of you and the dead of you, had the heart of the most godwary man among you, that would add nothing to My kingdom. O My servants! If the first of you and the last of you, the men of you and jinn of you, the living of you and the dead of you, had the heart of the most depraved man among you, that would take nothing away from My kingdom.” What, if he dies or is killed, will you turn back on your heels? This verse provides evidence for the eminence of Abū Bakr, for when MuṣṬafā was taken away from this house of decrees and the steed of death was sent for his prophethood's shining face, then in the attribute of exaltedness the Divine Pres- ence snatched that shining face away from the steed of death and took him into the embrace of Unity.

It is not for any soul to die save by the leave of God a prescribed term. And whoever desires the reward of this world We will give him of it; and whoever desires the reward of the hereafter We will give him of it; and We will requite the thankful. The breaths have a set duration for which there is no increase or decrease. And whoever desires the reward of this world We will give him of it: The righteous have what comes in the end ʿāqiba and the others have heedlessness ghafla. And whoever desires the reward of the hereafter We will give him of it: The reward of the hereafter is first of all forgiveness ghufrān then the gardens jinān then beatitude riḌwān. And We will requite the thankful: The requital for thankfulness is thankfulness.

How many a prophet has been killed and with him thousands manifold [fought] but they fainted not in the face of what afflicted them in God's way; they neither weakened nor did they humble themselves. And God loves the patient. Those who followed the course in fidelity who stood fast with regard to purity who did not withdraw from the path ṭarīq and who demanded realization of themselves reproaching themselves by restriction and scrutiny - they found the love of the Real s as a legacy for their patience. The Real was what came after for them at the end of their affair since they did not swerve from the required effort or from the protection of the pact and they submitted themselves utterly abandoning the present world. Every one of them was constant and abiding in holding to the pact and staying true to the condition of service and love.

All that they said was 'Our Lord forgive us our sins and our excesses in our affairs and make firm our feet and help us against the unbelieving folk'. They recognized the realities of meaning ḥaqāÌiq al-maʿnā and held their tongues from making any claims. Then they spoke seeking forgiveness and holding to an attitude of shyness just as it has been said: He avoided misdeeds and then even became afraid of them. Instead it was as if his good deeds were misdeeds.

God gave them this world's reward and the beauty of the next world's reward, and God loves the beautiful-doers. Concerning the reward of the next world He said “beauty,” which is to say that the reward is beauti- ful, but He did not say that about the reward of this world. This is because the reward of the after- world is lasting, but the reward of this world is passing. The former comes into being constantly without blight and without trouble, but the latter is soon cut off and has blights and tribulations. God loves the beautiful-doers. The beautiful-doers are the “grateful” who are mentioned in verse 3:144. The “recompense” to which He alludes there is the love that He explains here. Beautiful doing is what MuṣṬafā said in answering Gabriel: “It is that you worship God as if you see Him.” Beautiful doing is the attribute of the self-watchful, the state of the finders, the station of the approving, and the mark of the friends. Love for God is their watchword and remembering God their blanket. God's love is pouring down on them, and this pouring is like a sweetheart inside their spirit. From it the tree of happiness gives fruit and the spirit has a happy springtime. Hail, O sweet breeze of early spring! You give off the scent of that idol's tresses.

O you who believe if you obey the disbelievers they will make you turn back on your heels and you will revert as losers. Nay but God is your protector and He is the best of helpers. [This] means that if you obey the adversaries they will pull you into their states and cast you into their darknesses. Nay God is your protector your helper the One who aids you Your Master and the One who sets your affairs aright. And He is the best of helpers because He aids you against your lower selves and protects you from their evil. Anyone other than Him adds to your afflictions when they help you because they aid your lower selves against you. And He is the best of helpers because anyone other than Him holds a favor over you in helping you while He rewards you for your asking for His help. It is said that when you ask someone for help you need to give him something of value and then he may or may not help you. But when you ask [God] ������ for help He gives you every kindness and takes no pleasure in not helping you.

O you who believe if you obey the disbelievers they will make you turn back on your heels and you will revert as losers. Nay but God is your protector and He is the best of helpers. [This] means that if you obey the adversaries they will pull you into their states and cast you into their darknesses. Nay God is your protector your helper the One who aids you Your Master and the One who sets your affairs aright. And He is the best of helpers because He aids you against your lower selves and protects you from their evil. Anyone other than Him adds to your afflictions when they help you because they aid your lower selves against you. And He is the best of helpers because anyone other than Him holds a favor over you in helping you while He rewards you for your asking for His help. It is said that when you ask someone for help you need to give him something of value and then he may or may not help you. But when you ask [God] ������ for help He gives you every kindness and takes no pleasure in not helping you.

We will cast terror into the hearts of the disbelievers; for that they have associated with God that for which He sent down no authority; their abode shall be the fire; evil is the abode of the evildoers. God ������ designated our Prophet ﷺ to cast terror ruʿb from Him into the hearts of His enemies. [The Prophet] ���� ������ said: �I was helped by terror ruʿb.� He also follows this way sunna with His friends. He puts fear hayba of them into hearts. Fear hayba and force qahr would hardly be right in hearts were it not from Him and used with those who follow falsehood make false claims and misrepresent [the truth].

Among you are those who desire this world, and among you are those who desire the next world. The worth of someone is his desire, and the want of someone is his leader. One person wants this world, another the afterworld, another the Patron. Wanting this world is all trickery and delusion, wanting the afterworld is all occupation with the work of wage-earners, and wanting the Patron is all celebration and joy. A seeker of this world is wounded by fantasy and delusion, a seeker of the afterworld is attached to palaces and houris, and a seeker of the Patron is in the ocean of Solitari- ness, inundated by light. Dhu'l-Nūn the Egyptian said, “O God, if I have any share of this world, I have given it to strangers. If I have anything stored up for the afterworld, I give it to the faithful. In this world, remembering You is enough for me, and in the afterworld seeing You is enough for me.” This world and the afterworld are two precious commodities, and vision is the hard cash that is given. The broker of this world is Iblis. He offers his wares at auction in the bazaar of abandon- ment and adorns them for the people. God says, reporting from him, “I shall surely adorn for them what is in the earth”[15:39]. Iblis's buyer is the unbeliever. The price is abandoning the religion and sheer associationism. As for MuṣṬafā, he is the broker of paradise. He makes his offers at the auction of solicitude in the bazaar of the afterworld. The buyer is God and the sellers are the faithful. The price is the formula, “There is no god but God.” The Prophet said, “The price of the Garden is There is no god but God.” The Pir of the Tariqah said, “I see a group distracted from Him by this world, a group dis- tracted from Him by that world, and a group distracted from both worlds by Him. They are waiting to see when the breeze of felicity will blow from the side of proximity and the sun of union will shine from the mansion of solicitude. They weep with the tongue of selflessness and say in hope, 'O generous one! How can someone who yearns for You put up with life? He who hopes for you has a breast full of blood at the hands of Your friendship!'” Without You, O ease of my spirit, how can I live? If You are not by my side, how can I be happy?

When you were ascending not turning around for anyone and the Messenger was calling you from your rear so he rewarded you with grief for grief so that you might not grieve for what escaped you neither for what befell you; and God is aware of what you do. Then He sent down upon you after grief security-a slumber overcom- ing a party of you and a party whose own souls distressed them thinking wrongly of God thoughts of the age of ignorance saying �Have we any part whatever in the affairḍ� Say: �The affair belongs entirely to God.� They conceal within their hearts what they do not disclose to you saying �Had we had any part in the affair we would not have been slain here.� Say: �Even if you had been in your houses those for whom it had been appointed that they be slain would have sallied forth to the places where they were to lie� that God might try what was in your breasts and that He might prove what was in your hearts; and God knows what is in the breasts. The verse alludes to people for whom a period of slackening fatra occurs. The calls of the Real ������ come from within and without so that it is as if the rocks in the streets and the bricks in the walls were crying out to such a one �do not do it O servant of God!� But he is resolved upon his crooked way layy and settled in his error ghayy; [he] refuses to acknowledge what he knows would be more fitting and appropriate for his state. If he were to stay with his [original] aim and follow through with his aspiration by all means he would rein himself in and hold himself back from galloping ahead. [But] he gets nothing but gasping breaths anfās mutaṣāʿida and continuous sorrows ḥasarāt mutawātira-the Real ������ has bequeathed him one lonely estrangement after another. Eventually after he has been in this place of distress for a long time the Real ������ will relieve him with His beautiful kindness and draw him near with His gracious affection. He will deliver him from the narrowness of his captivity to the spaciousness of His pardon and favor. Many of these [people] will reach the place of the most respected and thereupon become still by God for God when they have been negated from station and honor and they will stand by God for God without waiting to be brought near and without looking to be welcomed.

When you were ascending not turning around for anyone and the Messenger was calling you from your rear so he rewarded you with grief for grief so that you might not grieve for what escaped you neither for what befell you; and God is aware of what you do. Then He sent down upon you after grief security-a slumber overcom- ing a party of you and a party whose own souls distressed them thinking wrongly of God thoughts of the age of ignorance saying �Have we any part whatever in the affairḍ� Say: �The affair belongs entirely to God.� They conceal within their hearts what they do not disclose to you saying �Had we had any part in the affair we would not have been slain here.� Say: �Even if you had been in your houses those for whom it had been appointed that they be slain would have sallied forth to the places where they were to lie� that God might try what was in your breasts and that He might prove what was in your hearts; and God knows what is in the breasts. The verse alludes to people for whom a period of slackening fatra occurs. The calls of the Real ������ come from within and without so that it is as if the rocks in the streets and the bricks in the walls were crying out to such a one �do not do it O servant of God!� But he is resolved upon his crooked way layy and settled in his error ghayy; [he] refuses to acknowledge what he knows would be more fitting and appropriate for his state. If he were to stay with his [original] aim and follow through with his aspiration by all means he would rein himself in and hold himself back from galloping ahead. [But] he gets nothing but gasping breaths anfās mutaṣāʿida and continuous sorrows ḥasarāt mutawātira-the Real ������ has bequeathed him one lonely estrangement after another. Eventually after he has been in this place of distress for a long time the Real ������ will relieve him with His beautiful kindness and draw him near with His gracious affection. He will deliver him from the narrowness of his captivity to the spaciousness of His pardon and favor. Many of these [people] will reach the place of the most respected and thereupon become still by God for God when they have been negated from station and honor and they will stand by God for God without waiting to be brought near and without looking to be welcomed.

Truly those of you who turned away the day the two hosts encountered each other-truly Satan made them slip through some of what they had earned; but God pardoned them; God is Forgiving Forbearing. This verse alludes to the states of those whose spiritual desire irāda has become meager and their intentions niyyāt weak. Their whims hawā control them and listlessness fatra rules them. Face to face with the coun- sel of others the call of desires and the whispers of satans they put their trust in false speech. They have preferred their whims over piety and stayed back. But they do not find happiness in what they have chosen.

O you who believe be not as the disbelievers who say of their brothers when they travel in the land or are on raiding campaigns 'Had they been with us they would not have died and would not have been slain' - so that God may make that anguish in their hearts. For God gives life and He gives death and God sees what you do. Whoever makes a habit of worrying about what is past and planning for his future and each new moment - the least of his punishment will be the constriction of his heart through disconcerting worries and the disappearance of the quality of life from his heart because of his forgetfulness and his saying 'if only such and such' or 'maybe such and such'. The result of this kind of thinking is estrangement and grief the constriction of the heart and separation.

And if you are slain in God's way or die forgiveness from God and mercy are better than what they amass. And if you die or are slain it is to God you shall be mustered. To sacrifice the spirit rūḥ in God is better than life with anything other than God. Returning to God is better for one who knows God than staying behind with anything other than God. Whatever the servant prefers over God is not something that is blessed. If you want there is this world and if you want there is the final outcome. And if you die or are slain it is to God you shall be mustered: When the destination is to God the journey is pleasant-surely when a journey to Him comes to an end its hardships seem sweeter than honey!

And if you are slain in God's way or die forgiveness from God and mercy are better than what they amass. And if you die or are slain it is to God you shall be mustered. To sacrifice the spirit rūḥ in God is better than life with anything other than God. Returning to God is better for one who knows God than staying behind with anything other than God. Whatever the servant prefers over God is not something that is blessed. If you want there is this world and if you want there is the final outcome. And if you die or are slain it is to God you shall be mustered: When the destination is to God the journey is pleasant-surely when a journey to Him comes to an end its hardships seem sweeter than honey!

It was by a mercy of God that thou wert soft with them. Hadst thou been harsh and hard of heart, they would have scattered from around thee. So pardon them, ask forgiveness for them, and consult with them in the affair. And when thou art resolved, trust in God. Surely God loves those who trust. “O master of masters! O paragon of engendered beings! You are generous and lovingly kind, gentle and ever-merciful to everyone. You drive everyone by customs that hit the mark. You call everyone to the table of exaltedness and convey to everlasting felicity. You are like a father for the orphans, a husband for the widowed. You caress the familiar and you show the road to the estranged. You are mercy itself for the world's folk, a cause of generous giving to all the servants. O master, there is all of this, but take care not to see yourself. Do not consider these as your own acquisitions, for all of them are I. It is I who was, I who caressed, I who made, and I put you to that. I gave you a sweet disposition. O paragon, keep on being this way to the faithful and the friends-with the same loving kindness and the same sweet disposition: And lower thy wing to the faithful who follow thee [26:215]. But, with the unbelievers and hypocrites, you should be a bit harder and struggle against them: O Prophet! Struggle against the unbelievers and the hypocrites, and be hard with them [9:73].” There is a great difference between the Beloved [MuḤammad] and the Speaking Companion [Moses]. He commanded the Beloved to be harsh with the unbelievers and he called him back from cajolery, for in his disposition all was softness and benevolence. To the Speaking Companion He said the opposite: “Speak to him with soft words” [20:44]. He commanded him to softness and benevolence, and He called him back from the sharpness and hardness that was within him. Then He says, “Hadst thou been harsh and hard of heart, they would have scattered from around thee. O master, if you were to give the unmixed wine of tawḤīd to your companions, with- out the admixture of their own shares, they would flee and no longer come around you. O master, they do not have the capacity to put up with what your capacity puts up with. When someone's night and morning are in the Presence of Unity, how can others be equal to him or have any affin- ity with him?” The master himself gave this report of himself: “I am not like any of you-I spend the night at my Lord; He gives me to eat and drink.” At another time he said, “I have a moment with God em- braced by no proximate angel, nor any sent prophet.” MuṣṬafā taught this courtesy of the religion to the creatures. He said, “'Speak to the people in the measure of their intellects.' Speak to everyone in the measure of his intellect and do not lay upon him what he is unable to bear.” Give everyone a cup in the size of his spirit- lay down sweets according to each one's intellect. So pardon them. “O master! Pardon their shortcomings toward your rightful due and your work, and pass over it. As for their shortcomings toward My rightful due, you be their intercessor and ask for forgiveness from Me.” So pardon them, and ask forgiveness for them. So pardon them is an allusion to togetherness, for it is a decree. The one who decrees in reality is God, and the Messenger follows. Ask forgive- ness for them is an allusion to dispersion, which is the station of abasement and servanthood. This is the custom of the Lord with the prophets and friends-sometimes He puts them in togetherness, sometimes in dispersion. Togetherness without dispersion is disbelief, and dispersion without togetherness is associationism. Togetherness is the Haqiqah itself, and dispersion is the path of servanthood. When these two traits come together in someone, he is on the road of the Sunnah and the congregation and walks straight on the Tariqah and the Shariah. And consult with them in the affair. “O master! The states of the travelers in this road are diverse. One falls short, so ask pardon for him. One repents, so ask forgiveness for him. One is obedient, so consult with him.” And when thou art resolved, trust in God. Surely God loves those who trust. Resoluteness has a reality, and the basis of that reality is the rightness of what is desired. The togetherness of the heart is the basis of solidity in the religion, jealousy in the affair, and straightness in the present moment. Resoluteness is of three sorts. One sort is the resoluteness of repentance, the second the reso- luteness of service, and the third the resoluteness of the Haqiqah. All three are built on trust, and trust has a root, a precondition, and a fruit. Its root is certainty. Its precondition is faith; this is alluded to in His words, “And in God put your trust, if you have faith” [5:23]. Its fruit is the Real's love; this is in His words, “Surely God loves those who trust.” Master Abū ʿAlī Daqqāq said, “Trust has three levels. First is trust, second is surrender, third is delegation. Trust is the beginning, surrender the middle, and delegation the end. Trust is the attribute of the common people, surrender the attribute of the elect, and delegation the attribute of the elect of the elect. Trust is the attribute of the prophets generally, surrender the attribute of Abraham specifically, and delegation the attribute of the Seal of the Prophets, MuṣṬafā, most specifically. The possessor of trust has his ear to the Real's promise. The possessor of surrender is at ease in knowledge of the Real. The possessor of delegation approves of God's decree. When someone has trust, he is seeking bestowal. When someone has surrender, he is waiting for encoun- ter. When someone has delegation, he is at ease with approval in the gathering place of repose and ease [56:89]. This is why the Lord of the Worlds says, 'And approval from God is greatest-that is the tremendous triumph'” [9:72].

If God helps you then none can overcome you; but if He forsakes you then who is there who can help you after Himḍ Therefore on God let the believers rely. He helps the believers by granting success to the bodily forms bi-l-tawfīqi lil-ashbāḥ and then by granting [spiritual] realization to the spirits thuma bi-l-taḥqīqi lil-arwāḥ. It is said that God helps you by supporting you in your outward cir- cumstances bi-taÌyīdi al-ẓawāhir and by guiding the innermost selves wa-tasdīdi al-sarāÌir. It is said that while [He will] help [you] against the enemy the worst enemy you have is the lower self within you. [His] help against [your] lower self comes when its claims of strength are routed by the guardians of His mercy and the armies of cravings junūd al-shahawāt scatter upon the attacks of the arriving hosts wufūd al-munāzilāt. The protective friend- ship walāya of God will remain purified from the confused clamoring of human qualities and the cravings and desires of the lower selves which are the remaining effects of [what] veils and hinders [people] from nearness. If He forsakes you: The forsaking is the abandonment of those who are disobedient. Those whom He helps He holds back from pursuing what is objectionable and those to whom He gives free rein and leaves to their own bad choices He forsakes. The state [of someone He forsakes] becomes unsettled in the torrents of cravings so he sometimes wanders to the east without shame fa-marratan yusharriqu ghayra muḥtashimin and sometimes to the west without respect wa-tāratan yugharribu ghayra mutaḥrimin. Surely when the Real lets someone go and does not take him by the hand leaving him to himself there is no protector for him. Therefore on God let believers rely in finding security through sincere supplication and laying the robe of pardon over the defects of sin. [This is done] by devoutly seeking refuge and by rejecting any strength or power [other than God]. It is said that when the matter was that of [His] help He said �then none can overcome you.� In the matter of being forsaken He did not say �then there is no helper for you� but rather said more indirectly�then who is there who can help you after Himḍ� Here there is a subtlety regarding the finer properties of the [divine] address.

It is not for a prophet to be fraudulent; whoever defrauds [others] shall bring what he has defrauded on the Day of Resurrection; then every soul shall be paid in full what it has earned and they shall not be wronged. He has made the states of the prophets free of the stain of treacherous actions. �Those to whom We gave the message to bear to Our servants convey it to those who should receive it. They are not concerned with any affair of a close intimate without Our command and they do not hold back harboring malice in passing on anyone's share when We have commanded it.� Do you not see how [the Prophet] said of Abū Ṭālib �Go and bury him� when the Commander of the Believers ʿAlī ��� ���� ��� said to him �Your erring uncle has died�ḍ Do you not see how [Muḥammad] accepted al-Waḥshī the killer of ḥamza when he became a Muslimḍ It is said �It was not for any prophet ﷺ to give Our secrets to any but the people to whom they were meant. Rather to each was revealed what they were meant to hear.� Thus in the tradition �We were commanded to reveal yunzil to the people [what is suitable according to] their stations manāzil.�

Is he who follows God's beatitude like him who is laden with God's anger whose abode is hellḍ An evil journey's end! They are of degrees before God; and God sees what they do. The one with whom He is well pleased throughout eternity fī azālihi is not equal to the one with whom He is displeased and has abandoned in his states fī aḥwālihi and left him to rely on his own actions ʿalā aʿmālihi oblivious to the witnessing of His favors li-shuhūdi afḌālihi. To seek God's beatitude [one must] separate oneself mufāraqa from what has been prohibited and embrace muʿānaqa what has been commanded. One who divests himself from the prohibited mazjūr and takes heart in embracing what has been commanded maÌmūr has followed God's beatitude riḌwān and has become deserving of the gardens jinān. They are of degrees before God: that is they possess degrees in the decree ḥukm of God-happy are those who have been brought close and wretched are those who have been kept at a distance.

Is he who follows God's beatitude like him who is laden with God's anger whose abode is hellḍ An evil journey's end! They are of degrees before God; and God sees what they do. The one with whom He is well pleased throughout eternity fī azālihi is not equal to the one with whom He is displeased and has abandoned in his states fī aḥwālihi and left him to rely on his own actions ʿalā aʿmālihi oblivious to the witnessing of His favors li-shuhūdi afḌālihi. To seek God's beatitude [one must] separate oneself mufāraqa from what has been prohibited and embrace muʿānaqa what has been commanded. One who divests himself from the prohibited mazjūr and takes heart in embracing what has been commanded maÌmūr has followed God's beatitude riḌwān and has become deserving of the gardens jinān. They are of degrees before God: that is they possess degrees in the decree ḥukm of God-happy are those who have been brought close and wretched are those who have been kept at a distance.

Truly God was gracious to the believers when He sent to them a mes- senger from among their own to recite to them His verses and to purify them and to teach them the Book wisdom though before they were in clear error. [God] gave goodness to them in abundance and favored them with gener- ous blessings for He sent someone like MuṣṬafā the leader of mankind ﷺ to them. [The Prophet] taught them their religion and made their proofs clear to them. He belonged to them in every way but they were not grateful for his blessings did not respect his right and were not able to see what he guided them to nor refrain from straying in error-this is a description of his enemies who denied and were arrogant. As for the believers they were adorned with grace in the [divine] choice ikhtiyār. They received the command to hear and obey to the utmost of their capacity iqtidār so they were happy in this world and the hereafter ʿuqbā and became deserving of generosity and nearness zulfa from God.

And why when distress befell you and you had afflicted twice the like of it did you say �How is thisḍ� Say: �It is from yourselves. Surely God has power over everything.� Human beings usually forget their own error and disobedience ʿiṣyān and turn instead to accuse God of what comes to them in trials loss khusrān and all kinds of unpleasant and difficult things iftitān. It would be better for those who pursue various crimes ṣunūf al-ijrām not to forget the requital to come ḥulūl al-intiqām.

And what afflicted you the day the two hosts encountered was by God's leave and that He might know the believers. And that He might also know the hypocrites when it was said to them �Come now fight in the way of God or defend [yourselves]� they said �If we knew how to fight we would follow you.� That day they were nearer to unbelief than to belief saying with their mouths that which was not in their hearts. And God knows best what they hide. He lightened the grave calamity met by the believers and possessors of insight on the Day of Uḥud by saying that the encounter was by God's leave. Surely a trial that afflicts [one] by God's leave is sweeter than honey and more desirable than any blessing. Then He spoke of those who were not sincere comrades how they offered excuses and were lazy. Similarly when the one who is tired wants to break things off he becomes weary of being together and says �That was that.� Saying with their mouths that which was not in their hearts: Verily they gave honey to drink [to their enemies] but He plotted to put poison in it for them. And they schemed; and God schemed; and God is the best of schemers [3:54].

And what afflicted you the day the two hosts encountered was by God's leave and that He might know the believers. And that He might also know the hypocrites when it was said to them �Come now fight in the way of God or defend [yourselves]� they said �If we knew how to fight we would follow you.� That day they were nearer to unbelief than to belief saying with their mouths that which was not in their hearts. And God knows best what they hide. He lightened the grave calamity met by the believers and possessors of insight on the Day of Uḥud by saying that the encounter was by God's leave. Surely a trial that afflicts [one] by God's leave is sweeter than honey and more desirable than any blessing. Then He spoke of those who were not sincere comrades how they offered excuses and were lazy. Similarly when the one who is tired wants to break things off he becomes weary of being together and says �That was that.� Saying with their mouths that which was not in their hearts: Verily they gave honey to drink [to their enemies] but He plotted to put poison in it for them. And they schemed; and God schemed; and God is the best of schemers [3:54].

Those who said to their brothers while they themselves stayed put �Had they obeyed us they would not have been slain.� Say: �Then avert death from yourselves if you speak the truth.� Those who relied upon their lower selves-having been seduced by them to prefer their own whims-and then opposed those who gave themselves over to the decrees of divine fate said �If only they had heeded the warning about going out to the battle they would have been safe.� These thoughts are blameworthy and these hearts have retreated from witnessing the true nature of things. Say to them O Muḥammad �[Then] extend the life of your souls istadīmū lil-anfusikum al-ḥayāt and defend them from the attacks of death wa-idfaʿū ʿanhā hujūma al-wafāt.� How would they be able to do thatḍ How preposterous!

Count not those who were killed in God's path as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, provided for. O life of the spirit, what is it with me that I know nothing of my state? The spirit from You fills me, but my heart's blood is empty of You. O God, our life lies in remembering You, our happiness in finding You, our spirit in recognizing You! The Pir of the Tariqah said, “The living are three: one lives through the spirit, one lives through knowledge, and one lives through the Real. He who lives through the spirit lives on food and wind. He who lives through knowledge lives on love and remembrance. He who lives through the Real is happy indeed with Him. “O God, if the body's spirit is deprived of You, it will be a captive corpse, but if someone is killed in Your path hoping for union with You, he will live forever.” You said, “Don't pass by my street drunk lest you be killed, for my suitor is jealous.” Let me say a word, my dear, perhaps I'll be excused- “Killed in your street is better than far from your face.” Indeed, when friends are wounded in the Friend's street, that is a good omen, for gambling away the spirit in the gaming-house of passion is their habit and disposition. Wealth, gold, things-gamble them away for nothing. When the work reaches your spirit, gamble it away! Beware, beware! Take care not worry that your spirit will perish in the Friend's path. When the spirit perishes in loyalty to the Friend, that is true eminence. The precondition for your spirit's undertaking friendship's rightful due is its destruction. Love is intoxication, its craving destruction, its wilting and emaciation beautiful. He has clothed me with abasement in His love- abasement in love for the likes of Him is eminence. That tumultuous one of the time, Shiblī, said, “When someone is destroyed in God, God takes his place.” When you are loyal in friendship and gamble away your spirit, you will receive good fortune for free, for you will have the Friend in place of the spirit. If you had a hundred thou- sand spirits, you should sacrifice them to this union, for in truth that would still be something for nothing.

Count not those who were slain in God's way as dead but rather liv- ing with their Lord provided for [by Him]. Rejoicing in what God has given them of His bounty and rejoicing for the sake of those who have not joined them but are left behind that no fear shall befall them neither shall they grieve. Life in remembrance of the Real-after the lower selves have been anni- hilated in the good pleasure of the Real-is more perfect than remaining with the blessings of created beings and being veiled from the Real. It is said that the one whose heir is the Living is one who does not disappear and cannot die even if he is killed: Surely bodies have been brought into existence for death so the slaying of a human being in God without doubt is best. And rejoicing for the sake of those who have not joined them but are left behind: Those who know that their loved ones are waiting for them while they are in comfort and ease [in the garden] would not take pleasure in living without being with them.

They rejoice in blessings from God and bounty, and that God does not leave to waste the wage of the faithful, those who answered God and the Messenger after the wound had befallen them. Those who bow their heads before the command of God and the Messenger in passion for the religion made their own dear spirits the target of the enemy's arrows. They made their spirits a gift, their bodies a path, and their hearts a sacrifice. They bought that suffering and wounding with spirit and heart. Sarī SaqaṬī said, “God appeared to me in a dream saying, 'O Sarī! We created the creatures. Some of them saw this world and clung to it. Some of them saw trial, and they fled to paradise and well-being. Some of them thought nothing of trial and took the tribulation into their spirits and hearts, asking for union with Us. Which one of these are you? What do you want?'” Sarī said, “I answered, 'You know what I desire.'” How often will you ask, why do you make me suffer? In truth you know my state better than I. “He said, 'O Sarī! By the majesty of Our measure, We will strike your head with the whip of trial, and We will make the millstone of tribulation revolve on your head.'” Sarī said, “I replied with the light of recognition by lordly inspiration, 'Are You not the one who sends trials?'” The lover's soul is patient with illness- perhaps He who made him ill will one day make him well. * Since the healing, O Heart-taker, is from Your wound and pain, make no balm for the wounded, don't cure the pain!

They rejoice in blessings from God and bounty, and that God does not leave to waste the wage of the faithful, those who answered God and the Messenger after the wound had befallen them. Those who bow their heads before the command of God and the Messenger in passion for the religion made their own dear spirits the target of the enemy's arrows. They made their spirits a gift, their bodies a path, and their hearts a sacrifice. They bought that suffering and wounding with spirit and heart. Sarī SaqaṬī said, “God appeared to me in a dream saying, 'O Sarī! We created the creatures. Some of them saw this world and clung to it. Some of them saw trial, and they fled to paradise and well-being. Some of them thought nothing of trial and took the tribulation into their spirits and hearts, asking for union with Us. Which one of these are you? What do you want?'” Sarī said, “I answered, 'You know what I desire.'” How often will you ask, why do you make me suffer? In truth you know my state better than I. “He said, 'O Sarī! By the majesty of Our measure, We will strike your head with the whip of trial, and We will make the millstone of tribulation revolve on your head.'” Sarī said, “I replied with the light of recognition by lordly inspiration, 'Are You not the one who sends trials?'” The lover's soul is patient with illness- perhaps He who made him ill will one day make him well. * Since the healing, O Heart-taker, is from Your wound and pain, make no balm for the wounded, don't cure the pain!

Those to whom people said �The people have gathered against you therefore fear them�; but that increased them in faith and they said �God is sufficient for us an excellent Guardian is He.� [Whenever] events in the present world confused them outwardly the gleams from unveilings Ṭawāliʿ min al-kushūfāt opened up for them in their innermost selves asrār and they increased in one level of certainty after another. Among the signs of certainty is the reliance of hearts in God alone with the severing of any hope of imagined aid and support from created beings.

So they returned with grace and bounty from God and no evil touched them and they followed the beatitude of God; and God is of bounty abounding. Such is the way sunna of the Real ������ with those who are sincere in taking refuge with Him in that He prepares a resting place in the shadow of His sufficiency. No affliction touches them no pains distress them and no hardships overcome them.

That is only Satan making fear his friends therefore do not fear them; but fear Me if you are believers. The allusion in [God's] granting power to the calls of Satan in the hearts of [His] friends is [to the test] that confirms their flight to God. This is like a child who has been frightened by one of those things that frighten children and when he is afraid he goes only to his mother. When he comes to her she takes him to herself hugs him and presses her cheek to his. Likewise when the servant is sincere in beseeching God and returns to Him from his oppositional tendencies He takes him under the wing of His closeness and overtakes him with His beautiful kindness.

Let them not grieve you those that vie with one another in unbelief; they will not hurt God at all. God desires not to assign them any portion in the hereafter and theirs is a mighty chastisement. He strengthened [Muḥammad's] heart by renewing the firmness of the pact in that He would not allow any enemy to gloat over his misfortune nor allow any evil from them to reach him.

Those who purchase unbelief at the price of faith they will not hurt God at all and there awaits them a painful chastisement. If they cause harm aḌarrū it is only to themselves. If they persist aṣarrū they persist only to their own loss. We did not suffer from the distance to their abodes nor did longings drive us toward them.

And let not the disbelievers suppose that what We indulge them in is better for their souls. We grant them indulgence only that they may increase in sinfulness and theirs is a humbling chastisement. �Part of the perfection of the ruse against them and the intensification in their punishment is that We are punishing them even as they do not perceive it: We will draw them on by degrees whence they do not know [7:182]. We indulge them and they think that it is an act of favor inʿām; [they do] not consider that it might be an act of revenge intiqām.� When the underlying forces of the divine preordination are made clear to them [in] their hiding places they will know that they have lost khusrān. It is already clear to anyone possessing insight that that which brings about disobedience ʿiṣyān or causes forgetfulness nisyān cannot be counted among the acts of favor inʿām.

It is not God's purpose to leave the believers in the state in which you are till He shall distinguish the evil one from the good. And it is not God's purpose to apprise you of the unseen but God chooses of His messengers whom He will. So believe in God and His messengers; and if you believe and guard [against evil] then yours shall be a great wage. He has gathered [humankind] together in the here and now with respect to bodies and forms mabānī but has separated them in the deeper realities and meanings maʿānī. Some of them are good Ṭayyib in their natural disposition and some are evil khabīth. Even if their constitutions are mixed they are differentiated in the inner sight of the elect. And it is not God's purpose to apprise you of the unseen: Surely the secrets of the unseen do not appear to those who are sullied by the pollu- tions of mortal human nature bashariyya. Only the Real ������ possesses knowledge of that which is great and small and He selects whomever He will among His prophets for knowledge of some of His secrets.

Let not those who are niggardly with the bounty that God has given them reckon that it is better for them. In the language of knowledge and according to the Shariah, “niggardliness” is withholding the in- cumbent. The incumbent in wealth is a little bit of a lot, so a man gives the poor a little and keeps a lot for himself. But in the language of the Tariqah and the folk of allusion, niggardliness is leaving a little for oneself, a tiny amount of property, or a moment of the state. “The ransomed slave stays a slave so long as a dirham is owed.” Wealth and states in the path of these chivalrous men have the form of a dog, and passion in its own world has the form of an angel. MuṣṬafā's Shariah reports that the angel gets along badly with the dog and never descends into a house that has one. “No angel enters the house within which there is a dog or pictures.” When will the angel come forth if you do not take the dog from the door and the painting from the wall? When will you arrive at AḤmad and Abū Bakr, with a spider spinning its web at the door of the cave? Lift up the veil so that down may come a litter of magnificence to the bench of the threshold. [DS 200]

Verily God has heard the saying of those who said �Indeed God is poor and we are rich.� We shall write down what they have said and their slaying the prophets without right and We shall say �Taste the chastisement of the burning. That is for what your hands have sent before; for God is never unjust toward His servants.� If this address were between created beings it would be a complaint and the complaint to friends about enemies is the way of lovers sunnat al-aḥbāb. It is said that He knew that there were those among the believers who were slandering people and this was an ugly way to speak but He exposed a greater ugliness. This was to show that the ugly speech of the believers was paltry in comparison to the ugliness of the speech of the disbelievers. It is as if He said �Their speech has been ugly in its defamation but the speech of the disbelievers is even uglier since they have described Us in a way that is not appropriate for Us.� [This verse] also alludes to the call to humankind and the [divine] for- bearance with those who quarrel [with that call] for surely God ������ did not deprive them of what He had given them [in this world] in spite of their disregard for His rights. We shall write down what they have said: These words are cause for embarrassment for the neglectful through the most delicate allusion. It means that even if they have forgotten their states and words �We will resurrect for them what We have written against them.� Their speaker said: I have pages in which blame is buried. One day they will be published and the blame will linger. I will be patient until God brings us together and if we meet one day I will speak. That is for what your hands have sent before: for God is never unjust toward His servants: If this were from one created being to another it would be like absolving oneself of blame for what one has done. It is as if He ������ is saying �My servant the punishment that will come to you on that day is because of your sin. If you had not done it We would not punish you.�

Verily God has heard the saying of those who said �Indeed God is poor and we are rich.� We shall write down what they have said and their slaying the prophets without right and We shall say �Taste the chastisement of the burning. That is for what your hands have sent before; for God is never unjust toward His servants.� If this address were between created beings it would be a complaint and the complaint to friends about enemies is the way of lovers sunnat al-aḥbāb. It is said that He knew that there were those among the believers who were slandering people and this was an ugly way to speak but He exposed a greater ugliness. This was to show that the ugly speech of the believers was paltry in comparison to the ugliness of the speech of the disbelievers. It is as if He said �Their speech has been ugly in its defamation but the speech of the disbelievers is even uglier since they have described Us in a way that is not appropriate for Us.� [This verse] also alludes to the call to humankind and the [divine] for- bearance with those who quarrel [with that call] for surely God ������ did not deprive them of what He had given them [in this world] in spite of their disregard for His rights. We shall write down what they have said: These words are cause for embarrassment for the neglectful through the most delicate allusion. It means that even if they have forgotten their states and words �We will resurrect for them what We have written against them.� Their speaker said: I have pages in which blame is buried. One day they will be published and the blame will linger. I will be patient until God brings us together and if we meet one day I will speak. That is for what your hands have sent before: for God is never unjust toward His servants: If this were from one created being to another it would be like absolving oneself of blame for what one has done. It is as if He ������ is saying �My servant the punishment that will come to you on that day is because of your sin. If you had not done it We would not punish you.�

[They are the] same who said �God has already made a covenant with us that we should not believe in any messenger until he brings us an offering to be devoured by fire.� Say: �Messengers have come to you before me with clear proofs and with that which you said. Why did you slay them then if you are truthfulḍ� They fabricated lies about God ������ to excuse their lack of faith saying �Verily we have been commanded not to believe anyone if we do not see him with our own eyes bringing us an offering. He will offer it to the sky and then a fire will come down to take it.� God most high said �say to them that those who have come before me among the prophets [���� ������] have brought you what you have demanded of me in offering but you did not believe. If I were to accede to you in this you would once again not believe.� Whoever has been kept at a distance by what has already been decreed-if the sun were to speak to him with a clear tongue or the mountains prostrate before him and he were to see all this in a moment of truth deeper knowledge ʿirfān would still not enter his heart and he would only increase in doubt after doubt.

But if they deny you so were denied messengers before you who came bearing clear proofs and the scriptures and the illuminating Book. That is the habitual practice of disbelievers is to deny the messengers. This is what their ancestors used to do ʿalā hadhā l-naḥwi daraja salafuhum and their descendants follow their way wa-bi-hadyihi iqtadā khalafuhum.

Every soul shall taste of death; you shall surely be paid in full your wages on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever is moved away from the fire and admitted to paradise will have triumphed the life of this world is but the comfort of delusion. That is �The cup of death is placed in the palm of every living being. Whoever's soul nafs finds it sweet and agreeable-I bequeath to him the intoxication of ecstatic finding wajd. Whoever swallows it with a frowning face falls into the abyss of rejection radd and is branded by the burning of obstruction ṣadd. Then [there is the Day] of the Resurrection. Whoever is protected from the fire reaches the greatest repose waṣala ilā l-rāḥati al-kubrā and whoever is made to burn in the blazing fire falls into the greatest tribulation waqaʿa fī l-miḥnati al-kubrā.� The life of this world is but the comfort of delusion because what is coming is nigh.

You shall surely be tried in your property; and in your selves and you shall bear from those who were given the scripture before you and from those who are idolaters much hurt but if you are patient and fear-surely that is true resolve. [God] spared [the believers] from what would have been even greater occa- sions of harm by alerting them before the attacks. He taught them two of the best precepts: to prefer patience and to choose to remain still under the streams of the decrees.

And when God made a covenant with those who had been given the scripture �You shall expound it to people and not conceal it.� But they rejected it behind their backs and bought it with a small price; how evil is what they have bought! [God] said that they had vowed to uphold their agreements but broke the ties of the covenant in turning to disbelief. Then it became clear that what they took as cheap substitutes for leaving religion would have no blessings for them.

Do not reckon that those who rejoice in what they have brought and who love to be praised for what they have not done-do not reckon them secure from the chastisement; there shall be a painful chastisement for them. Surely those whose hearts look only to created beings and whose innermost secrets regard only [created beings]-do not think that their punishment will be delayed to the Day of Resurrection. No they are not secure from the punishment in the here and now. What punishment is more intense than being thrown back to created beings khalq and veiled from the Real ḥaqqḍ

To God belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and God has power over all things. This verse alludes to [God's] lack of need for anyone in existence. How could He have any need of themḍ But they [on the other hand] will find no one to stand in for Him and no substitute for Him.

Surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth and in the alterna- tion of night and day there are signs for people of pith. Those who remember God standing and sitting and on their sides The signs which the Real ������ presents to ordinary people are from the lessons and the vestiges [of people gone by] in the regions [of the heavens and the earth]. The signs which He presents to the elect are within their souls. [God] ������ said �We shall show them Our signs in the horizons and in their own souls� [41:53]. The outer signs lead to the knowledge of certainty ʿilm al-yaqīn while the inner signs lead to the eye of certainty ʿayn al-yaqīn. The alternation ikhtilāf of night and day alludes to the different responses ikhtilāf to the night among the servants. The nights of the people of communion are short and the nights of the people of separation are long. [Someone] said: Months pass- we have not noticed their midpoints nor their ends. And he said: For you morning is drunkenness and the night a hangover. You slept even as the days of happiness were short. A second [poet] said: After they departed the nights were long in so many ways- [once short] the night of the lovers is [now] long. A third [poet] had nothing to say about the length or brevity of the night for he said because of what had overwhelmed him: How should I know whether the night was long or notḍ How can one who is on fire know thatḍ If I had paid attention to the length of the night I would have been deprived of watching the stars. For people of pith: The people of pith ulū l-albāb are those whose intellects have been kept sound from the drunkenness of forgetfulness and inattention. The sign of one like this is that his gaze will be through the Real. When he gazes from the Real to the Real his gaze is in the right direction. But when he gazes from created beings and things to the Real his thoughts are thrown into upheaval which causes a state of confusion. Those who remember God standing and sitting: Remembrance dhikr permeates their every moment. If they stand it is in remembrance of Him.

Who remember God, standing and sitting and on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth. Those who remember are three: One remembers God with the tongue and is heedless with the heart. This is the remembrance of the wrongdoer, who is aware neither of the remembrance nor of the Remembered. Another remembers Him with the tongue and is present with the heart. This is the remem- brance of the moderate and the state of the wage-earner. He is seeking reward and excused in his seeking. The third remembers Him with the heart; the heart is filled with Him, and his tongue is silent in remembrance. “When someone recognizes God, his tongue is mute.” This is the remembrance of the preceder. His tongue is lost in the remembrance, and the remembrance is lost in the Remem- bered. The heart is lost in love, and love in the Light. The spirit is lost in face-to-face vision, and face-to-face vision is far from explication. Remembrance set a trap whose bait was jealousy. The wage-earner saw the trap and fled, the recognizer saw the bait and clung to the trap. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “Remembrance is not simply what you have on the tongue. True remembrance is what you have in the midst of the spirit. TawḤīd is not simply that you know that He is one. True tawḤīd is that you be one for Him and a stranger to other than Him.” And reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth. Abū ʿAlī Daqqāq asked Abū ʿAbd al-RaḤmān Sulamī whether remembrance was more complete or reflection. Abū ʿAbd al-RaḤmān answered, “Remembrance is more complete than reflection because remembrance is an attribute of the Real and reflection an attribute of creation. That by which the Real is described is more complete than that which is specific to creation.” Reflecting for the heart is like sniffing for the breath. Reflecting on one's own deeds and words is mandatory, on the artifacts of the Artisan recommended, and on the Artisan's Essence for- bidden. In the report has come, “Do not reflect upon God, for surely you are not able to judge His measure.” He is saying: “Do not reflect on God's Essence, for you will not reach His measure, nor will you recognize Him as is proper to Him, nor will you perceive the foundations of His majesty and tremendousness. ” This is not because His majesty is hidden from the creatures. No, rather, it is extremely manifest and clear, but the insight of the Adamite is extremely weak and incapable, so he does not have the capacity to perceive it. On the contrary, he becomes confounded, bewildered, and perplexed. He is like a bat that does not come out in daytime because its eyes are weak, for it does not have the capacity for sunlight. But this indeed is the degree of the common people. As for the great ones and the sincerely truthful, sometimes they have the strength for this gaze, but not continuously. They are like people who can take one look at the sun's disk, but not more than one look, for if they continue to look, there is fear that they will go blind. So, if someone wants to reflect, he does so on the wonders of His artisanry, for everything in existence is one of the lights of the Real's power and tremendousness. If someone does not have the capacity to look at the sun's disk continuously, he does have the capacity to look at rays of light upon the earth, and from them nothing increases but brightness and knowledge.

Our Lord whomever You admit into the fire You will have abased and the evildoers shall have no helpers. �Whomever You put to the test in the future by burning ḥurqa You will have abased him. And whomever you put to the test by separation furqa in the present you will have made him miserable. Whomever you have entrusted with the good fortune of communion wuṣla You will have sheltered him and brought him close.�

�Our Lord we have heard a caller calling to belief saying 'Believe in your Lord!' And we believed. So our Lord forgive us our sins and absolve us of our evil deeds and take us [in death] with the pious. It means �We have answered the caller dāʿī but You are the guide hādī so do not leave us to ourselves and do not raise the shadow of your care from us.� Faith īmān is entering into that which brings security amān and one only has faith in the Real from the Real granting him security. The security of the Real for the servant which is His granting him protection brings about the faith of the servant in the Real which is his affirmation taṣdīq of Him and his deep recognition maʿrifa of Him. And take us [in death] with the pious: They are those chosen for the proper ways of declaring oneness ḥaqāÌiq al-tawḥīd those who stand for God [according] to the conditions of utter devotion sharāÌiṬ al-tafrīd and stay with God by the special characteristics of disengaging [from anything other than Him] khaṣāÌiṣ al-tajrīd.

Our Lord, and give us what Thou hast promised us through Thy messengers. O Lord, bring to pass the promise that You Yourself made, bring to fruit the tree that You Yourself planted, brighten the lamp that You Yourself lit, and keep the blight of us away from the love that You gave by Your own bounty. O Lord, we are happy that You were and we were not. Your work caught on and ours did not. You put forth Your own worth, You sent Your own Messenger. O Lord, You lifted us up and no one said, “Lift up!” Now that You have lifted up, don't put down! Keep us in the shadow of gentleness and entrust us to none but Your bounty! If You water, You Yourself planted. If You flatten the foundation, You Yourself raised it. I the servant am just what You fancied. Don't throw me down-You lifted me up.

And their Lord responded to them, “I will not waste the deed of any doer among you, male or female. The one of you is as the other. And those who emigrated, were expelled from their homes, were tormented in My path, who fought and were killed, I shall surely acquit them of their ugly deeds and enter them into Gardens under which rivers flow, a reward from God.” This is loyalty to the promise that He gave to the faithful: “Supplicate Me; I will respond to you” [40:60]. The verification of this loyalty is that He responded to the caller, He bestowed upon the asker, He assisted the striver, He gave increase to the grateful, He bestowed insight on the patient, He rewarded the obedient, He absolved the disobedient, He had mercy on the regretful, He honored the lover, He gave vision to the yearner. The command came, “O MuḤammad! There is no reason for despair. In triumph the work of the servant is not outside of three traits: If he is obedient, then his reward is in place. If he is dis- obedient, then your intercession is in place. And no matter how much he is held back, My mercy toward him is in place.” If I wipe clean all the sins of the creatures, what will be lost from My kingdom? A handful of clay. And those who emigrated, were expelled from their homes, were tormented in My path, who fought and were killed. This is the attribute of the friends, the custom of the yearners, the story of those who gamble away their spirits, and the final outcome of the work of the passionate: They have given away their hearts and gambled away their spirits. Wounded by the arrow of trial, their status and respect overthrown by the sword of the decree, they have been exiled from their homes and families. Totally effaced in the ocean of thought, of themselves they recite for all, “No home, no possessions.” Sometimes burning and melting, sometimes weeping and wailing, they see the burn but not the burner, they see the tumult but not the tumult-inciter, they see the pain but not the remedy. What is even more wondrous is that they are happy with their pain and lament at the lack of pain.

Let it not delude you that the disbelievers go to and fro in the land a little enjoyment; then their abode is hell-an evil cradling! �Do not let any doubt seize you thinking that they have any value or worth with Us. Rather the days are few and breaths limited. Afterward there will be grief upon grief ḥasarāt mutarādifa and sorrow upon sorrow aḥzān mutaḌāʿifa.�

Let it not delude you that the disbelievers go to and fro in the land a little enjoyment; then their abode is hell-an evil cradling! �Do not let any doubt seize you thinking that they have any value or worth with Us. Rather the days are few and breaths limited. Afterward there will be grief upon grief ḥasarāt mutarādifa and sorrow upon sorrow aḥzān mutaḌāʿifa.�

But those who fear their Lord-for them shall be gardens underneath which rivers flow abiding therein; a hospitality from God Himself. That which is with God is better for the pious. �The state of those whom we have branded with the ignominy of separation is wretched while the state and intimacy of those whom We have raised in degrees for Our sake is blessed.� They attain the lasting reward waṣalū ilā l-thawābi al-muqīm and remain in communion and felicity wa-baqū fī l-wuṣlati wa-l-naʿīm. What God has stored away for them is better than what they had hoped for by their own choosing.

Verily there are some among the people of the scripture who believe in God and what has been revealed to you and what has been revealed to them humble before God not purchasing with the verses of God a small price. Those-their wage is with their Lord. God is swift at reckoning. He means those who have been favored by a beautiful destiny-they are with the friends of God in being blessed fa-hum maʿa awliyāÌ Allāh niʿmatan just as they are with them in their destiny kamā kānū maʿahum qismatan.

O you who have faith! Be patient, vie in patience, be steadfast, and be wary of God. Perhaps you will prosper. This again is another balm, another caress, a call of bounteousness, an address of generosity, and it gives witness to the servant's faith and obedience. Be patient is addressed to the soul, vie in pa- tience to the heart, and be steadfast to the spirit. He says to the soul, “Be patient in obedience and service.” He says to the heart, “Be patient in trial and adversity. He says to the spirit, “Be patient with the burn of yearning and the pain of love.” And God it is who is patient. If like Joseph you want to come out of this prison, be patient like Zulaykhā in the pain of distance from Joseph. It has also been said, “Be patient in God, vie in patience through God, and be steadfast with God.” Patience in God is the patience of the worshipers in the station of service with the hope of reward. Patience through God is the patience of the recognizers in the station of honoring with the hope of union. Patience with God is the patience of the lovers in the state of contemplation at the moment of self-disclosure, when they are looking with gazing eyes, their hearts bewildered in what is seen, their spirits lamenting at the hand of love. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O God, everyone is burning in separation, but the lover in vi- sion. Now that he has come to see the Friend, what does the lover have to do with patience and settledness?” And be wary of God. Godwariness is a tree whose roots are in the earth of loyalty, its branches in the air of approval, its water from the wellspring of limpidness. It is not reached by the heat of regret, nor the cold of quenching, nor the wind of farness, nor the blight of scatteredness. The fruit it brings forth is the fruit of triumph, endless prosperity, everlasting worthiness, subsistent bliss, and the kingdom of forever. This is why the Lord of the Worlds says, “Perhaps you will prosper.” The Prophet said, “You should be wary of God, for this brings together every good; you should have struggle, for it is the submitter's monasticism; and you should have the remembrance of God, for it is your light.”

O people, be wary of your Lord, who created you from one soul, created from it its mate, and scattered forth from the two many men and women. And be wary of God, whom you ask against one another, and of the wombs. Surely God is watcher over you. “O center point of human nature, O attribute of mortal nature, make godwariness your shelter and cling to it, for the life of the servants is through it and the deliverance of the travelers in it.” Godwariness is for the servant to make the commands of the Shariah into his shield so that the arrows of prohibition may not reach him. It has three levels: First, he takes refuge in the sentence of tawḤīd and avoids every associationism. Second he takes refuge in obedience and steps away from the path of disobedience. Third he takes refuge in caution and flees from ambiguity. Anyone who climbs these way stations of godwariness with truthfulness will inescapably reach deliver- ance, for the Qur'an gives this report: “God will deliver those who were godwary in their place of security; ugliness will not touch them, neither shall they sorrow” [39:61]. In another place He says, “Whosoever is wary of God, He will appoint a way out for him and He will provide for him from whence he never reckoned [65:2-3]. Whenever someone takes hold of godwariness, We will ease for him the road of deliverance from every suffering and We will send him provision from whence he has no hope.” It has been said that the sister of Bishr Ḥāfī went to see AḤmad Ḥanbal. She said, “O Imam of the Muslims! I work a spindle on the roof of my house. When the torch of the Tahirids passes by, it may happen that I join threads with the rays of that torch. Is this permissible or not?” AḤmad said, “First tell me who you are. Are you in a walkway of being able to tolerate such godwariness?” She said, “I am the sister of Bishr Ḥāfī.” AḤmad wept and said, “Godwariness like this is permissible only in the household of Bishr Ḥāfī! It is not worthy of you, so be careful not to do it, and Bishr Ḥāfī will be happy with you. Emulate your brother so that perhaps you may be like him. Then, if you want to work your spindle in the glow of the Tahirids' torch, your hand will not obey, for your brother had a degree such that whenever he reached for food that was in any way suspicious, his hand would not obey him.” “When the servant desires to be negligent of Me, I come between him and his negligence of Me.” This is found in the report in which MuṣṬafā said, narrating from his Lord, “When I know that what dominates over My servant's heart is being occupied with Me, I put my servant's ap- petite into supplicating Me and conversing with Me. When My servant is like that, My servant has passion for Me, and I have passion for him. When My servant is like that and he desires to be negligent of Me, I come between him and his negligence of Me. Those are my friends in truth. Those are the champions. They are the ones for whose sake I remove from the earth those whom they desire to be punished.” He is saying: “When My servant wants only Me, knows only Me, and belongs only to Me, I also turn the face of My heart toward him. For him I shut the door of all desires, all appetites, and all wants and I remove all others from his heart. I give passion for speaking to Me and listening to Me dominance over his spirit and heart and I give him ease on the carpet of passion. I hold the sword of beginningless jealousy over his head so that, should he want to look at another, or crave for another, or do business with another, I do not allow it.” I will make night into day and day into night in your work. I will ruin your business with the world's creatures. “Yes, when I want him, I know how he must be plundered. Today I will entrust him to the police- man of godwariness so that I may keep him under the protection of My Shariah, and it will give his movements and stillnesses the condition of courtesy. Tomorrow I will settle him down in the seat of truthfulness [54:55] in the Presence of At-ness.” Have you not heard that tomorrow at the resurrection it will be said to godwariness, “Come, for today is the day of your bazaar! If anyone has a portion of you, settle him down in a domicile in the measure of his portion. Settle down those familiar with you in the Presence of At-ness, for in the beginningless We decreed, Surely the godwary will be in the midst of gardens and a river, in a seat of truthfulness, at an Omnipotent King [54:54-55].” Who created you from one soul, created from it its mate. The Lord who created everything that He created as a pair made a spouse appear for everyone. He joined each with a likeness and at- tached each to a similar, for unity and solitariness are an attribute specific to Him. It is His rightful due and worthy of Him. In has been narrated in one of the books, “I have given the things mates so that My unity will be inferred.” And scattered forth from the two many men and women. He showed the perfect power and majesty of His lordhood to the creatures: “From the offspring of one upright individual I brought forth many thousands of creatures with diverse natures and colors, with different forms and con- ducts. Each has another color, another nature, another character, another state, another aspiration. You will never see two people alike in nature and visage, or in form and manner. So glory be to Him whose predetermined things have no end and whose objects of knowledge have no limit!” Then, at the end of the verse, He says, “Surely God is watcher over you.” The watcher is He who gives ear to hearts without investigating, who is aware of deeds without asking, and who in striving has no need to rest. This is an admonishment of the servant and eloquent advice for the traveler. It means, “Since you know that I give ear to hearts and keep My eyes on deeds and words, put watchfulness to work and carry out My rightful due.” Watchfulness is that the servant constantly looks at the Real with the heart and keeps the gaze of the Real before his eyes. Since he knows that He is not heedless of him, He is always on guard. Hence MuṣṬafā said, “When you do not like people seeing something from you, do not do it while you are alone.” In this meaning they have sung, When you are alone with yourself one day, do not say, “I'm alone.” Say, “Over me is a Watcher.

Give the orphans their property and do not exchange the evil for the good and absorb not their property into your property; surely that is a great crime: Whoever has been given charge over others and then acts unjustly toward those under his charge his adversary is his Lord for He ������ avenges His servants what He will not avenge for His own sake. If the protector of the orphan acts with justice and beneficence then his right is protected by God and if he behaves badly and aggressively God is his adversary.

If you fear that you will not act justly toward the orphans marry such women as seem good to you two or three or four but if you fear you will not be equitable then only one or what your right hands own; thus it is likelier that you will not be unjust. And give women their dowries as a free gift; God granted free men the right to marry four women at the same time. He mandated justice between [these wives] so the servant must respect what is obligatory. If he knows that he can uphold this obligation in a proper manner the choice is a permitted one. But if he knows that he will fall short in meeting this obligation he should not do it for he is accountable for what is obligatory. but if they are pleased to offer you any of it of their own accord consume it with wholesome appetite. This suggests that the food of the chivalrous fityān and generous askhiyāÌ is wholesome because they only feed others from good-hearted- ness. The food of the miserly is rotten because they look only to themselves and feed others out of obligation not good-heartedness. [The Prophet] ﷺ said �The food of the generous is a remedy while the food of the miser is a disease.�

If you fear that you will not act justly toward the orphans marry such women as seem good to you two or three or four but if you fear you will not be equitable then only one or what your right hands own; thus it is likelier that you will not be unjust. And give women their dowries as a free gift; God granted free men the right to marry four women at the same time. He mandated justice between [these wives] so the servant must respect what is obligatory. If he knows that he can uphold this obligation in a proper manner the choice is a permitted one. But if he knows that he will fall short in meeting this obligation he should not do it for he is accountable for what is obligatory. but if they are pleased to offer you any of it of their own accord consume it with wholesome appetite. This suggests that the food of the chivalrous fityān and generous askhiyāÌ is wholesome because they only feed others from good-hearted- ness. The food of the miserly is rotten because they look only to themselves and feed others out of obligation not good-heartedness. [The Prophet] ﷺ said �The food of the generous is a remedy while the food of the miser is a disease.�

But do not give to the foolish your property which God has assigned to you as maintenance; provide for them thereof and clothe them and speak to them decent words. The foolish are those who keep you from the Real and distract you from the Lord. The foolish are those dependents and children who prefer their worldly portions over the rights of God most high. Which God has assigned to you as maintenance: To keep to pleasing actions in the situation is better for you than exposing yourself to disgrace petitioning begging and contriving. For the liberation of the heart it is better to be generous than withholding and [better] to rely on patience. But as for forming the intention to beg or making yourself and your dependents a burden on other people it is more appropriate to hold on to a sufficient amount from what God has assigned to you. Then you can be generous with what is in excess of your needs. Provide for them thereof and clothe them and speak to them decent words: If you have more than enough to help them today do not with- hold that which you know they need out of fear of future poverty. If your hand is constrained from providing support do not let your tongue loose in speaking ill. It is said that when your lower self calls you to spend in a useless way you are the most foolish of the foolish so do not yield to it.

Try well the orphans until they reach the age of marrying; then if you perceive in them maturity rushd deliver their property to them; consume it not wastefully and in haste lest they should grow up. If any man is rich let him be abstinent; if he is poor let him consume honorably. And when you deliver to them their property take witnesses over them. God suffices as a reckoner. To perceive maturity means [to perceive] decency and integrity. It is gen- erosity and the preservation of honor keeping company with elders and striving to look to the good and to perform acts of devotion as decreed by the command. It is said that the one who is mature rashīd is the one who is guided to his Lord. When a need arises in him he does not rely on his own power or strength his own planning or choosing.

To the men belongs a share of what parents and kinsmen leave and to the women belongs a share of what parents and kinsmen leave whether it be little or much-an obligatory share. The determining of inheritance does not vary according to virtue or good qualities nor is it different due to fault defect or sin. If a man dies leav- ing two sons their rights are equivalent even if one of them is pious and God-fearing and the other wicked and disobedient. The God-fearing one does not get more because of his fear of God and the wicked one does not get less because of his wickedness. The deeper meaning in this is that inheritance is a gift from God that comes before [any action or virtue] so it is shared equally by the pious and the wicked. Likewise the determining of faith is a gift that comes before [any action or virtue] for Muslims. God most high said �Then We bequeathed the Book to those of Our servants whom We chose [35:32]. Then He said Yet some of them are those who wrong themselves and some of them are moderate and some are those who take the lead in [performing] good works by the leave of God. That is the greatest favor!� [35:32].

And when the division is attended by kinsmen and orphans and the poor grant them out of it; and speak to them honorable words. When the division of the inheritance is attended by those who are [to be] the possessors of its shares and are the legal heirs and others [also] attend who have no [legal] portion and who are poor do not deprive them of that. If the legal heir is a minor make to [the poor] a goodly promise saying to them �When the child grows up we will tell him to give you something.� This is the meaning of His words and speak to them honorable words. In this is a subtle allusion to those who have sinned. When they are present at His court in the future and the Real ������ pardons those who were obedient and gives them the rewards for their deeds He will not deprive the poor Muslims18 among you of the pardon if God wills after their having been among the family of faith ahl al-īmān. Similarly you were not present on the day of the division19-you have no prior entitlement. In what you know of [God] He has made you deserving ahhala20 by His favor in spite of His knowledge of the lapses that will occur in your states.

And let them fear those who if they leave behind them weak offspring would be afraid for them; let them fear God and speak pertinent words. He explained in this verse that what the Muslim should accumulate for his dependents is not wealth but fear of God taqwā and righteousness ṣalāḥ for He did not say �so let them gather their wealth let them multiply real estate for them and let them leave behind household goods.� Rather He said let them fear God for He looks after the righteous.

Surely those who eat the property of orphans wrongly will be eating only fire in their bellies and will roast in a blaze. The majestic compeller, the great Lord, the renowned keeper of servants, the clement, the gener- ous, the loyal, the tremendous, the lord of everyone, the carrier of everything, who takes the hand of the weak and joins with them in love, in this verse caresses the weak and shows love to the orphans. As for those wrongdoers who skewer the livers of orphans and drink the blood of the indigent, He threatens them and warns them of a fearful punishment. He acts as the deputy of the helpless and disputes with the wrongdoers for their sake. For He is the companion of the weak, the helper of the despairing, the responder to the call of the distressed, and the listener to the voice of the grieved. He loves the servant who, when battered, incapable, and destitute, lets out a cold sigh, sheds warm tears, and lifts two empty hands toward Him, asking again to be excused. It has come in the traditions that a man was saying, “O Lord, O Lord! You have written, You have measured out, and You have decreed!” O God, all that was, is, and shall be is what You want, what You bring about, and what You write for the creatures. O God, none of this is outside Your predestination, nor does it happen without Your decree. A call came in his secret core, “That is tawḤīd. Where is servanthood?” What you have said is nothing but tawḤīd and is fit for My Godhood. What then is the mark of your servanthood? The man said, “O Lord, O Lord! Surely I have disobeyed, I have sinned, and I ask.” O God, what comes from me is fitting for me. O God, I have broken the covenant, I have no loyalty, I am disloyal and everything worse. What can I do about this story-I'm all artifice and color. I'm altogether too lame to walk on the straight road. Greed has made me all grasping claws, I'm all war with the Apportioner's apportioning. Surely those who eat the property of orphans wrongly. It is harsh to eat the wealth of orphans and foolishly crave their possessions. They say that once the marvel of the empire, the pure Jesus, was passing by a graveyard.

God charges you concerning your children to the male the equivalent of the portion of two females; and if they be women more than two then for them two-thirds of what he leaves; but if she be one then to her a half; and to his parents to each one of the two the sixth of what he leaves if he has a child; but if he has no child and his heirs are his parents then to his mother a third; or if he has siblings to his mother a sixth after any bequest that he may bequeath or any debt. The word �charge� waṣiyya here means �command� amr. He ������ established two principles for what is owed to inheritors from the inheri- tance-the obligatory portions farḌ and the inheritance by the group of relatives taʿṣīb. The inheritance by the group of relatives is stronger than the apportionment because it might include all of the wealth [of the estate] whereas the greater part of the portions cannot exceed two-thirds [of it]. The division [of the estate] begins with those who have claim to the ordained portions-those who have the weaker entitlement. Then [the division proceeds to] the group of relatives ʿaṣaba who have the stronger right. [The Prophet] ﷺ said �Whatever remains of the portions goes to the nearest male relative.� Thus is His way sunna forever. Likewise in the words of [God] most high �Then We bequeathed the Book to those of Our servants whom We chose� [35:32] He gave them the Book as the inheritance. Then He showed preference for the wrongdoer over those who take the lead [by beginning with them]. [The wrongdoer] has a weaker claim to put forth for generosity because he is broken-hearted and unable to withstand the prolonged deferral. To the male the equivalent of the portion of two females: If the matter were to be [determined] by analogy qiyās [with the previous examples where the weak are given preference] it would be more appropriate to favor the female because of her weakness and her inability to move about freely. But His determination ������ does not require justification ghayr al-muʿallal. Your parents and children-you know not which of them is nearer in benefit to you a prescription from God; surely God is ever Knowing Wise. Children benefit you with their service khidma and parents with their compassion raḥma-parents in the state of your weakness at the begin- ning of your life and children in your weakness at the end of your life.

For you half of what your wives leave, if they have no children. Inheritance and worthiness to receive it are established either by means of a cause or by way of a lineage. The cause is marriage and the lineage is kinship. Marriage is the cause of love, as God says, “He placed between you love and mercy” [30:21]. Lineage is assistance and strength, as has come in the report: “A man is many through his brothers.” When one of the relatives by lineage or one of the near ones by cause dies, that will be a wound on a person's heart and a pain in his spirit. The Lord of the Worlds places balm on the pain. After this suffering He commands consolation through the wealth of the person who passed away. Thus, just as pain came from his passing, so also balm comes from his wealth. This is the custom of the Lord with His friends: If He places suffering on them by prescribing the Law, after the suffering He makes a treasure appear with the attribute of alleviation. Shaykh al-Islām Anṣārī said, “How should I have known that suffering is the mother of happi- ness and that beneath one disappointment lie a thousand treasures? How should I have known that hope is the courier of union and that beneath the cloud of munificence despair is impossible? How should I have known that the Lovingly Kind is so forbearing that His gentleness and loving kind- ness to the sinner are beyond reckoning? How should I have known how servant-caressing is the Possessor of Majesty and how much joy His friends have in Him? How should I have known that what I seek is in the midst of the spirit, and that the exaltation of union with Him is my opening?” In my whole life one night at the time of dawn, the image of that comfort of the spirit came to me And asked, “How are you, wounded one?” I said, “In my passion for You, that is the first opening.”

Those are God's bounds. Whoever obeys God and His Messenger He will admit him to gardens underneath which rivers flow abiding therein; that is the great triumph. His bounds ḥudūd are His commands and prohibitions and that by which His servants ʿibād show their devotion taʿabbada bihi. The root of ser- vanthood ʿubūdiyya is preserving the bounds ḥudūd and maintaining the promises ʿuhūd. Whoever preserves His limit nothing bad or harmful will reach him. The root of every affliction is going beyond the bounds.

But whoever disobeys God and His Messenger; and transgresses His bounds him He will admit to a fire abiding therein and for him there shall be a humbling chastisement. There are indeed two punishments one immediate and one postponed and ignominy unites the two of them. If created beings were to attempt to debase those who are disobedient with the like of the debasement that has already come to them through their disobedience they would not be able to do it. Because of this their speaker said �Whoever spends the night committing a sin wakes up with his degradation wa-ʿalayhi madhallatuhu. But one says of one who wakes up and passes the day performing pious acts that he has his dignity wa-ʿalayhi mahābatuhu.�

As for those of your women who commit lewdness call four of you to witness against them; and if they witness then detain them in their houses until death take them or God appoints for them a way. So as to lower the veil of generosity over the sins of servants [God] made allowances through an excessive number of witnesses [required] to estab- lish proof of lewdness which is fornication. To follow the witnessing pro- cedure in the law makes establishing proof of the circumstances nearly impossible. When Māʿiz [ibn Mālik] told [the Prophet] ﷺ �O Messenger of God may the blessings of God be upon you I have committed fornication� he said �Maybe you [only] kissedḍ� On another occasion [the Prophet] said �smell his breath.� In this there is the strongest proof of what I have mentioned of the lowering of the veil over ugly acts.

And when two of you commit it punish them both; but if they repent and make amends then leave them be. God ever turns [relenting] and is Merciful. The command to various modes of punishment for those who do this act is the strongest way to kindly communicate [the advice] to prevent and stay away from it so that the servant might be on his guard and not become deserving of the greater punishment.

It is for God to turn only toward those who do the ugly in ignorance and then soon turn. Those-God will turn toward them. And God is knowing, wise. Turning/repentance [tawba] is the mark of the road, the leader to the court, the key to the treasure, the intercessor of union, the head of every happiness, and the basis of freedom. First is regret in the heart, second apology with the tongue, and then cutting off from bad things and bad people. It has come in the report that when someone repents but does not put aside bad friends, he is not a repenter. When someone repents but does not put aside food and drink, he is not a repenter. When someone repents but does not put aside his bedclothes and empty his eyes of sleep, he is not a repenter. When someone repents but does not expend the wealth left over after food, he is not a repenter. The precondition of repentance is that you detach your heart from all existent things and turn it toward the Real. You discipline all the blood and flesh in your seven bodily members. Repentance is the precursor of the fire that comes from the bottom of hell so that today you will do to yourself with the water of your eyes what will be done to you tomorrow by the fire. Repentance is a mes- sage sent to you from the Presence: “O chevalier! How long will you make war? How long will you break the covenant? Come back, make peace! “O falcon taken to the sky, come back, don't go! My fingers hold the end of your thread! “O free man! How long have you been asleep? Wake up, it's morning, and you are thirsty for the wine of yearning. Look, it's time for the morning draft! How long will your heart and covenant stay broken? It is time to accept advice and to repent sincerely.”

This turning will not belong to those who keep on doing ugly deeds until death is present for one of them, and then he says: “Surely now I have turned.” In the tongue of learning, one must repent before death, even if it be one moment. In the tongue of practice, one must repent before the soul has the habit of seeing itself and worshiping itself. When someone is pleased with himself and gazes upon himself habitually, the door to repentance has been shut to him and the water of deliverance taken away from him. Quit being the companion of self-nurturing habit-worshipers! Kiss the dust beneath the feet of those who have disowned self! [DS 972] Not everyone who has repented in the road of the Shariah, thereby reaching pardon and forgive- ness, has reached truthfulness in love in respect of the Haqiqah. For a long time David the prophet wept and pleaded. At last it was said to him, “O David! Why do you weep when I have forgiven you, made your adversaries content, and accepted your repentance?” He said, “Lord God, I know, but give me back those sweet moments I had in Your companion- ship and those breaths I had with You in seclusion!” He said, “David, take heed! That is a love that has passed.” From now on leave the way open for the eyes to weep for the days of limpidness have no way to return. * Oh pain, Oh regret-of that standing and sitting in prayer I have dust on the head and wind in the hand.

O you who have faith, it is not lawful for you to inherit women against their will, neither debar them from marriage that you may go off with part of what you have given them, unless they commit a flagrant indecency. Consort with them honorably. For, if you are averse to them, it may be that you are averse to something within which God has placed much good. This is a call, an admonishment, an allusion, a bearing witness, and a ruling. O is the call, you is the admonishment, who is the allusion, have faith is the bearing witness. It is not lawful for you to inherit women against their will is the ruling. The explanation of the ruling is that women are considered weak, and they are imprisoned beneath your severity. Beware of tormenting them, and do not rule over them by way of scheming and deceit. Do not be severe, and do not ask of them what the Shariah does not approve. On the contrary, live with them honorably. Consort with them honorably, that is, with the teachings of the religion and by modeling one's courtesy on the character traits of the submitted.3 Show them the road of the religion and religios- ity and teach them the courteous acts of being a Muslim and the Shariah. And protect them from the Fire, as He says in another place: “Shield yourselves and your families from a fire” [66:6]. Preserve the courteous acts of companionship when consorting with them and tolerate suffering from them, but do not place on them the burden of your service, making them suffer for you. Although outwardly and specifically He is talking about women, by way of allusion He is talking generally about all Muslims. He is saying, “Watch out so that you never see yourself as having a mandatory rightful due from, or an excellence over, any other Muslim. Do not ask those above you to serve you, and do not push yourself on those beneath you. Do not use force against the folk of weakness, but rather strive to show consideration and give comfort to them and seek proximity to them.” Revelation came to David: “O David, if you see someone broken in My road, or someone whose heart has been lost in My work, take care to serve him.

If you desire to exchange a wife in place of another... This is the realization of generosity in the religion of friendship and the smoothing of the founda- tion of chivalry. He is saying, “Do not join the cruelty of separation with taking back livelihood, for this is not the work of the generous and it is unworthy of the chevaliers! You have put the scar of separation in the poor woman's heart, so do not cut off the hand of her expenditures! If you take back what you gave, you will place a scar on her scar.” Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī had a wife whom he divorced, and then he sent her plentiful wealth. He said about her, “The tribulation of our separation is enough. I must not put upon her the suffering of neediness as well.” They say the wealth was 40,000 dirhams. The woman dumped that wealth on the ground and said, “Paltry goods from a departed lover!”

How shall you take it when each of you has been privily with the other and they have taken from you a solemn covenant. It means that the prior companionship has a firm inviolability so out of respect to its due stop and keep to what the covenant requires.

And do not marry women whom your fathers married unless it be a thing of the past; surely that is obscene and abominable an evil way. This verse alludes to the protection of honor and staying within the limits of respect. If it is natural for a man to hate that another should bed his wife then sons should be forbidden from disregarding the rights of their fathers in seeking to bed their [fathers'] wives.

Forbidden to you are your mothers and daughters, your sisters…. The allusion in this verse is that the Shariah is built on making oneself a servant, not on self-exer- tion; the canon of the religion is transmitted, not rationally derived; and the basis of the Sunnah is surrender, not looking for reasons. Surrender is an easy road, its domicile flourishing, its goal the approval of the All-Merciful. Self-exertion and self-determination are a difficult road, their domicile in ruins, their goal un- wholesome. Watch out! Jump away from the road of self-exertion and cling to surrender. Avoid self-determination and looking for reasons. Whatever the Shariah has declared forbidden, consider it forbidden-a consignment by the Desire, built upon the Will. If it had been permitted in place of forbidden, the same would be the case, for it would have been current in the holy Shariah and would have no cause or ambiguity. For He is the Real-majestic is His majesty! He does whatso- ever He wills [3:40] and decrees whatsoever He desires [5:1]. He forbids what He wills to those whom He wills and He allows what He wills to those whom He wills. His artisanry has no cause and His decree no protester.

And wedded women save what your right hands own this is what God has prescribed for you. Lawful for you beyond all that is that you seek using your wealth in wedlock and not illicitly. Such wives as you enjoy thereby give them their wages as an obligation; you are not at fault in agreeing together after the obligation. God is ever Knowing Wise. When you stay mindful of the limits ḥudūd respect agreements ʿuhūd and obtain mutual consent with women33 according to the law there will be no enmity in it for people and no punishment to follow from it from the Real ������ for that is lawful and without further restriction.

And whoever has not the means wherewith to be able to marry believing women in wedlock let him take believing maids whom your right hands own. God knows very well your faith; the one of you is as the other. So marry them with the permission of their folk and give them their wages honorably as women in wedlock not illicitly or taking lovers. But when they are given in wedlock if they commit lewdness they shall be liable to half the chastisement of married women. That is for those of you who fear the distress of sin yet it is better for you to be patient. God is Forgiving Merciful. Concessions have been granted for the weak. As for the strong He bids them to serious endeavor and the adoption of what is most comprehen- sive and restrictive in the law since there is no work for them except to uphold the right of the Real ḥaqq al-ḥaqq. When an external matter distracts them from their attention to the heart so that they adopt what is easier and less this takes them farther away from their attention to the innermost self for it is an abandonment of the most important and sublime matters. Whoever descends in degree from adopting that which is strongest and most comprehensive-[this decline] to what is permissible for him [is actually] a decline into the state of indulgence. Then He said at the end of the verse yet it is better for you to be patient. This means [patient] in enduring what is difficult in [your situation]. This is a soothing way [of speaking] to the servant since He did not say �Be patient� but rather yet it is better for you to be patient.

God desires to make clear to you and to guide you in the ways of those before you and to turn [in forgiveness] toward you; God is Knowing Wise. When He told the Prophet ﷺ and his community the stories of those from past communities and what they did and how they were dealt with they looked to what would be done with them since there were among them those who also did the impermissible. So they said �If only we knew in what way [God] will deal with us. Will it be abasement metamorphosis35 punishment or whatḍ� So God most high said and to guide you in the ways of those before you We will inform you of that which we did with them and to turn [in forgiveness] toward you. As for you I turn [in forgiveness] to you and as for those who came before you I have already destroyed them utterly. It is said that God desires to make clear to you by unveiling His secrets to you so that what was hidden from others will be made manifest to you. It is said that God desires to make clear to you His singularity in bring- ing things into existence and originating new things-no one else has any part in this. And to guide you in the ways of those before you: the path of the prophets and the friends. This [guidance] is entrusting [everything to God] being content and surrendering completely to the [divine] decree and judgment. It is said: And to turn [in forgiveness] toward you that is He accepts your repentance after having created it and then repays you according to what He has created for you in your repentance.

And God desires to turn [forgivingly] toward you but those who follow their passions desire that you deviate with a terrible deviation. God desires to lighten things for you; for man was created weak. He separates here the story of the former from the story of the latter. Whenever God desires to turn toward someone He will not let an enemy gloat over him and He will not give him anything bad in the two abodes. But those who follow their passions shahawāt desire...: Their desire irāda becomes weak enfeebled and held back before the desire irāda of the Real ������. God desires to lighten things for you. This means [the lightening of] the weight of litanies37 through intermittent incomings wāridāt to your hearts. It is said that God desires to lighten what you endure in struggles mujāhadāt with the lights of witnessings mushāhadāt that enter deeply into your hearts. It is said that God desires to lighten the burdens of service for you with the sweetness of acts of obedience. It is said that He lightens the difficulties of the trust amāna for you by carrying its burden for you. It is said that He lightens the hardships of seeking with the refreshment of arriving. For man was created weak: He describes by this their need and affliction Ḍurr but does not accept40 by this their excuse ʿudhr.

And man was created weak. Wherever the name “man” comes in the Qur'an, a displeasing attribute is linked to it. Thus He said, “Surely man is a great wrongdoer, ungrateful” [14:34]. “Surely man was created anxious” [70:19]. “Surely man is rebellious” [96:6]. “Surely man is ungrateful to his Lord” [100:6]. “Sure- ly man is in loss” [103:2]. This is because man comes from dust, and dust is the basis of density and the root of opacity. The servant's hope is that on the day He created, He saw the faults, and then He bought along with the faults. You bought me with my faults on the first day! The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O Lord, you called me ignorant. What comes from the ignorant other than disloyalty? You called me weak. What comes from the weak other than error? O Lord, take our inability to overcome ourselves as stemming from that weakness. Take our boldness and inso- lence as stemming from that ignorance. O Lord, You lifted us up and no one said, 'Lift up!' Now that You have lifted up, don't put down! Keep us in the shadow of Your bounty!” If You water, You Yourself planted. If you flatten the foundation, You Yourself raised it. I the servant am just what You fancied. Don't throw me down-You lifted me up.

O you who believe consume not your goods between you wrongly except it be trading through mutual agreement. And kill not yourselves. Surely God is ever Merciful to you. And whoever does that through aggression and injustice him We shall certainly expose to a fire; and that for God is an easy matter. Every thing spent for something other than God is capital spent for nothing. It is said that [this refers] to withholding in a heedless way and expend- ing from a place other than that of bearing witness to the true reality ḥaqīqa. All of that comes to nothing. And kill not yourselves that is by committing sins. It is said that it is an indirect reference to those things that would incur His wrath ������. It is said [kill not yourselves] by looking to and paying mind to [your lower selves]. It is said [kill not yourselves] by being pleased with [your lower selves] or giving preference to them over the good pleasure of the Real. And whoever does that through aggression and injustice We will not spare him from a fierce punishment. We will entrust [the fire] with its rightful inhabitant nakilahā ilā ṣāḥibihā and give it free rein wa-nalqā ḥablahā ʿalā ghāribihā.

O you who believe consume not your goods between you wrongly except it be trading through mutual agreement. And kill not yourselves. Surely God is ever Merciful to you. And whoever does that through aggression and injustice him We shall certainly expose to a fire; and that for God is an easy matter. Every thing spent for something other than God is capital spent for nothing. It is said that [this refers] to withholding in a heedless way and expend- ing from a place other than that of bearing witness to the true reality ḥaqīqa. All of that comes to nothing. And kill not yourselves that is by committing sins. It is said that it is an indirect reference to those things that would incur His wrath ������. It is said [kill not yourselves] by looking to and paying mind to [your lower selves]. It is said [kill not yourselves] by being pleased with [your lower selves] or giving preference to them over the good pleasure of the Real. And whoever does that through aggression and injustice We will not spare him from a fierce punishment. We will entrust [the fire] with its rightful inhabitant nakilahā ilā ṣāḥibihā and give it free rein wa-nalqā ḥablahā ʿalā ghāribihā.

If you avoid the great sins prohibited to you, We will acquit you of your ugly deeds and admit you to a generous admitting place. The great sins of the folk of service in the path of the Shariah are what you have heard about. The great sins of the folk of companionship in the street of the Tariqah and in the tongue of allusion are another sort and have another tasting, for the folk of service are one thing, and the folk of com- panionship something else. Those who serve are the wage-earners, and the companions are the proximate. In the traditions has come the saying, “The beautiful deeds of the pious are the ugly deeds of the proximate.” Of the same sort is the saying of the Pir of the Tariqah, “The hypocrisy of the recognizers is better than the self-purification of the desirers.” The basis of this rule is the subtle point MuṣṬafā reported about cloudiness and his asking for- giveness for it. He said, “My heart becomes clouded, so I ask forgiveness from God seventy times a day.” Abū Bakr al-ṣiddīq said, “Would that I could witness that for which God's Messenger asked forgiveness.” The mark of the recognizers' great sins is that lassitude sometimes comes over them in the world of their own traveling, and thereby their innate disposition is overpowered by human attri- butes. Their life becomes susceptible to customs and habits, and the realities of their faith come to be mixed with the contaminants of personal motives and marks giving witness to their own shares. In this state of theirs, if a messenger of sound discipline, truthful poverty, and the joy of ecstasy does not come out to welcome them and take their hands, they will not emerge from the pit of their own selfhood. If you want to come out of the pit of status like a man, grab hold of the pearl-encrusted, musk-wafting chain. [DS 719] The great ones of the religion have said that as long as a man does not reach this place of danger and leave behind the station of lassitude, he will not become a pir of the Tariqah and will not be suited to take disciples. A man must have lost the road a thousand times and then returned to it if he is to bring someone who has lost the road back to the road. What is needed first is the road to the road, then the road is needed. Someone who has always been on the road knows the road, but he does not know the road to the road. The secret of the slips of the prophets and their falling into lassitude is this. And God knows best. This is knocking at a magnificent gate. Happy is he for whom it is opened and who is guided to it!

Do not wish for that whereby God has preferred some of you over others. Men shall have a portion of what they have earned, and women shall have a portion of what they have earned. But ask God of His bounty. Abū Bakr Kattānī said, “When someone has the opinion that he will arrive without expending ef- fort, he is a wisher, and when someone has the opinion that he will arrive by expending effort, he is a drudge.” Whoever fancies that he will reach the goal without toiling is a wisher, and “The incapable are those who follow their own caprice and wish for God.” Whoever fancies that he will reach the Sought by toil and by seeking the Sought is a drudge. Shaykh al-Islām Anṣārī said, “He is not found by seeking, but the seeker finds. Until he finds Him, he will not seek. Whatever can be found by seeking is of little worth. The servant finds the Real before the seeking, but for him seeking is the earliest step. The recognizer finds seeking from finding, not finding from seeking. In the same way, the obedient person finds obedience from self-purification, not self-purification from obedience; he finds the cause from the meaning, not the meaning from the cause. O God, since finding You is before the seeking and the seeker, I am seeking because unsettledness has overpowered me. The seeker is seeking and the Sought is obtained before the seeking. This is a most marvelous business! What is even more marvelous is that finding has become hard cash when seeking has not yet arisen. The Real is seen but the curtain of exaltedness is in place.” You are a sea of loveliness, a wave of beauty, the law of generous acts, the essence of life. The lovers seeking You are full of longing like Alexander seeking the water of life. It has also been said that the meaning of the verse is this: “You wish for the station of the masters without traveling in their path, clinging to their conduct, and practicing their practices.”4 You want the state of the great ones, but you have not gone on the great ones' road. You search for the Kaabah of union with eyes that have not undertaken struggle. You see the great good fortune of the friends, but you have not seen their tribulation. “Your trouble is wishing that you could be like those who have taken trouble.” You fancy that the pen of the covenant was written easily for the passionate, that it wrote the inscription of friendship on their hearts gratis. But they have been wounded in spirit and heart at every moment, and they have tasted a draft laced with poison. How many nights for the sake of seeing You have I been slapped in the head by the dogs of Your street! But not just anyone is suited for His wounds, and not just anyone is worthy of suffering His pain. May God's mercy be upon those chevaliers who have made their spirits the target of His trial's arrow and recognized their hearts as the litter for His pain's burden! Then, in that trial and sorrow, they hum this tune: If my spirit is worthy of suffering your pain, this share of passion's good fortune is enough for me. Yes, everyone's wound is in the measure of his faith, and everyone's burden is in the measure of his strength. Whenever someone's strength is greater, his burden is heavier. This is the secret of the verse in which He says,

To each We have appointed heirs of that which parents and kinsmen leave and to those to whom your right hands were pledged. So give them their share. God is ever Witness over everything. In the beginning of Islam He made relationships by mutual commitment the equal of relationships of kin in determining inheritance. While this ruling was later abrogated the rule to respect [one another] remained. If this is the manner of relationships by mutual commitment muʿāqada between men what do you think of the mutual covenant muʿāhada with Godḍ God most high said �men who are true to the covenant they made with God� [33:23]. They have recited: Verily those who have died to the religion of whims find the decree of death a sweet watering place.

The men stand over the women through that with which God has preferred some of them over others and that which they expend of their wealth. He gave the men more than the women because the burden is all on them, for theirs is the perfec- tion of strength and the eminence of aspiration. They carry burdens in the measure of strength or in the measure of aspiration. “Resolutions are made in the measure of the folk of resoluteness.”

And if you fear a breach between the two send forth an arbiter from his folk and an arbiter from her folk if they desire to set things right God will grant them success. Surely God is ever Knower Aware. It is said that you have the right to her obedience in terms of the body but as for love and inclination toward you in the heart that is up to God. So do not burden her with what God has not provided for you from her. Hearts are in the power of God and He causes love within them toward whom He will and makes them hate whom He will. It is said that if they then obey you do not seek a way against them that is do not forget her loyalty in the past because of a single incident of antipa- thy in the present for perhaps the situation will become amicable again.

Worship God, and associate nothing with Him, and act beautifully toward parents, and toward kinsfolk, orphans, the indigent, and the neighbor who is of kin, and the neighbor who is a stranger, and the companion at your side, and the son of the road, and what your right hands own. This verse begins by mentioning tawḤīd, which is the root of the sciences, the secret of the recogni- tions, the basis of the religion, the foundation of being a Muslim, and the partition between enemy and friend. Any act of obedience without tawḤīd has no value or weight, and its outcome will be nothing but darkness and captivity. Any act of disobedience along with tawḤīd will yield nothing other than familiarity and brightness. TawḤīd is that you say that God is one and that you be one for Him. Saying one is the submit- ter's tawḤīd, and being one is the basis of the recognizer's tawḤīd. The submitter's tawḤīd drives away the devil, washes away sin, and opens up the heart. The recognizer's tawḤīd cuts away at- tachments, washes away the creatures, and brings forth the realities. The submitter's tawḤīd takes advice, opens the door, and gives fruit. The recognizer's tawḤīd effaces the customs of human nature and burns away the veil of mortal nature so that the breeze of familiarity may blow, the beginningless reminder may arrive, and the friend may gaze upon the Friend. The submitter's tawḤīd is that you bear witness to God's one Essence, pure attributes, and beginningless names and marks. He is the God other than whom there is no god, the Creator of heaven and earth other than whom there is no enactor. No one has loyalty like Him in the whole cosmos. He is a Lord who is above all in measure, beyond all in Essence and attributes. From the Beginningless to the Endless He is the greatest Lord. When intellect holds that something is impossible, God has perfect power over it. His power makes no use of contrivance, and His self- standing has no change of state. In the kingdom He is safe from disappearance, and in Essence and attributes He is transcendent. You will never see any created thing without marks of deficiency and fault, but the Eternal Enactor is pure of deficiency, incomparable with fault, free of blights. He does not eat or sleep, nor is He the locus for newly arrived things or changing states. He is not new in attribute, nor does He accept alteration. He stands before “when,” acts before activity, creates before creation, and is powerful before the artisanries. In His Essence, attributes, and perfection He has always been just as He is now. Shaykh al-Islām Anṣārī said, “The tawḤīd of the Muslims amounts to three words: affirmation of attributes without excess, negation of similarity without declaring ineffectuality, and going for- ward according to the outwardness without mixing.” The reality of affirmation is that you acknowledge and surrender to whatever God said in explanation and whatever MuṣṬafā said plainly about Him. You stand firm in the outwardness, you offer no likenesses for it, you do not turn it away from its formulation, and you do not wander around it with imagination, for God comes into knowledge but not imagination. You avoid reflec- tive thinking about how it can be so and you do not seek any self-exertion or interpretation. You do not turn away from saying it or listening to it. You know that in reality whatever creatures know about God's attributes is only the name. To perceive it is to accept it. The stipulation is surrender, and the commentary is to remember. Know God's Essence in God's measure, not as rationally understood by creatures. Know His attributes as is worthy of Him, not as reflected upon by creatures. Know His ability in His measure, not with the artifice of creatures. He is a Being that is one, outside of imaginations and apart from qualification. Whatever He wants, He does, not because of need, for He needs nothing. Rather, He puts things straight by want, pure knowledge, precedent wisdom, and penetrating power. His speech is true, His promise correct, and His Messenger trustworthy. His speech exists in the earth in reality, always joined with Him. His argument stands through it, His decree is irrevocable, His commands and prohibitions firm. Surely His are the creation and the command. Blessed is God, the Lord of the Worlds [7:54]. This is tawḤīd as transmitted and recognition as reported. Through this tawḤīd people reach paradise, escape from hell, and stay free from the Real's anger. The opposite of this tawḤīd is the great associationism. Whoever is held back from this transmitted tawḤīd remains in the great as- sociationism, far from God's forgiveness. The other tawḤīd is the tawḤīd of the recognizers and the adornment of the sincerely truthful. Speaking of this tawḤīd is not the work of water and clay, nor is it the place of tongue and heart. What will the tawḤīd-voicer say here with the tongue? His state is itself tongue. How can he ex- press this tawḤīd? Putting it into expression is calumny itself. This tawḤīd is not from creation, for it is a mark from the Real. It is the resurrection of the heart and the plundering of the spirit. No one has voiced the unity of the One, for everyone who voices it denies it. The tawḤīd of those who talk of its description is a loan voided by the One. His tawḤīd is His voicing unity- its describer's description deviates. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O God, the recognizer knows You through Your light and cannot express the radiance of finding. The tawḤīd-voicer recognizes You through the light of proximity and burns in the fire of love without turning away from joy. O Lord, in his finding he seeks to find You because he is drowned in bewilderment. He does not know seeking from finding.” The poor wretch who recognizes Him through the artisanry! The poor man who seeks Him through the evidence! From the artisanry you must seek whatever finds room, and from the evi- dence you must ask for what is fitting. How can the reality of tawḤīd cling to the tongue of reports? This is not the tawḤīd reached by inference and striving, nor that proven by evidence and artisanry, nor that realized by any means whatsoever. It is found in the midst of heedlessness, it comes without asking, and it busies the servant with itself. Lit up by the contemplation of the Near and the observation of togetherness, the servant reaps the benefit of beginningless love and loses the two worlds. If seeing You brings loss to the spirit, then I'll buy the spirit's loss with the spirit. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O God, the mark of this work has taken the world away from me and concealed me even from the mark. Seeing You has left me without spirit. Love for You took away benefit, and I lost the two worlds. “O God, do You know what has made me happy? I did not fall to You by myself.

And worship God and associate nothing with Him. Be kind to parents and near kindred and to orphans and to the needy and to the neighbor who is near and to the neighbor who is a stranger and to the friend at your side and to the wayfarer and to what your right hands own. Surely God loves not the conceited and the boastful. Those who are niggardly and bid other people to be niggardly and conceal what God has bestowed upon them of His bounty. And We have prepared for those that disbelieve a humbling chastisement. And worship God: Servanthood is attaching yourself closely to the com- mand al-ʿubūdiyyatu muʿānaqatu al-amr and separating yourself from the rebuke wa-mufāraqatu al-zajr. And associate nothing with Him: The outward form of associating another with God shirk is to believe in objects of worship other than Him iʿtiqādu maʿbūdin siwāhi while its hidden form is looking to any existing thing other than Him mulāḥaẓatu mawjūdin siwāhi. Declaring His unity is to recognize that all contingent things are brought into being by God and subsist through Him. He is the One who causes things to happen brings things forth and causes them to remain. There is not an atom a splinter a particle or the slightest trace that belongs to anyone [other than Him that has the capacity to] bring things into existence or orginate new things. The subtle forms of showing off the hidden acts of guile the secret places of pride acting to be seen by created beings seeking the pleasure of their praise and wilting at their rejection and censure-all that is hidden idolatry shirk khafī. Be kind to parents: Acting kindly iḥsān follows degrees of association for you have been commanded to observe [your parents'] rights first because they are your kin and you were raised by them and reached your full maturity and knowledge through them. When your association and companionship have become sound and good with your near kindred the poor the needy the orphans and those of their class you will be raised up from that to become worthy of His companionship ������. And to the neighbor who is near and to the neighbor who is a stranger and to the friend at your side: Among your neighbors are your two angels so do not annoy them with your disobedience bi-ʿiṣyānika and observe their right in what you give them to record in your acts of kindness min iḥsānika.

And those who expend of their substance to show off to people and believe not in God and the Last Day. Whoever has Satan for a comrade then an evil comrade has he. These are also included in His words �surely God loves not the conceited and the boastful fakhūr� [4:36]. Their immediate punishment is that they are not in the group of those whom He loves. That is tribulation enough. The conceited are those who look to themselves while those who show off look to others like them. Both of them are branded by hidden idolatry shirk khafī and God does not love those who associate others with Him. Among camels the fakhūr is a she-camel in the flock whose teats are blocked so that a large amount of milk collects in the udder. The buyer thinks that that is normal for her but it is not so. Likewise anyone who looks only to himself and his standing in the present moment is making false claims-he is fakhūr and God does not love him. This is also the case for the one who expends his substance to show off to people.

And what burden is on them if they were to believe in God and the Last Day and expend of what God has provided themḍ God is ever Aware of them. There is no difficulty for them in putting their faith and trust in God. Indeed if they were to have faith they would attain glorious honor in this world and the hereafter. Nothing prompts them to turn away from [God] but their lack of commitment and respect.

Surely God shall not wrong so much as the weight of an atom; and if it be a good deed He will double it and give from Himself a great wage. He does not deprive them of anything in their reward but rather is first with his bounty for them without their having deserved [it] and He doubles the wages for their works. It is impossible to describe what [God] has decreed as wrongdoing because the creation is His creation and the kingdom is His kingdom. The wrongdoer is one who transgresses a limit which has been ordained for him-it is impossible to describe the glory of [God's] sublime measure in this way.

So how shall it be when We bring forward from every community a witness; and We bring you as witness against theseḍ Upon that day the disbelievers those who have disobeyed the Messenger will wish that the earth might be leveled with them. And they will not hide from God any talk. Since the Messenger ﷺ will be the witness against his community as well as their intercessor he will only bear witness to that which can be the object of [his] intercession. Upon that day the disbelievers... They will become remorseful but it will not benefit them. They will bite their fingertips but their anguish will not subside. They will be wrapped in the veil of ignominy and transferred to the homesteads of tribulation and adversity.

So how shall it be when We bring forward from every community a witness; and We bring you as witness against theseḍ Upon that day the disbelievers those who have disobeyed the Messenger will wish that the earth might be leveled with them. And they will not hide from God any talk. Since the Messenger ﷺ will be the witness against his community as well as their intercessor he will only bear witness to that which can be the object of [his] intercession. Upon that day the disbelievers... They will become remorseful but it will not benefit them. They will bite their fingertips but their anguish will not subside. They will be wrapped in the veil of ignominy and transferred to the homesteads of tribulation and adversity.

O you who have faith! Do not approach the prayer when you are intoxicated until you know what you are saying, or defiled-except for travelers on the road-until you have made the full ablution.... Surely God is pardoning, forgiving. Intoxication is drunkenness. Drunkenness is disparate, and the drunkards diverse. One is drunk with the wine of the grape, another with the wine of heedlessness, another with love for this world, another with the frivolity of the soul and self-love. This last is the most difficult, for self-love is the basis of idol-worship, the seed of estrangement, the curtain of ill fortune, and the root of every darkness. If you are martyred a hundred times a day in the path of God you will still be an idol-worshiper if you see yourself in the midst. When will you be the man to want the heart without caprice? When you will have the pain to see the body with contempt? [DS 708] When someone is drunk with wine and is fearful and shaking in dread of punishment, the end of his work will be burning in the fire of punishment-if He does not forgive him. But He may indeed forgive him, for He says, “Surely God forgives the sins altogether” [39:53]. When someone is drunk with the soul's arrogance and with pride and self-worship, his work is in peril. His basis is loss, his deeds damage him, and he dwells in the peril of being led on and deceived and the danger of everlasting separation. Or defiled-except for travelers on the road-until you have made the full ablution. If the religion were based on reasoning, then the greater ablution would be incumbent after urination, and the minor ablution after ejaculation. Urine is impure and semen is pure. With impure urine, the lesser purity is mandatory, but with pure semen the greater purity. This is so that you will know that the religion is founded on the transmitted, not on the rationally derived; on the Book, not on reasoning; on making oneself a servant, not on self-exertion. The origin of the major ablution is from the era of Adam. When Adam came from paradise to this world, he fell into companionship with Eve. Gabriel came and said, “O Adam, make a full ablution, for God commands you to do so. ” Adam obeyed the command and then said, “O Gabriel, what is the reward for this ablution?” Gabriel said, “For every hair on your body, a one-year's reward will be written for you in the ledger. For every drop of water that passes over your body, God will create an angel that will obey and worship until the Day of Resurrection, and He will give its reward to you.” He said, “O Gabriel, is this for me specifically? Or is it for me and my children generally?” Gabriel said, “It is for you, the faithful, and your children until the resurrection.” Thus the ablution for defilement was made mandatory in all the shariahs of the prophets from the era of Adam until the time of the Master of the World-upon all of them be God's blessings and peace! One of the imams even said, “The Trust that Adam lifted up, concerning which God said, 'And man carried it' [33:72], was the trust of the ablution for defilement.” Then at the end of the verse He says, “Surely God is pardoning, forgiving.” God passes over sins, curtains the defects of those who apologize, and conceals the offenses of the sighers. The meaning of bringing these two names of pardon and forgiveness in this place is this: “Before I sent the commands and prohibitions I took away whatever you have done up until today, and I have passed over you. My servant, no one's sin can overcome My solicitude. And who finds My bounty other than the one on whom the sun of solicitude shines? My servant, if you straighten your aim, I am there for you in the road. If you ask forgiveness from Me, I am aware of your heart's thoughts. I am the forgiver of your offenses and I want good for you. Wherever there is someone with ruined life and destitute days, I buy him. Wherever there is a poor man, wounded by offenses, helpless in the hands of an adversary, I am his Patron! Wherever there is someone weeping in shame, his head bowed because of not having anyone, I am his proof. Wherever there is someone burnt because of having lost his heart, someone in pain from selflessness, I am the happiness of his spirit.” Be wherever you will in the land and you will be near My remembrance.

Have you not seen those who were given a share of the Book purchas- ing error and desiring that you should err from the wayḍ God has better knowledge of your enemies. God suffices as a Protector God suffices as a Helper. Some from among the Jews distort the words from their contexts and they say �We have heard and we disobey and hear as one who does not hear� and �Mind us� twisting with their tongues and slandering religion. If they had said �We have heard and obey� and �Hear� and �Consider us� it would have been better for them and more upright but God has cursed them for their unbelief so they believe not except a few. They practiced a deception but did not realize the way in which He deceived them in that they were given the book and then were deprived of the bless- ing of understanding so that they distorted [the words] and persisted [in their unbelief]. Some from among the Jews distort the words... They acted shamelessly toward the Messenger ﷺ and refused to show him respect so they were punished with doubt concerning his affair. Those who acted shamelessly devised a barrier between themselves and the blessing of [the Prophet's] companionship and the bounties of serving him. If they had hastened [instead] to reject the envy they felt and had accepted his state with venera- tion and honored [him] they would have found blessing in following him and happiness in both abodes. But how could they be otherwise when what had already been determined distanced themḍ They were kept back by fate qisma from the carpet of service khidma. There is no maneuvering that can help those held back by the [divine] decrees.

Have you not seen those who were given a share of the Book purchas- ing error and desiring that you should err from the wayḍ God has better knowledge of your enemies. God suffices as a Protector God suffices as a Helper. Some from among the Jews distort the words from their contexts and they say �We have heard and we disobey and hear as one who does not hear� and �Mind us� twisting with their tongues and slandering religion. If they had said �We have heard and obey� and �Hear� and �Consider us� it would have been better for them and more upright but God has cursed them for their unbelief so they believe not except a few. They practiced a deception but did not realize the way in which He deceived them in that they were given the book and then were deprived of the bless- ing of understanding so that they distorted [the words] and persisted [in their unbelief]. Some from among the Jews distort the words... They acted shamelessly toward the Messenger ﷺ and refused to show him respect so they were punished with doubt concerning his affair. Those who acted shamelessly devised a barrier between themselves and the blessing of [the Prophet's] companionship and the bounties of serving him. If they had hastened [instead] to reject the envy they felt and had accepted his state with venera- tion and honored [him] they would have found blessing in following him and happiness in both abodes. But how could they be otherwise when what had already been determined distanced themḍ They were kept back by fate qisma from the carpet of service khidma. There is no maneuvering that can help those held back by the [divine] decrees.

Have you not seen those who were given a share of the Book purchas- ing error and desiring that you should err from the wayḍ God has better knowledge of your enemies. God suffices as a Protector God suffices as a Helper. Some from among the Jews distort the words from their contexts and they say �We have heard and we disobey and hear as one who does not hear� and �Mind us� twisting with their tongues and slandering religion. If they had said �We have heard and obey� and �Hear� and �Consider us� it would have been better for them and more upright but God has cursed them for their unbelief so they believe not except a few. They practiced a deception but did not realize the way in which He deceived them in that they were given the book and then were deprived of the bless- ing of understanding so that they distorted [the words] and persisted [in their unbelief]. Some from among the Jews distort the words... They acted shamelessly toward the Messenger ﷺ and refused to show him respect so they were punished with doubt concerning his affair. Those who acted shamelessly devised a barrier between themselves and the blessing of [the Prophet's] companionship and the bounties of serving him. If they had hastened [instead] to reject the envy they felt and had accepted his state with venera- tion and honored [him] they would have found blessing in following him and happiness in both abodes. But how could they be otherwise when what had already been determined distanced themḍ They were kept back by fate qisma from the carpet of service khidma. There is no maneuvering that can help those held back by the [divine] decrees.

O you who have been given the scripture believe in what We have revealed confirming what is with you before We obliterate faces and turn them inside out or curse them as We cursed those of the Sabbath and God's command is done. In We obliterate faces and turn them inside out the allusion is to the turn- ing away of hearts from spiritual desire irāda to the states of the people of habit ahl al-ʿāda so that despite the abundance of His calls to reject the present world they no longer pay any attention to them.

Surely God does not forgive that anything be associated with Him, but less than that He forgives for whomsoever He wills. The associationism of the common people is one thing, and the associationism of the elect some- thing else. The associationism of the common people is the greater associationism, and the asso- ciationism of the elect the lesser associationism. The greater associationism is that they should say that the tremendous Enactor, the eternal Artisan, has an associate and partner, or they should consider Him to have an equal and peer, or they should make Him similar to something of creation. Whenever someone says this, he is not a worshiper of God, for he has called upon an idol. In reality, he has been held back from the religion of guidance. The right belief and pure religion is that you consider the God of the world's folk and Creator of all to be pure of and incomparable with spouse, child, and partner. He did not give birth, nor did anyone give birth to Him. He is free of new arrival, change, and birth, hallowed beyond defect, incapacity, and need, pure in attribute, fitting in artisanry, sweet in speech, and complete in love. He is pure of fault in attributes, pure of blunder in deeds, pure of negligence in speech, and pure of doubt in love. He is a God who is outside of imaginations, and no one knows how He is. He is worthy of Godhood, knower of God-work, separate from faults, without peer in Essence and attributes. Whoever believes this has been released from the greater associationism and has joined with the root of faith. As for the lesser associationism, it is of two sorts and belongs to two groups. For the faithful it is eye-service and letting go of self-purification in deeds. For the recognizers, it is paying regard to deeds and seeking deliverance thereby. Its trace in the faithful is to decrease their faith, to bring fissures into their certainty, and to close down the door of clarity. MuṣṬafā said, “I am very fright- ened of the ancient associationism for my community.” He was asked what ancient associationism was, and he said, “That someone does good deeds along with eye-service in the deeds.” Shaddād ibn Aws said, “I saw God's Messenger weeping.

Hast thou not seen those who deem themselves pure? No, God alone deems pure whom- soever He will. Do not praise yourselves, do not approve of others deeming you pure, do not look at your own good deeds, give no weight to your own traveling, and consider yourselves lower than everyone low. A friend asked, “Which group is it who have stolen reality's ball from the world's creatures?” I said, “Why do you ask for the marks of that group, for they have not shown themselves to themselves for the sake of showing. They never walk on the edge of making claims, nor do they ever sleep in the circle of meaning. More wondrous is that their worthlessness and abasement makes them like Christians and Jews in people's eyes.” Yes, at the threshold of a generous man, the more abased you make yourself, the more exalted you become. Your abasement is not despair of the Friend. Rather, it testifies to your truthfulness and straightness. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O God, I lament at my abasement, for I have seen no one with misery like mine. I lament at the burning because You are lost to my spirit. There is no one in the world to have pity on my days and time. O God, I wept so many tears in longing that I sowed the seeds of pain with my eyes' water. If I find endless felicity, I will approve of all this pain. If my eyes fall upon You once, I will not have seen myself with those eyes.” No, God alone deems pure whomsoever He will. When God's deeming pure reaches someone, its mark is that he is released from companionship with the scatter-hearted ones who have stooped to the path of demons and idols [4:51] and he does not again open himself up to them. But you should not fancy that the worshipers of demons and idols are simply those idol-worshipers. Any- one who is at ease with the caprice of his own soul and remains bound to what his soul desires is a man of idols and a servant of demons. The creatures are at ease in the ruins of their own makeup- wink once and throw the creatures into turmoil! [DS 696] In the tongue of the folk of allusion, placing your foot on your own soul and bringing your caprice under your own severity is the tremendous kingdom concerning which God says,

Have you not seen those who praise themselves for purityḍ Nay God purifies whom He will and they shall not be wronged a single date-thread. Consider how they invent falsehood against God and that suffices for a clear sin. Whoever relies on what people say about his purity or seeks the satisfaction of the elite over that of ordinary people is someone who praises himself for purity. Looking to the self is the greatest veil. Whoever imagines that he is purifying himself with litanies or efforts he undertakes by what he does or does not do is veiled by his own ignorance. Consider how they invent... alludes to those who let loose their tongues and claim what they have not actualized. The one who invents in this way does not say anything but that ears reject him and hearts are driven away. Then when he becomes silent he returns to a heart laid waste.

Have you not seen those who were given a share of the Book how they believe in al-Jibt and al-Ṭāghūt and say to the disbelievers �These are more rightly guided than the believers�ḍ Those are the ones whom God has cursed; and he whom God has cursed you will never find for him any helper. The Ṭāghūt of each person is his lower self and his whim-the idol he seeks among that which is other than [God]. When someone pays heed to a person or looks to a reason or turns to a cause or obeys a whim that thing is his jibt and his Ṭāghūt.61 The companions of al-Jibt and al-Ṭāghūt deserve the curse which is being expelled from the carpet of service ʿubūdiyya and veiled from witnessing lordship rubūbiyya.

Have you not seen those who were given a share of the Book how they believe in al-Jibt and al-Ṭāghūt and say to the disbelievers �These are more rightly guided than the believers�ḍ Those are the ones whom God has cursed; and he whom God has cursed you will never find for him any helper. The Ṭāghūt of each person is his lower self and his whim-the idol he seeks among that which is other than [God]. When someone pays heed to a person or looks to a reason or turns to a cause or obeys a whim that thing is his jibt and his Ṭāghūt.61 The companions of al-Jibt and al-Ṭāghūt deserve the curse which is being expelled from the carpet of service ʿubūdiyya and veiled from witnessing lordship rubūbiyya.

Or have they a share in the kingdomḍ then they would not give the people a single date spot naqīr. Or are they jealous of people for the bounty that God has bestowed upon them. For We gave the House of Abraham the Book and wisdom and We gave them a mighty kingdom. And there are some of them who believe in him and some of them who bar [others] from him. Hell suffices for a blaze. When those prone to avarice receive abundance it only increases their distress at the comfort others receive. It is as if such a person drinks water sparingly drop by drop yet gulps down and even drains the very water of his life. Or are they jealous of people... Indeed out of jealousy they reject the choice of the Real ������ [who has chosen] whom He will for His friends and they do notapproach them withreverence. The way sunna of God������with His friends entails [His] elevation and protection of their honor. The custom of disbelievers is to question and doubt the [divine] power of deliberation so there are some who believe and accept [the friends of God] and some who reject and deny. The punishment of God is sufficient as an avenger to them. And We gave them a mighty kingdom: The mighty kingdom mulk is true knowledge maʿrifa of the King. It is said that it is dominion mulk over the lower self. It is said that it is standing above the secrets of the realm mamlaka so that nothing is hidden. It is said that it is the viewing of the secrets of creation from on high.

And We gave them a tremendous kingdom. It has been said, “The tremendous kingdom is having an overview of the secrets of the creatures,” or it is “gazing upon the secrets of the empire such that nothing is hidden.” This is why Abū ʿUthmān Maghribī said, “When someone responds to the Real, the empire re- sponds to him.” In other words, when something appears to him in the empire, he is given news of it. Ibn al-Barqī was one of the great shaykhs of Egypt and possessed perspicacity. Once he became ill and was given medicine. He said, “I will not drink it, for some disaster has happened in the em- pire. Until I find out what happened, I will not drink it.” Thirteen days passed before news arrived that the Qarmatians and fallen on the Sanctuary, killed many people, and worked great destruction. Shaykh al-Islām Anṣārī said, “Servanthood cannot bear more than knowing some and not knowing some, for God says, 'He does not show His unseen to anyone except someone He ap- proves as a messenger' [72:26-27]. 'And God will not inform you of the unseen' [3:179]. God knows all-no one else.” It has also been said that the tremendous kingdom is recognition of the tremendous King. When someone recognizes Him, he has found the kingdom of both worlds. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O God, who is like me in becoming worthy for this work? Enough for me is that I have the worth of Your companionship.” Tell them to call me nothing but lord- that's a name suited for Your serving boy.

Or have they a share in the kingdomḍ then they would not give the people a single date spot naqīr. Or are they jealous of people for the bounty that God has bestowed upon them. For We gave the House of Abraham the Book and wisdom and We gave them a mighty kingdom. And there are some of them who believe in him and some of them who bar [others] from him. Hell suffices for a blaze. When those prone to avarice receive abundance it only increases their distress at the comfort others receive. It is as if such a person drinks water sparingly drop by drop yet gulps down and even drains the very water of his life. Or are they jealous of people... Indeed out of jealousy they reject the choice of the Real ������ [who has chosen] whom He will for His friends and they do notapproach them withreverence. The way sunna of God������with His friends entails [His] elevation and protection of their honor. The custom of disbelievers is to question and doubt the [divine] power of deliberation so there are some who believe and accept [the friends of God] and some who reject and deny. The punishment of God is sufficient as an avenger to them. And We gave them a mighty kingdom: The mighty kingdom mulk is true knowledge maʿrifa of the King. It is said that it is dominion mulk over the lower self. It is said that it is standing above the secrets of the realm mamlaka so that nothing is hidden. It is said that it is the viewing of the secrets of creation from on high.

Surely those who disbelieve in Our signs-We shall expose them to a fire; as often as their skins are consumed We shall replace them with other skins that they may taste the chastisement. Surely God is ever Mighty Wise. This alludes to those who deny the signs of the friends. He causes them to remain in a state of insignificance yuqīmuhum bi-waṣfi al-ṣighār and leaves them to the estrangement of denial wa-yabqiyahum fī waḥshati al-inkār. Whenever something appears to their hearts from this story their rejection leads them to abandon faith in it and to dismiss its people with contempt so they are punished over and over again.

And those that believe and perform righteous deeds We shall admit them to gardens underneath which rivers flow wherein they abide: they shall have therein spouses purified and We shall admit them to plenteous shade. Today they are in the shade of [God's] care riʿāya and tomorrow in the shade of [His] protection ḥimāya and sufficiency kifāya. Indeed they are in the shade of solicitude ʿināya in this world and the next. People in this group are of different types: There are those who are in the shade of His mercy those who are in the shade of His care those who are in the shade of His special generosity those who are in the shade of His solicitude and those who are in the shade of His nearness.

Surely God commands you to deliver trusts back to their owners. In this verse the lovingly kind Lord, the generous and right-knowing, the care-taker of the servants, commands His servants to give back trusts. He is saying, “Return the trusts at your own liability to their folk.” In other words, do not intervene in them, and avoid betrayal, for after the faith and recognition of the servant, there is no attribute greater than holding in trust; and after unbelief, there is no attribute uglier than betrayal. The servant's obedience comes forth from holding in trust, and disobedience comes from betrayal. Betrayal is the basis of corruption, the beginning of every mis- fortune, and the foundation of disobedience. Holding in trust is the pillar of the religion, the per- fection of tawḤīd, and the attribute of the prophets and the angels. In the firm text of the revealed book, the Lord of the Worlds describes Gabriel by saying, “brought down by the trustworthy spirit” [26:193]. In another place He says, “obeyed, and also trustworthy” [81:21]. He reported from the daughter of Shuʿayb that she said to her father about Moses, God's speaking companion, “O my father, hire him! Surely the best you can hire is the strong, the trustworthy” [28:26]. And in describing Joseph the sincerely truthful He says, quoting the king of Egypt, “Surely today with us thou art emplaced, trustworthy” [12:54]. The trusts about which the Book and the Sunnah talk are three things: One is obedience and the religion, for the Lord of the Worlds calls them a trust. He says, “Surely We offered the Trust” [33:72]. Next are women, who are held as a trust by men. MuṣṬafā said, “You have taken them as a trust from God, and you have made their private parts lawful to you by God's word.” Third is the property you leave with someone, or the secret you tell to him, for that is a trust. The Lord of the Worlds says, “Let him who has been entrusted deliver back his trust” [2:283]. MuṣṬafā said, “Deliver the trust back to the one who entrusted you.” He also said, “If a man relates some words, pay regard, for it is his trust.” Mustāfā also said, “Sitting together is a trust.” In other words, when you sit with people, it must be on condition of holding in trust.

O you who believe obey God and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. If you should quarrel about anything refer it to God and the Messenger if you believe in God and the Last Day; that is better and more excellent in interpretation. He compares obedience to Him with obedience to the Messenger ﷺ hon- oring his affair and elevating his status. Those in authority ulū l-amr: In scholarly terms this means the [worldly] ruler sulṬān. According to the explanation of deeper knowl- edge maʿrifa the one who has deeper knowledge ʿārif has authority dhū l-amr over the one who is just starting out. The shaykh has authority over the aspirant murīd. The leader imām of each group has authority over [the members of the group]. It is said that the friend and guardian walī of the aspirant is better awlā for the aspirant than the aspirant [himself]. If you should quarrel about anything refer it to God: In scholarly lan- guage this means the Book and the sunna. [But] according to the explana- tion of God's unity bayān al-tawḥīd it is to commit and entrust knowledge of [the matter] to God ������. When two conflicting inclinations arise in the heart of a believer and [the believer] has [access to] the reasoning provided by religious scholars he can contemplate what he understands from their understanding. A master of the heart [on the other hand] entrusts [the matter] to the Real ������ and pays heed to what is said to him in his inner- most self and what has been cast into his heart without any intermediary.

Have you not seen those who claim that they believe in what has been revealed to you and what was revealed before you desiring to take their disputes to a false deity when they have been commanded to renounce himḍ But Satan desires to mislead them far astray. Outwardly they proclaimed sincerity while acting hypocritically in secret. He ������ exposed them through the tongue of Gabriel ���� ������ saying �desir- ing to take their disputes to a false deity when they have been commanded to renounce him yakfurū bihi� that is reject him. Whoever abandons his path and returns to anyone other than his master ustādh becomes deserving of exclusion and condemnation.

And when it is said to them �Come to what God has revealed and the Messenger� you see the hypocrites turn away from you vehemently. Everything other than the word of the Real is easy for hypocrites [to hear]. [On the other hand] the declaration of God's unity is heard only by those who are sincere. Those who are listless and those who are hostile do not hear that which is true since it is difficult for those who are not sincere to oppose personal whims. Just as the eye of the bat is incapable of facing the sun the hypocrites were unable to stand firm before [the Prophet] ﷺ and that was the cause of their vehemently turning away.

How would it be when an affliction befalls them for what their own hands have sent before them! They then come to you swearing by God that �We sought only virtue and harmony.� The beseeching of the insincere at the attacks of misfortune is without foundation. It deserves no consideration because it only lasts until the tribulation has passed. The greater affliction is being indifferent to the affliction [brought on by what their own hands have sent before them]. It is said that part of the affliction is being deprived [of the blessing] in the present moment by that which is of no use to you.

Those-God knows what is in their hearts; so turn away from them and admonish them and say to them regarding their souls penetrating words. �Be generous with them in admonition as sympathy dictates but hold your heart back from being overly concerned for them or putting your trust in them. Know that you will not be able to help those whom We do not sup- port in any way.�

We sent not any messenger but that he should be obeyed by God's leave. From the first to the last of this section is an allusion to the greatness of MuṣṬafā's rank in God's sight. It is one of the robes of honor given to him by God, for He has lifted up the intermediary and made his decree equal to His own decree. Just as approving of the Real's decision brings about the certainty of the tawḤīd-voicers, so also approving of the Messenger's decree brings about the faith of the faithful. Thus the world's folk will know that obeying the Messenger is to obey the Real, disobeying the Messenger is to disobey the Real, the words of the Messenger are the revelation of the Real, the explanations of the Messenger are the road of the Real, the acts of the Messenger are the argument of the Real, the Shariah of the Messenger is the creed of the Real, the decree of the Messenger is the religion of the Real, and following the Messenger is friendship with the Real. Thus He says, “Follow me; God will love you” [3:31]. He is saying, “O master of masters! O paragon of engendered beings! O center point of the circle of newly arrived things! Say to My servants, 'If you want God to give you access to His friendship and approve of your servanthood, travel in my tracks, for I am His Messenger. Bind the belt of following me, receive my decrees in spirit and heart without resistance. Put forth your body, put down your neck, throw yourself into the decree, and do not give narrowness and tightness any access to yourself.'” This is why He says,

Then they will not find in themselves any tightness from what thou decreest and will sur- render with full submission. “Do you not know that all the work has been bound to my tracks, and both houses have been at- tached to my street?” What rank and good fortune! What nobility and excellence! From the era of Adam until today, who has had such complete bounty and such well-arranged work, such celestial exaltedness and such god-like luster? After 500 and some years, the pillar of his Shariah's good fortune is flourishing, his branches blooming, his wood yielding fruit, his eminence elevated, his decree predominant. His splendor is in this world, his fame in the next. Each heart has a lamp from him, each tongue a burning brand from him, each heart a splendor from him, each head a call from him, each spirit a place for him. If you fancy that there is none of God's gentleness-there is. That above the world's beauties there is no king-there is. If you suppose that the spirits of good men in their passion have no familiarity with the beauty of the dust of your feet-they do. And if you think that when you lift up your tresses from your cheek the lamp of the spheres has no brightness from you-it does. [DS 821-22]

And had We prescribed for them: �slay yourselves� or �Leave your habitations� they would not have done it save a few of them; yet if they had done what they were admonished to do it would have been better for them and a firmer position. And then We would have surely given them from Us a great wage. And We would have guided them to a straight path. [God] exposed the weakness of their sincerity akhbara ʿan suqmi ikhlāṣihim and the extent of their bankruptcy wa-quwwati iflāsihim and informed [the Prophet and the believers] of their failings by His knowl- edge. Although [God] let [the hypocrites] go their own way in many of the tests He said �If they had been inclined to serve and had put on the belt of obedience it would have been better for them than their persisting in their disbelief and pride. If they had done that We would have given them a great reward thawāb ʿaẓīm from Us and would have guided them on a straight path ṣirāṬ mustaqīm and rendered to them an enduring gift ʿaṬāÌ muqīm. In the explanation by allusion bayān al-ishāra this matter refers to opposing personal whims and sacrificing the lower selves by holding them back from familiar and comfortable things. It is leaving [your] habitations and parting from the familiar territories of desire for the present world.

And had We prescribed for them: �slay yourselves� or �Leave your habitations� they would not have done it save a few of them; yet if they had done what they were admonished to do it would have been better for them and a firmer position. And then We would have surely given them from Us a great wage. And We would have guided them to a straight path. [God] exposed the weakness of their sincerity akhbara ʿan suqmi ikhlāṣihim and the extent of their bankruptcy wa-quwwati iflāsihim and informed [the Prophet and the believers] of their failings by His knowl- edge. Although [God] let [the hypocrites] go their own way in many of the tests He said �If they had been inclined to serve and had put on the belt of obedience it would have been better for them than their persisting in their disbelief and pride. If they had done that We would have given them a great reward thawāb ʿaẓīm from Us and would have guided them on a straight path ṣirāṬ mustaqīm and rendered to them an enduring gift ʿaṬāÌ muqīm. In the explanation by allusion bayān al-ishāra this matter refers to opposing personal whims and sacrificing the lower selves by holding them back from familiar and comfortable things. It is leaving [your] habitations and parting from the familiar territories of desire for the present world.

And had We prescribed for them: �slay yourselves� or �Leave your habitations� they would not have done it save a few of them; yet if they had done what they were admonished to do it would have been better for them and a firmer position. And then We would have surely given them from Us a great wage. And We would have guided them to a straight path. [God] exposed the weakness of their sincerity akhbara ʿan suqmi ikhlāṣihim and the extent of their bankruptcy wa-quwwati iflāsihim and informed [the Prophet and the believers] of their failings by His knowl- edge. Although [God] let [the hypocrites] go their own way in many of the tests He said �If they had been inclined to serve and had put on the belt of obedience it would have been better for them than their persisting in their disbelief and pride. If they had done that We would have given them a great reward thawāb ʿaẓīm from Us and would have guided them on a straight path ṣirāṬ mustaqīm and rendered to them an enduring gift ʿaṬāÌ muqīm. In the explanation by allusion bayān al-ishāra this matter refers to opposing personal whims and sacrificing the lower selves by holding them back from familiar and comfortable things. It is leaving [your] habitations and parting from the familiar territories of desire for the present world.

Whosoever obeys God and the Messenger-they will be with those whom God has blessed: the prophets, the sincerely truthful, the witnesses, and the wholesome. What beautiful compan- ions they! Ibn ʿAbbās says that this verse came down concerning Thawbān, who had become wasted and weak in love for God's Messenger, his back bent and his face yellow. One day the Messenger said to him, “O Thawbān, what is it with you? Has your face turned yellow because you stay awake at night?” He said, “O Messenger of God, this and that, as you know.” He said, “O Thawbān, are you placing a great deal of suffering on yourself through various sorts of discipline? You have become so weak and your back is bent over!” Thawbān said, “Yes, O Messenger of God, it has been something of all that.” The Messenger said, “O Thawbān, is it that you are desiring?” Thawbān's eyes filled with tears when he heard talk of desire. How long will you ask me, “Why are you suffering?” In truth, you know my state better than I. “O Messenger of God, I do not know how the nights pass until day comes and I see you again.” Wishing for you by day is the veil of my idleness, aching for you by night is the chamber of my wakefulness. Separation from you is the adornment of my sorrow, fervor for you is the capital of my awareness. “O Messenger of God! The hardest sorrow is that in the next world you will be in the highest of the High Chambers, and I will be held back from seeing you.” While they were in the midst of this came Gabriel, the messenger of the Presence, the courier of mercy, bringing a verse: “Whosoever obeys God and the Messenger-they will be with those whom God has blessed,” and so on to the end. God's Messenger recited it to him and made his heart happy, placing a balm on his woundedness. Yes, it wants a pain like this for there to appear a balm like that! Until you burn, you will not find a way out. Until you drown in Remember Me! in the ocean of remembrance, you will not reach the shore of security by the hand of I will remember you [2:152]. A man with nothing will never find an accomplished friend- pain for Ishmael calls for the burn of Abraham.

Whoever obeys God and the Messenger they are with those whom God has blessed of the prophets and the truthful and the martyrs and the righteous. What fine companions they are! That is bounty from God. God suffices as Knower. He made obedience to the Chosen One al-MuṣṬafā ﷺ72 the key to attain- ing the stations of the prophets the truthful and the martyrs in a manner that is suitable for the community and appropriate for the high rank of [the Prophet] ���� ������. That is bounty from God: He detached their situation from every cause merit and reason for surely what comes to them and what happens to them is the disbursement of His bounty and originates from His generosity.

O you who believe take your precautions then move forward in com- panies or move forward all together. Verily there are some of you who tarry; then if an affliction befalls you he says �God has been gracious to me for I was not a witness with them.� But if a bounty from God befalls you he will surely cry as if there had never been any affection between you and him: �Oh would that I had been with them so that I might have won a great triumph!� Fleeing toward firār ilā God is among the attributes of those who seek qāṣidūn. Fleeing with firār maʿa God is among the attributes of those who arrive wāṣilūn. Rest qarār with God cannot be found except by those who are sincere in fleeing to God. Fleeing from everything other [than God] is the concern of anyone who declares His unity. Verily there are some of you who tarry... that is their beliefs are not firmly established in one state. They are tied to worldly concerns so when they see something unpleasant approaching the Muslims they are grateful and say �Praise be to God who has protected us from following them and afflicting us with what He has afflicted them.� But if you have a blessing or something good they incline toward you and wish that they had been with you. They have lost in the present world and the hereafter. They are not completely73 disbelievers nor are they loyal believers. As if there had never been any affection between you and him: It means they had already dropped the commitment to protect and defend your lives property and honor.

O you who believe take your precautions then move forward in com- panies or move forward all together. Verily there are some of you who tarry; then if an affliction befalls you he says �God has been gracious to me for I was not a witness with them.� But if a bounty from God befalls you he will surely cry as if there had never been any affection between you and him: �Oh would that I had been with them so that I might have won a great triumph!� Fleeing toward firār ilā God is among the attributes of those who seek qāṣidūn. Fleeing with firār maʿa God is among the attributes of those who arrive wāṣilūn. Rest qarār with God cannot be found except by those who are sincere in fleeing to God. Fleeing from everything other [than God] is the concern of anyone who declares His unity. Verily there are some of you who tarry... that is their beliefs are not firmly established in one state. They are tied to worldly concerns so when they see something unpleasant approaching the Muslims they are grateful and say �Praise be to God who has protected us from following them and afflicting us with what He has afflicted them.� But if you have a blessing or something good they incline toward you and wish that they had been with you. They have lost in the present world and the hereafter. They are not completely73 disbelievers nor are they loyal believers. As if there had never been any affection between you and him: It means they had already dropped the commitment to protect and defend your lives property and honor.

O you who believe take your precautions then move forward in com- panies or move forward all together. Verily there are some of you who tarry; then if an affliction befalls you he says �God has been gracious to me for I was not a witness with them.� But if a bounty from God befalls you he will surely cry as if there had never been any affection between you and him: �Oh would that I had been with them so that I might have won a great triumph!� Fleeing toward firār ilā God is among the attributes of those who seek qāṣidūn. Fleeing with firār maʿa God is among the attributes of those who arrive wāṣilūn. Rest qarār with God cannot be found except by those who are sincere in fleeing to God. Fleeing from everything other [than God] is the concern of anyone who declares His unity. Verily there are some of you who tarry... that is their beliefs are not firmly established in one state. They are tied to worldly concerns so when they see something unpleasant approaching the Muslims they are grateful and say �Praise be to God who has protected us from following them and afflicting us with what He has afflicted them.� But if you have a blessing or something good they incline toward you and wish that they had been with you. They have lost in the present world and the hereafter. They are not completely73 disbelievers nor are they loyal believers. As if there had never been any affection between you and him: It means they had already dropped the commitment to protect and defend your lives property and honor.

So let them fight in the way of God those who sell the life of this world for the hereafter; and whoever fights in the way of God and is slain or conquers We shall give him a great wage. The struggle jihād of someone who has not slain the lower self in himself is not sound. The removal of the fear of death from the heart comes first and then the surrender of the lower self to it. We shall give him a great wage means �Our remaining after him is better for him than his life through his lower self.� Their speaker said: Are you not my compensation for myselfḍ That is honor enough. Besides you I have no goal nor anything to request.

What is wrong with you that you do not fight in the way of God and for the oppressed men women and children who say �Our Lord bring us forth from this town whose people are evildoers and appoint for us a protector from You and appoint for us a helper from You.� �What is it that prevents you from fighting in the way of Godḍ What holds you back from desiring to give your lifeblood for Godḍ How would it be to your disadvantage to offer up your spirits in God and for Godḍ Are you afraid that you will give less than what is due to Godḍ Or do you not know that you will be gathered to Godḍ Why is it not enough that He remains after you have been annihilated in Godḍ

Those who believe fight in the way of God and those who disbelieve fight in the way of a false deity. Fight therefore against the friends of Satan; surely the plotting of Satan is ever feeble. Those who are sincerely devoted to God do not prefer anything to God and they do not hold anything back from God. They are ever against their lower selves for the sake of God. The states of those who disbelieve are the reverse of [those of] the believers. Therefore He strengthened and encouraged [the believers] saying Fight therefore against the friends of Satan that is �do not feel any fear toward them for I am taking care of your affairs and will suffice for you against your enemies.�

Say �The enjoyment of this world is trifling; and the hereafter is bet- ter for him who fears; and you shall not be wronged a single date thread. He gave you power over this world but then said �The enjoyment of this world is trifling� so it is of no account for you. If you were to give alms from it so much as half a date you would be saved from the fire and reach the garden. This is the most extraordinary generosity. Caring little about what comes to you-because of your beloved-is the strongest indicator of your relationship. It is said that when He wants you to forsake the present world He makes it seem meager in your eyes so that abandoning it will be easy for you. It is said: Say �The enjoyment of this world-the sum total of it-is trifling. Since your portion is less than [this] trifling [amount] why would He quarrel with you over the details of what is permitted taḥlīl so long as your pact remains secure from alteration tabdīlḍ If the value of this world is trifling then the cheapest of the cheap are those who are content with the cheap khasīs in lieu of the precious nafīs. The believer is torn from the worlds of being kawn in degrees. First He said �say 'The enjoyment of this world is trifling; and the hereafter is better'�-He seizes them from the present world by what comes next. Then He robs them of both worlds saying But what is with God is better and more lasting [42:36].

Wherever you may be death will overtake you though you should be in raised-up towers.� And if a good thing befalls them they say �This is from God�; but if an evil thing befalls them they say �This is from you.� Say �Everything is from God.� What is wrong with this people that they do not understandḍ Death is joy to the believer and the news of its drawing near is good news to him because it is a means of reaching the Real. Whoever loves to meet God God loves to meet him. It is said that since death is inevitable submitting to His decree willingly is better than tolerating it unwillingly. Moreover He told them that because of the weakness of their facul- ties of insight and the infirmity of their beliefs they are joyful and show gratitude when a good thing befalls them. But if an evil thing befalls them they are not guided to God. The Magian disposition flows in them so that they attribute aḌāfū [the evil thing] to something that is created. [God] replied to them saying �say to them O Muḥammad 'Everything is from God through [the acts of] creating and originating producing and invent- ing decreeing and facilitating.'�

Whatever good befalls you it is from God; whatever evil befalls you is from yourself. We have sent you to people as a messenger and God suffices as Witness. Whatever good befalls you is a bounty from God and whatever evil befalls you is from yourself through acquisition kasb. Both of them are created by God ������.

Whoever obeys the Messenger verily obeys God; and whoever turns his back We have not sent you as a watcher over them. This verse alludes to the gathering jamʿ of the state of the Messenger ﷺ for He ������ said �Obedience to him is obedience to Us. Whoever draws near to him draws near to Us. Whoever is accepted by him is accepted by Us maqbūluhu maqbūlunā and whoever is rejected by him is rejected by Us wa-mardūduhu mardūdunā.�

They say obedience; but when they sally forth from you a party of them harbor other than what they say. God writes down what they harbor [in themselves]. So turn away from them rely on God and God suffices as a Guardian. This means that �when they come to you [Muḥammad] they surrender to your witnessing mushāhada but when they leave the light of your approach iqbāl is cut off and they return to darknesses� just as they say: Whenever he repents he returns to his ignorance just as the one who is feeble suffers a relapse.

What do they not ponder yatadabbarūna the QurÌānḍ If it had been from other than God surely they would have found therein much inconsistency. And when there comes to them an issue be it of security or of fear they broadcast it. If they had referred it to the Messenger and to those in authority among them those among them who are able to think it out yastanbiṬūnahu would have known it from them. And but for the bounty of God to you and His mercy you would surely have followed Satan except a few [of you]. �Pondering� tadabbur is an allusion to meanings acquired through immersing [oneself] deeply in contemplation. The mining of the jewels of meanings is through precise �extraction� istinbāṬ. And when there comes to them an issue... Because they are heedless of the Real they have no one to whom they can transmit their secrets so they reveal the secret to each other. As for the believers the Knower of their secrets is their Friend and Protector. They speak with Him about what comes to them and have no need to broadcast the secret to any created being. The Hearer of their whispered confidence is God and the Knower of their hidden affairs is God. If they had referred it to the Messenger and to those in authority among them... that is if they had brought their secrets to those who are respected and those among the people of the story it would have dispelled their doubts and helped them through the light of guidance and spiritual instruction. And but for the bounty of God with His friends they would wander in every wadi of separation of the moment just as those outwardly like them do.

What do they not ponder yatadabbarūna the QurÌānḍ If it had been from other than God surely they would have found therein much inconsistency. And when there comes to them an issue be it of security or of fear they broadcast it. If they had referred it to the Messenger and to those in authority among them those among them who are able to think it out yastanbiṬūnahu would have known it from them. And but for the bounty of God to you and His mercy you would surely have followed Satan except a few [of you]. �Pondering� tadabbur is an allusion to meanings acquired through immersing [oneself] deeply in contemplation. The mining of the jewels of meanings is through precise �extraction� istinbāṬ. And when there comes to them an issue... Because they are heedless of the Real they have no one to whom they can transmit their secrets so they reveal the secret to each other. As for the believers the Knower of their secrets is their Friend and Protector. They speak with Him about what comes to them and have no need to broadcast the secret to any created being. The Hearer of their whispered confidence is God and the Knower of their hidden affairs is God. If they had referred it to the Messenger and to those in authority among them... that is if they had brought their secrets to those who are respected and those among the people of the story it would have dispelled their doubts and helped them through the light of guidance and spiritual instruction. And but for the bounty of God with His friends they would wander in every wadi of separation of the moment just as those outwardly like them do.

So fight in the way of God; you are charged only with yourself. And urge on the believers; maybe God will restrain the might of the disbelievers; God is mightier and more severe in castigation. �Rise up [Muḥammad] with Us in surrendering everything from you to Our command. Just as there is no one to compare to you in your rank because of your elevated status over all We likewise do not charge anyone but you with the like of what you have been charged and We do not burden anyone but you with what you have been burdened. This is because of your singular worth among those otherwise like you in outward form.�

Whoever intercedes with a good intercession shall receive a share of it; and whoever intercedes with an evil intercession shall receive the like from it. God conserves all things. �The intercessor liberates the state of the one for whom he intercedes. The intercessor becomes worthy of a weighty rank from God ������ by virtue of his intercession while the one who hastens to do corruption with regard to Our command bears the responsibility and carries the weight of the sin.�

When you are greeted with a greeting, greet with one more beautiful than it, or return it. In this verse, the majestic compeller, the magnificent God, the lovingly kind beautiful-doer, teach- es His servants the courteous acts of social intercourse and companionship, for anyone not adorned with courtesy is not worthy of companionship. Companionship is of three sorts: the courtesy of conformity with the Real, the courtesy of sincerity with people, and the courtesy of opposition to the soul. Anyone not nurtured by these sorts of courtesy has nothing to do with the path of MuṣṬafā and has no worth in the world of No god but God. The exalted Lord first adorned MuṣṬafā with courtesy, as his come in the report: “My Lord taught me courtesy, so how beautifully I have been made courteous!” Thus on the night of the miʿrāj in that most tremendous station, he acted courteously toward the Presence, such that the exalted Lord says about him, “The eyesight did not swerve, nor did it trespass” [53:17]. He observed the courtesy of companionship with people, such that He says about him, “Surely thou hast a tremendous character” [68:4]. The principles of the courteous acts of companionship in interacting with the Real are that you put knowledge to work in every interaction, you revere the Shariah, you avoid putting into practice what your wishes command, you honor the Sunnah and its folk, you avoid innovation and its folk, you leave aside suspicion and supposition, you stay far from disquieting thoughts and the habits of eye-service, ignorance, and laziness in worshiping God, you avoid adorning yourself as a worship- ful servant in other than the Sunnah, you keep supererogatory acts hidden, you not mention the name God in heedlessness, you not mix levity with seriousness, you not play with the Shariah and the religion, and you put scrupulosity to work in speaking, acting, seeing, eating, sleeping, moving, and resting. Even if you pass your days with truthfulness and limpidness, you never approve of yourself. Rather, you must always be displeased with yourself, and you must make it incumbent upon yourself to repent in every state. The Messenger said, “My heart becomes clouded, so I ask forgiveness from God one hundred times a day.” Abū Yazīd BasṬāmī was so displeased with his own limpidness and self-purification that his glorification sometimes consisted of pointing at himself with his finger and saying, “You are the miserable man of the time.

God-there is no god except Him He will surely gather you on the Day of Resurrection whereof there is no doubt. And who is truer in state- ment than Godḍ This address contains both a negation and an affirmation. The negation concerns what is other than God-what is negated is impossible for them. The affirmation belongs to Him through [His] divinity. It is not possible to deny what He has affirmed for Himself.

What is wrong with you that you have become two parties regarding the hypocrites when God has overthrown them for what they earnedḍ What do you desire to guide him whom God has sent astrayḍ And he whom God sends astray you will never find for him a way. �Hold to the covenant regarding them for they are My enemies aʿdāÌī. Neither in this world or the next will they receive My good pleasure riḌāÌī. Your concern for them will not save them from what has been determined by My decree qismatī. The decrees do not revolve around [human] anxieties.�

They long that you should disbelieve as they disbelieve so then you would be equal; therefore do not take friends from among them until they emigrate in the way of God; then if they turn away take them and slay them wherever you find them; and do not take any of them as a patron or as a helper. Except those who attach themselves to a people between whom and you there is a covenant or come to you with their breasts constricted about the prospect of fighting you or fighting their people. Had God willed He would have given them sway over you so that assuredly they would have fought you. And so if they stay away from you and do not fight you and offer you peace then God does not allow you any way against them. [This] alludes to those in confused and sickly states-they wish that the sincere would be like them. How absurd that their desire should come true! Until your antagonists stop trying to thwart you separate yourselves from them oppose them and do not change your state to suit them. Do not associate with them and do not take any of them as a patron or as a helper. Someone who is in harmony with your goal is better for you than forced association with someone who opposes you. Except those who attach themselves to a people... This verse is an allusion to [the fact] that He gives leave with these exceptions to associate outwardly in a kindly manner with those who are in a weak and oppressed condition. And so if they stay away from you... this alludes to [the case] when someone who is not one of the people of the story associates with you. If they are intent on remaining in their familiar areas of worldly concerns do not call them to your path but leave them be in peace. If [God] gives you the opportunity to look to them with mercy follow your good intentions with them. But if not leave them be in peace.

They long that you should disbelieve as they disbelieve so then you would be equal; therefore do not take friends from among them until they emigrate in the way of God; then if they turn away take them and slay them wherever you find them; and do not take any of them as a patron or as a helper. Except those who attach themselves to a people between whom and you there is a covenant or come to you with their breasts constricted about the prospect of fighting you or fighting their people. Had God willed He would have given them sway over you so that assuredly they would have fought you. And so if they stay away from you and do not fight you and offer you peace then God does not allow you any way against them. [This] alludes to those in confused and sickly states-they wish that the sincere would be like them. How absurd that their desire should come true! Until your antagonists stop trying to thwart you separate yourselves from them oppose them and do not change your state to suit them. Do not associate with them and do not take any of them as a patron or as a helper. Someone who is in harmony with your goal is better for you than forced association with someone who opposes you. Except those who attach themselves to a people... This verse is an allusion to [the fact] that He gives leave with these exceptions to associate outwardly in a kindly manner with those who are in a weak and oppressed condition. And so if they stay away from you... this alludes to [the case] when someone who is not one of the people of the story associates with you. If they are intent on remaining in their familiar areas of worldly concerns do not call them to your path but leave them be in peace. If [God] gives you the opportunity to look to them with mercy follow your good intentions with them. But if not leave them be in peace.

You will find others desiring to have security from you and security from their own people; yet whenever they are returned to sedition they are overwhelmed by it. So if they do not stay away from you and offer you peace and restrain their hands then take them and slay them wherever you come upon them; against them We have given you clear warrant. The effort of anyone who desires to combine two opposing things is ruined and his resolve does not grow. Just as an individual cannot be both a hypo- crite and one who wholeheartedly submits muslim no individual can be desirous of the Real and remain with the precepts of the people of habit. Spiritual desire irāda and habit ʿāda are opposites. It is necessary to abandon contradictory stances and to distance yourself from that which has no relation to you.

It is not for a believer to slay a believer except by mistake. He who slays a believer by mistake then let him set free a believing slave and blood- money is to be submitted to his family unless they remit it as a charity. If he belongs to a people at war with you and is a believer then the setting free of a believing slave. If he belongs to a people between whom and you there is a covenant then the blood-money must be paid to his family and the setting free of a believing slave. But if he has not the wherewithal then the fasting of two successive months a relenting from God. And God is ever Knowing Wise. [God] mitigated the matter of someone who mistakenly [slays a believer] by giving the burden of restitution to the larger group responsible for the blood-money ʿāqila. The elite are responsible for the blood-money for the weak and oppressed mustaḌʿafūn in the community. The people of deeper knowledge ahl al-maʿrifa are responsible for the blood-money for the aspirants murīdūn. The shaykhs are responsible for the blood-money for the poor fuqarāÌ. Their way is to bear the burdens that afflict the weak and oppressed.

And whoever slays a believer deliberately his requital is hell abiding therein and God's wrath is with him and has cursed him and has prepared for him a mighty chastisement. Just as the slaying of another [human being] has been prohibited to you so is slaying yourself: whoever follows his whims sets out to shed his own blood. Whoever does not give good counsel and admonition to an aspirant and does not assist him in his resolve is endeavoring to shed [the aspirant's] blood. Such a person is held captive to his own state-it is fitting that the consequence to him should be an unpleasant one for he should not enjoy [the states] from which he has held aspirants back. [God] ������ said �O David when you see someone seeking me become a servant to him.�

O you who have faith! When you strike forth on the path of God, look clearly, and say not to him who offers you peace, “You are not of the faithful,” seeking the chance goods of this world's life. By way of allusion, He is saying that when you go on a journey, go for the sake of reaching one of the friends of God so that he may be the intimate of your days and the witness of your heart and spirit. No matter how far you go, never be at ease from seeking and do not hold back the foot of effort. The friends are the favorites of the Exalted Threshold and accepted by the Presence of Divinity. Not everyone sees them, not every eyesight perceives them. When you find them, give ear, and when you see them, cling to them, for the brightness of the heart lies in witnessing them and endless felicity in being their companion. The pir of the Tariqah Junayd was asked, “Which do you prefer? Two cycles of voluntary prayer or an hour of witnessing the poor.” He said, “An hour of witnessing the poor, for witnessing the poor is God's love, for He says, 'It is incumbent on Me to love those who love each other in Me and who visit each other in Me.' Bringing God's love to hand is an obligatory act for everyone. Leaving aside this obligatory act and choosing a supererogatory act is not the work of the clever and the conduct of the chevaliers.”

The believers who sit at home other than those who have an injury are not the equals of those who struggle in the way of God with their possessions and their lives. God has preferred those who struggle with their possessions and their lives over the ones who sit at home by a degree; yet to each God has promised the goodly reward and God has preferred those who struggle over the ones who sit at home with a great reward degrees from Him and forgiveness and mercy. Surely God is ever Forgiving Merciful. The Real ������ has gathered together all of His friends in His favors but He distinguishes between them in degrees. Whether one is rich or a servant there is one richer than him. With one who is great there is one greater than him. The stars glisten but the moon is above them and when the sun appears it outshines all by its light.

The believers who sit at home other than those who have an injury are not the equals of those who struggle in the way of God with their possessions and their lives. God has preferred those who struggle with their possessions and their lives over the ones who sit at home by a degree; yet to each God has promised the goodly reward and God has preferred those who struggle over the ones who sit at home with a great reward degrees from Him and forgiveness and mercy. Surely God is ever Forgiving Merciful. The Real ������ has gathered together all of His friends in His favors but He distinguishes between them in degrees. Whether one is rich or a servant there is one richer than him. With one who is great there is one greater than him. The stars glisten but the moon is above them and when the sun appears it outshines all by its light.

And those whom the angels take [in death] while they are wronging their souls the angels will say �What was your predicamentḍ� They will say �We were oppressed in the land.� The angels will say �But was not God's earth spacious that you might have emigrated thereinḍ� As for such their abode shall be hell-an evil journey's end! This alludes to one whose time comes while he is still trapped in his lower self and enslaved to his desires-there is no excuse for him since he did not emigrate to the protection of His nearness so that he could be saved from the contemptible nature of his lower self. There is no veil between you and this talk except your whims.

Except the oppressed among the men women and children who are unable to devise a plan and are not guided to a way. As for such perhaps God will pardon them for God is ever Pardoning Forgiving. This alludes to those who are overwhelmed and annihilated by meanings maʿānī and then continue on as those who act on His behalf.97 They do not have power or strength [of their own] and what appears to them are [the decrees] He ������ causes to flow over them. After the return of their selves through the reality of the Real ḥaqq al-ḥaqq they are effaced from themselves and are not guided to anything other than Him as a way and do not take so much as a breath for anything other than Him. In accordance with the outward aspect of the verse it is said that per- haps the Real ������ will grant His pardon to those whose excuses held them back from choosing [to emigrate].

Except the oppressed among the men women and children who are unable to devise a plan and are not guided to a way. As for such perhaps God will pardon them for God is ever Pardoning Forgiving. This alludes to those who are overwhelmed and annihilated by meanings maʿānī and then continue on as those who act on His behalf.97 They do not have power or strength [of their own] and what appears to them are [the decrees] He ������ causes to flow over them. After the return of their selves through the reality of the Real ḥaqq al-ḥaqq they are effaced from themselves and are not guided to anything other than Him as a way and do not take so much as a breath for anything other than Him. In accordance with the outward aspect of the verse it is said that per- haps the Real ������ will grant His pardon to those whose excuses held them back from choosing [to emigrate].

Whosoever emigrates in the path of God will find in the earth many a road and expanse. In this verse the Lord of the Worlds, the God of the world's folk, the keeper of all, the knowing and lovingly kind, gives a mark of His mercy and shows His gentleness to the servants. He invites the faithful to emigrate and praises those who do. The emigrants are of three sorts: One sort emigrates for the sake of this world. They under- take trade or the search for livelihood. Even though this is allowed in the Shariah, it is not clear where it will lay down its head at the end and what its outcome will be. MuṣṬafā said, “Love for this world is the beginning of every offense.” He also said, “Do not take a landed estate, lest you become eager for this world.” This sort of emigrant is always in suffering and hardship, caught in the hands of thieves and on the verge of destruction. Hoping to gain something that is allowed, he leaves aside something obligatory. Then he burns, and he loses the basis for both. God says, “You desire the chance goods of this life, and God desires the afterworld” [8:67]. The second sort are the renunciants. Their emigration is for the sake of the afterworld and their traveling goes by way of meanings. They pass over the way stations of obedient acts and tra- verse the stages of worship on the feet of aspiration. Sometimes they make the hajj, go off to battle, struggle, make pilgrimages, perform the prayers, remember God's name, and meditate on God's blessings. Concerning them God's Messenger said, “Travel! The solitary will be the preceders.” They said, “O Messenger of God! Who are the solitary?” He said, “The engrossed-those who are engrossed by the remembrance of God. Remem- brance has lifted away their loads, and they come forth unburdened on the Day of Resurrection.” The Exalted Lord says about them, “Whosoever desires the afterworld and strives after it with proper striving while having faith-those, their striving shall be thanked” [17:19]. The third sort are the recognizers, whose emigration is for the sake of the Patron. They emi- grate within their own makeup. They emigrate inside the curtains of the soul until they reach the heart, they emigrate inside the curtains of the heart until they reach the spirit, and they emigrate inside the curtains of the spirit until they reach union with the Beloved.

And when you are going forth in the land you would not be at fault if you shorten the prayer if you fear that you may be afflicted by those who do not believe; the disbelievers are a manifest foe to you. The shortening of prayers is the recommended practice sunna in travel. Although first legislated in a time of fear it remained even without the fear [as] a kindness to [God's] servants. When the obligatory prayers were permitted to be shortened because of travel they were given leave to sub- stitute supererogatory devotion on their camel mounts. [This could be done] without seeking the qibla in whichever way [the mount] turned and likewise with a person on foot. This was so that it would be known that permission to engage in talk with God is ongoing at any time. If you wish to take part in it you may do so whenever you wish. If you wish the allowance to refrain you may do as you wish. This is the most extraordi- nary kindness. It is a protection of the practice sunna of the fulfillment [of God's commands] wafāÌ and the consummation of the true meaning of friendship walāÌ.

When you are among them and you stand to lead them in prayer let a party of them stand with you and let them take their weapons. Then when they have performed their prostrations let them be behind you and let another party who have not prayed come and pray with you taking their precautions and their weapons. The disbelievers wish that you should be heedless of your weapons and your baggage that they may descend upon you all at once. You are not at fault if rain bothers you or if you are sick to lay aside your weapons. But take your precautions; God has prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating chastisement. This verse indicates that [the obligation of] prayer is not lifted from the servant so long as there is a breath remaining in him to choose. Not in fear or in security not when you are in a state of separation where the precepts of the law predominate or when overwhelmed by the authority of reality sulṬān al-ḥaqīqa when you are at the source of gathering together ʿayn al-jamʿ.

When you have completed the prayer, remember God, standing and sitting and on your sides. Know that the prayer is secret whispering between God and the servant. In this secret whisper- ing, there is both need and joy. Today there is need, tomorrow joy; today suffering, tomorrow the treasure; today a heavy burden, tomorrow repose and ease [56:89]; today toil and work, tomorrow pleasure and the bazaar; today bowing and prostrating, tomorrow finding and witnessing. Part of the eminence of the prayer is that the Exalted Lord has mentioned it 102 times in the Qur'an and given it thirteen names: prayer, devotion, Qur'an, glorification, book, remembrance, bowing, prostration, praise, asking forgiveness, declaring greatness, beautiful deeds, and subsistent things. MuṣṬafā said, “The prayer is the miʿrāj of the person of faith.” He said, “The prayer is God's banquet in the earth.” The ulama of the past have said, “The prayer is the throne of the desirers, the pleasure of the recognizers, the means of approach of the sinners, and the scented garden of the renunciants.” They have also said, “The person performing the prayer has received seven generous bestow- als: guidance, sufficiency, expiation, mercy, proximity, degree, and forgiveness.” The first step in associationism is not to say the prayers, for the Exalted Lord will say, “'What brought you into Saqar?' They will say, 'We were not of those who said the prayers'” [74:42-43]. And He placed the name faith in the prayer, where He says, “But God would never leave your faith,” that is, your prayer, “to waste” [2:143]. He promises daily provision with prayer, where He says, “And command thy folk to the prayer, and be thou patient therein. We ask thee for no provi- sion. We shall provide for thee” [20:132]. The number of obligatory prayers came as five in conformity with the roots of the Shari'ite rules. Concerning the roots of the Shari'ite rules MuṣṬafā said, “The submission is built on five.” The roots of the obligatory prayers are five prayers in one day and night. In other words, when the servant performs these five prayers with their stipulations and at their times, the Exalted Lord will give him the reward of all the roots of the Shari'ite rules. The guises of the prayer are four: standing, bowing, prostrating, and sitting.

Be not faint in seeking the enemy; if you are suffering they are also suffering as you are suffering; and you hope from God that for which they cannot hope. God is ever Knower Wise. Stand up for God and let your trust be in God in your struggle jihād. If you are suffering they are also suffering: The enemy shares with you the experience of suffering but they are different from you in the witness- ing of the heart for you witness what they do not witness and you find in your hearts what they do not find. So it is unseemly for you to lag behind them in effort and struggle.

Surely We have revealed to you the Book with the truth so that you may judge between people by that which God has shown you. And do not be a disputant for traitors. And pray for forgiveness from God; surely God is ever Forgiving Merciful. �We did not command you to judge between them blindly but rather by that which God has shown you that is by that which He unveiled to you from the lights of insight until you understood it by Our teaching you and Our directing you. This is also the case with those from your community who judge with the truth.� And do not be a disputant for traitors: that is do not defend the masters of worldly concerns arbāb al-ḥuẓūẓ but rather be with the children of [God's] rights abnāÌ al-ḥuqūq. Whoever turns to their whim is a trai- tor to the fear of God taqwā entrusted to his soul. Whoever trusts the inclinations of lower desires is a traitor to the shame ḥayāÌ100 required of him before the eyes of the Protector. �And pray for forgiveness from God for your community for surely We suffice for you in Our saying 'that God may forgive you what is past of your sin'� [48:2].

Surely We have revealed to you the Book with the truth so that you may judge between people by that which God has shown you. And do not be a disputant for traitors. And pray for forgiveness from God; surely God is ever Forgiving Merciful. �We did not command you to judge between them blindly but rather by that which God has shown you that is by that which He unveiled to you from the lights of insight until you understood it by Our teaching you and Our directing you. This is also the case with those from your community who judge with the truth.� And do not be a disputant for traitors: that is do not defend the masters of worldly concerns arbāb al-ḥuẓūẓ but rather be with the children of [God's] rights abnāÌ al-ḥuqūq. Whoever turns to their whim is a trai- tor to the fear of God taqwā entrusted to his soul. Whoever trusts the inclinations of lower desires is a traitor to the shame ḥayāÌ100 required of him before the eyes of the Protector. �And pray for forgiveness from God for your community for surely We suffice for you in Our saying 'that God may forgive you what is past of your sin'� [48:2].

And do not dispute on behalf of those who betray themselves; surely God loves not one who is treacherous and sinful. They hide themselves from people but they do not hide themselves from God; for He is with them while they plot at night with discourse displeas- ing to Him. God is ever Encompassing of what they do. Those who prefer their worldly concerns ḥuẓūẓ over His rights ḥuqūq and are content to remain in the familiar territories of their whim without moving to the waystations of the [ultimate] contentment riḌāÌ -God does not love those who are treacherous. He will humble them and most assuredly will not honor them. They hide themselves from people: Their hearts are dominated by what created beings can see [or not see]. Those who have been branded with the mark of separation have no awareness that the Real views their hearts from on high.

And do not dispute on behalf of those who betray themselves; surely God loves not one who is treacherous and sinful. They hide themselves from people but they do not hide themselves from God; for He is with them while they plot at night with discourse displeas- ing to Him. God is ever Encompassing of what they do. Those who prefer their worldly concerns ḥuẓūẓ over His rights ḥuqūq and are content to remain in the familiar territories of their whim without moving to the waystations of the [ultimate] contentment riḌāÌ -God does not love those who are treacherous. He will humble them and most assuredly will not honor them. They hide themselves from people: Their hearts are dominated by what created beings can see [or not see]. Those who have been branded with the mark of separation have no awareness that the Real views their hearts from on high.

Ah! There you are-you have contested on their behalf in the life of this world; but who will contest against God on their behalf on the Day of Resurrection or who will be a guardian for them. That is �We defend them out of respect for you Muḥammad because you are among them but what will their state be on the Day of Resurrection when your blessing O believers will be withdrawn from themḍ�

Whoever does evil or wrongs himself and then prays for God's forgive- ness he shall find God Forgiving Merciful. �Then� is a particle indicating extended time. That is to say they pass their lives engaged in useless activities and oppositional behaviors and then at the end of their lives pray for God's forgiveness. He shall find God: Finding wujūd is the ultimate event. The disobedient seek only forgiveness but God ������ brings one to the utmost by His grace if He wills. His way sunna is to bring about more than what one hopes for.

And whoever commits a sin commits it against himself only; and God is ever Knower Wise. The Real has no need for the obedience of those who are obedient or the error of the disobedient. So the one who obeys acquires his good for- tune fa-ḥaẓẓuhu ḥaṣṣala and the one who disobeys has abandoned it fa-ḥaẓẓuhu akhalla.

And whoever commits a mistake or a sin and then casts it upon the innocent he has thereby burdened himself with calumny and a manifest sin. Whoever attributes his own disgraceful acts to an innocent person-God turns the tables on him by clothing the innocent one with the robe of the good deeds of his accuser and by pulling the garment of pardon over his bad deeds. And He reverses the situation for the aggressor by exposing his behaviors to his peers.

Were it not for God's bounty to you and His mercy a party of them would have intended to lead you astray; but they lead only themselves astray; they will not hurt you at all. God has revealed to you the Book and wisdom and He has taught you what you did not know; and God's bounty to you is ever great. Bounty faḌl is beneficence iḥsān beyond what is due. �Bounty� alludes to [God's] protection ʿiṣma of [Muḥammad] for the Real ������ protected him with a distinctive protection singled out for him. Just as [God] pro- tected [Muḥammad] from abandoning His right ḥaqq He protected him in averting the deception of His creatures khalq from him saying �Were it not for God's bounty to you and His mercy a party of them would have intended to lead you astray. There is no way that anyone can lead you astray for you are in the grip of the divine power and they lead only themselves astray and they will not hurt you at all for what is guarded maḥfūẓ by Us is secure maḥrūs from everything else. Verily God ������ conferred distinction upon you with the revelation of the Book and made you a special intimate in the ways He preferred and approved of you.� And He has taught you what you did not know. There is nothing like the knowledge He granted to [Muḥammad] alone. It is possible that what He means by this is [Muḥammad's] ﷺ knowledge of God and His majesty and his knowledge of his own servanthood and the worth of his state in strength and beauty. It is said that �He has taught you what you did not know of the propri- eties of service ādāb al-khidma even as a deep knowledge of reality was unambiguous to you.� It is said that �He made you free of the instruction of any others so that none would have a light except what is borrowed from your light. Those who do not walk under your banner will not reach the entirety of Our beneficence nor will they receive the good fortune of nearness and communion with Us.� �And God's bounty to you is ever great in all eternity without end ābād.� You were recognized by Us in the most exalted degree and honorable rank in all eternity without beginning āzāl. It is said that �He has taught you what you did not know concerning the sublimity of your rank over all others.� It is said that �He taught you what you did not know: that one can only value Our measure to the degree108 that one conforms to Our command.�

No good is there in much of their whispering, except for him who bids to charity, or the honorable, or making things wholesome among the people. Whosoever does this, seeking God's approval, We shall give him a tremendous wage. The best deeds of the servants are the three things in this verse: charity, the honorable, and making things wholesome among the people. The good in this verse is not specified for one individual, but rather its profit reaches others. The wonder is not that you should open a door for yourself, the wonder and chivalry are that you should open a door to yourself for another. Pir Bū ʿAlī Siyāh said, “So what if you make yourself happy? The work is done by making someone else happy.” MuṣṬafā alluded to this: “The worst of men is he who eats alone.” As for charity, it is of three sorts: with possessions, with the body, and with the heart. Char- ity with possessions is giving comfort to the poor by expending blessings. Charity with the body is undertaking for them the duty of service. Charity with the heart is being loyal to the beauty of intention and the consolidation of aspiration. This is charity toward the poor. There is also charity toward the rich. It is that you act with munificence toward them and do not expose your need to them; you take back your hope from their charitable gifts and do not covet anything from them. When charity, the honorable, and making things wholesome come together in someone, from head to foot he becomes veneration itself, the oyster shell for the mysteries of lordhood, and he is accepted by those who bear witness to the divinity. His name is given out as “sincerely truthful,” and tomorrow he will be gathered up along with the sincerely truthful. This is the great wage that the Exalted Lord has promised: “We shall give him a tremendous wage.”

But whoever makes a breach with the Messenger after guidance has become clear to him and follows other than the way of the believers We shall turn him over to what he has turned to and We shall expose him in hell-an evil journey's end. Thoughts khawāṬir that come from the Real are His emissaries to the servant. Whoever opposes the subtle directives ishārāt that are demanded by the inner path brings upon himself the punishments of hearts. Included among these is the blinding of his eyes to the perception of what is right rushd. Just as someone who resists consensus ijmāʿ in the [outer] religion leaves the fold so someone who resists what he recognizes as the truth after the path has become clear to him falls away.

God does not forgive that anything should be associated with Him; He forgives all except that to whomever He will. Whoever associates anything with God verily he has strayed far away. What they pray to instead of Him are but females and they only pray to a rebellious satan. God has cursed him. And he said �Assuredly I will take to myself an appointed portion of Your servants. And I will surely lead them astray and surely I will fill them with desires; and surely I will command them and they will cut up the cattle's ears. And surely I will command them and they will change God's creation.� And whoever takes Satan for a patron instead of God has surely suffered a manifest loss. God does not forgive that anything should be associated with Him: The acknowledgment of anything other than Him imagining even an atom to be a cause of origination is the very essence of associating others with God shirk. There is no possibility of pardon for it while there is a pos- sibility for pardon for other things. Those who seek access to [God] ������ by means of what they imagine are associating others with Him without realizing it. No He is God the One. What they pray to instead of Him are but females: They set up inanimate things with names and plunged forward in their delusion. They relied on the errors of conjecture and therefore strayed far from the truth. And they only pray to a rebellious satan. God has cursed him: that is what they pray to is none other than Iblīs whom the Real has distanced from His mercy and sent away by His distancing. But Iblīs himself is one who is turned about in the grip [of God] according to what the Creator desires. If there was even an atom of [self-sufficiency] that one could affirm in him [that would mean that] there is an associate to divinity in him. Instead it is only the Real ������ who brings about in created beings their states and circumstances aḥwālan and who creates that which follows [satanic] whisperings in being led astray Ḍalālan. For He ������ is the Guide and the One who leads astray and the One who has free disposal over all. [God] most high creates the power of expectations āmālan in [human] hearts after [satanic] whisperings and He makes their ugly actions aʿmālan seem beautiful in their eyes.

God does not forgive that anything should be associated with Him; He forgives all except that to whomever He will. Whoever associates anything with God verily he has strayed far away. What they pray to instead of Him are but females and they only pray to a rebellious satan. God has cursed him. And he said �Assuredly I will take to myself an appointed portion of Your servants. And I will surely lead them astray and surely I will fill them with desires; and surely I will command them and they will cut up the cattle's ears. And surely I will command them and they will change God's creation.� And whoever takes Satan for a patron instead of God has surely suffered a manifest loss. God does not forgive that anything should be associated with Him: The acknowledgment of anything other than Him imagining even an atom to be a cause of origination is the very essence of associating others with God shirk. There is no possibility of pardon for it while there is a pos- sibility for pardon for other things. Those who seek access to [God] ������ by means of what they imagine are associating others with Him without realizing it. No He is God the One. What they pray to instead of Him are but females: They set up inanimate things with names and plunged forward in their delusion. They relied on the errors of conjecture and therefore strayed far from the truth. And they only pray to a rebellious satan. God has cursed him: that is what they pray to is none other than Iblīs whom the Real has distanced from His mercy and sent away by His distancing. But Iblīs himself is one who is turned about in the grip [of God] according to what the Creator desires. If there was even an atom of [self-sufficiency] that one could affirm in him [that would mean that] there is an associate to divinity in him. Instead it is only the Real ������ who brings about in created beings their states and circumstances aḥwālan and who creates that which follows [satanic] whisperings in being led astray Ḍalālan. For He ������ is the Guide and the One who leads astray and the One who has free disposal over all. [God] most high creates the power of expectations āmālan in [human] hearts after [satanic] whisperings and He makes their ugly actions aʿmālan seem beautiful in their eyes.

God does not forgive that anything should be associated with Him; He forgives all except that to whomever He will. Whoever associates anything with God verily he has strayed far away. What they pray to instead of Him are but females and they only pray to a rebellious satan. God has cursed him. And he said �Assuredly I will take to myself an appointed portion of Your servants. And I will surely lead them astray and surely I will fill them with desires; and surely I will command them and they will cut up the cattle's ears. And surely I will command them and they will change God's creation.� And whoever takes Satan for a patron instead of God has surely suffered a manifest loss. God does not forgive that anything should be associated with Him: The acknowledgment of anything other than Him imagining even an atom to be a cause of origination is the very essence of associating others with God shirk. There is no possibility of pardon for it while there is a pos- sibility for pardon for other things. Those who seek access to [God] ������ by means of what they imagine are associating others with Him without realizing it. No He is God the One. What they pray to instead of Him are but females: They set up inanimate things with names and plunged forward in their delusion. They relied on the errors of conjecture and therefore strayed far from the truth. And they only pray to a rebellious satan. God has cursed him: that is what they pray to is none other than Iblīs whom the Real has distanced from His mercy and sent away by His distancing. But Iblīs himself is one who is turned about in the grip [of God] according to what the Creator desires. If there was even an atom of [self-sufficiency] that one could affirm in him [that would mean that] there is an associate to divinity in him. Instead it is only the Real ������ who brings about in created beings their states and circumstances aḥwālan and who creates that which follows [satanic] whisperings in being led astray Ḍalālan. For He ������ is the Guide and the One who leads astray and the One who has free disposal over all. [God] most high creates the power of expectations āmālan in [human] hearts after [satanic] whisperings and He makes their ugly actions aʿmālan seem beautiful in their eyes.

Surely I will misguide them and fill them with wishes. When misguidance is consigned to Iblis, this is because of the secondary cause. Otherwise who is Iblis? Yes, he instills disquiet, for that is his job, and then, in the tracks of this disquieting, the Exalted Lord creates misguidance, for guidance and misguidance, felicity and wretchedness, come from God: Whomsoever God guides, he is guided, and whomsoever He misguides, you will not find for him a guiding friend [18:17]. Then He mentions the outcome, the end, the final issue, and the returning place of the two groups: About the misguided sort He says, “Their refuge is Ge- henna” [4:121], and about the guided sort He says, “We shall enter them into gardens underneath which rivers flow, therein dwelling forever and ever” [4:122].

He promises them and fills them with desires; but what Satan prom- ises them is only delusion. For such-their abode shall be hell and they shall find no refuge from it. For those whose allotment is being led astray in the present ḥāl He has decreed punishment in the end maÌāl. He makes appear what appears by His deliberative power-how could even a sliver of being astray or being guided belong to anyoneḍ To fully grasp the truth of [God's] oneness tawḥīd is a rare and precious thing-those who have mastered this are few.

He promises them and fills them with desires; but what Satan prom- ises them is only delusion. For such-their abode shall be hell and they shall find no refuge from it. For those whose allotment is being led astray in the present ḥāl He has decreed punishment in the end maÌāl. He makes appear what appears by His deliberative power-how could even a sliver of being astray or being guided belong to anyoneḍ To fully grasp the truth of [God's] oneness tawḥīd is a rare and precious thing-those who have mastered this are few.

But those who believe and perform righteous deeds We shall admit them to gardens underneath which rivers flow abiding therein for ever; God's promise in truth; and who is truer in utterance than Godḍ �Those whom We have made fortunate by [Our] decree and speech asʿadnāhum ḥukman wa-qawlan were helped at the time We brought them into existence by [Our] generosity and power awjadnāhum kara- man wa-Ṭawlan. Then surely We brought about what had been promised in reward nuḥaqqiqu la-hum al-mawʿūda min al-thawāb through what We gave them in a place of good return bi-mā nukrimuhum bihi min ḥusni al-maÌāb.�

It is not your desires nor the desires of the people of the scripture. Whoever does evil shall be requited for it; and he will not find besides God any friend or helper. And whoever does righteous deeds whether male or female and is a believer-such shall be admitted into paradise and not be wronged the dint in a date-stone. Whoever plants colocynth will not harvest roses and jasmine. Whoever drinks deadly poison will not find the taste of honey. Likewise whoever squanders the duty of service will not become firmly established on the carpet of nearness. Whoever is branded with misfortune wa-man wusima bi-l-shiqwati will not be provided with the best of the best lam yurzaq al-ṣafwati. Whomever the divine decree rejects wa-man nafathu al-qaḌiyyati there is no helper for him in creation fa-lā nāṣira lahu min al-bariyyati. And whoever does righteous deeds... �Whoever labors in Our service khidma will not be kept from attaining Our blessing niʿma. Indeed whomever We have made rich in seeking Us We honor him in finding Us. Whomever We have made to drink from the cup of longing for Us We bring him to the intimacy of meeting Us.�

It is not your desires nor the desires of the people of the scripture. Whoever does evil shall be requited for it; and he will not find besides God any friend or helper. And whoever does righteous deeds whether male or female and is a believer-such shall be admitted into paradise and not be wronged the dint in a date-stone. Whoever plants colocynth will not harvest roses and jasmine. Whoever drinks deadly poison will not find the taste of honey. Likewise whoever squanders the duty of service will not become firmly established on the carpet of nearness. Whoever is branded with misfortune wa-man wusima bi-l-shiqwati will not be provided with the best of the best lam yurzaq al-ṣafwati. Whomever the divine decree rejects wa-man nafathu al-qaḌiyyati there is no helper for him in creation fa-lā nāṣira lahu min al-bariyyati. And whoever does righteous deeds... �Whoever labors in Our service khidma will not be kept from attaining Our blessing niʿma. Indeed whomever We have made rich in seeking Us We honor him in finding Us. Whomever We have made to drink from the cup of longing for Us We bring him to the intimacy of meeting Us.�

Who is more beautiful in religion than he who submits his face to God while he is a beautiful-doer and follows the creed of Abraham, an unswerving man? And God took Abraham as a bosom friend. In this verse the Lord of the Worlds, the God of the world's folk, the Enactor who knows the hid- den, praises the self-purifiers and shows that He is pleased with self-purification in deeds. The first person to dress the Kaabah of deeds in the cloak of self-purification was MuṣṬafā, who said, “Deeds are only through intentions.” Self-purification in deeds does the work of color in jewels. Just as a jewel without the cape of color is a worthless stone, so also deeds without self-purification is to knock oneself out without hitting the mark. Maʿrūf Karkhī used to beat himself with a whip and say, “O soul! Purify thyself and be de- livered!” It has been said that knowledge is the seed, deeds are planting, and self-purification is the water. The work is done by self-purification, salvation lies in self-purification, and endless felicity lies in self-purification, but self-purification itself is exalted and does not come down just any- where, nor does it show its face to just anyone. The Exalted Lord said, “It is one of My secrets that I deposit in the hearts of those whom I love among My servants.” There was a worshiper among the Children of Israel. He was told that in such-and-such a place there is a tree that people worship. For the sake of God and the zeal of the religion he became angry, left his place with a mattock over his shoulder, and went to dig up the tree by its roots. Iblis went into the road with the attributes of an old man. He asked him where he was going and he replied, “To that place to dig up the tree.” Iblis said, “Go, busy yourself with your worship, for this will not done by your hand.” Iblis struggled with him and fell, and the worshiper sat on his chest. Iblis said, “Let go of me and I will speak some beautiful words to you.” He let go of him, and Iblis said, “O worshiper, God has prophets. If this tree needs to be dug up, He will command a prophet to dig it up.

To God belongs everything in the heavens and everything in the earth, and God encom- passes everything. In these verses, He says three times “To God belongs everything in the heavens and everything in the earth.” Each is an admonishment for a different group and specific to a designated meaning. The first is an admonishment for the common Muslims, the second an admonishment for the wor- shipful servants and godwary, and the third an admonishment for the sincerely truthful and elect. First He says for the common Muslims, “Everything in heaven and earth is My possession and kingdom. All is My creation and artisanry. My knowledge reaches all and I am aware of all. I have made certain rightful dues incumbent among you and set apart obligatory acts for you. So comply with the rightful due of women, orphans, and the weak and put My commands into action. Strive to give comfort and achieve peace. Whether you do good or bad, whether you are at peace or war, know that in reality I know and I see, for all is My creation and My artisanry. How can My creation and artisanry be concealed from Me? Does He who created not know, while He is the Gentle, the Aware? [67:14].” In the second verse He says,

They will ask you for a pronouncement concerning women. Say: �God pronounces to you concerning them and what is recited to you in the Book concerning the orphan women to whom you do not give what is prescribed for them for you desire to marry them and the oppressed children and that you deal justly with orphans. Whatever good you do God is ever Knower of it.� He prohibited [men] from coveting that which would lead them to do harm or wrong to oppressed women and orphans. He explained that God is their avenger and that whoever is heedful of God regarding them will not lose anything on account of God but rather will find a beautiful recompense jamīl al-jazāÌ. But whoever abuses them will suffer because of that a pain- ful tribulation alīm al-balāÌ.

And if a woman fears from her husband ill-treatment or rejection iʿrāḌ they are not at fault if they are reconciled through some agreement; reconciliation is better. But greed has been made present in the souls. If you are virtuous and fear surely God is ever aware of what you do. When the companionship of created beings becomes disconnected from the discourse of the Real [there is] a risk of alienation and blame al-waḥsha wa-l-malāma and [it] becoming mixed with aversion and disgust al- nafra wa-l-saÌāma. Whoever rejects ʿarada God in his heart-created beings [will] reject consideration for his right. They all come out against him find his affair pathetic bi-istiṣghāri amrihi and regard his worth as contemptible wa-ishtiḥqāri qadrihi. But whoever returns to God in his heart his affair will be restored to balance as a whole and in its particulars. His chest will expand with the capacity to bear the bad traits he finds in others and he will draw the cloak of pardon over the defects of all of them and prefer reconciliation ṣulḥ by abandoning his own portion in favor of theirs. God most high said �Reconciliation is better.� To ignore your aversion to those who quarrel with you is more appro- priate and more advantageous for you than being arrogant with your foe and wanting revenge and the acknowledgment of your privileges. Most people are in the fetters of this tribulation. But greed has been made present in the souls: The greed of the lower self is the concern of the servant for his worldly portion. Whoever is veiled from witnessing the Real is inevitably brought back to witnessing the lower self. If you are virtuous: [This] means that would be better for you. Being virtuous iḥsān is that you worship God as if you see him. And fear: [This] means [fear] to look at your own status and worth. Rather look to your Lord and in seeing Him be annihilated from any vision of your own worth. Surely God is ever aware of what you do: [This] means that once you have been annihilated from yourselves and your acts God suffices as Knower [4:70] after your annihilation and He suffices as the Giver of existence fol- lowing your effacement.

You will never be able to be just to your wives even if you are eager; yet do not turn altogether away so that you leave her like one suspended. If you set things right and fear surely God is ever Forgiving Merciful. [This] means when your concern is for yourself in your affairs the state of your union together is overturned and what was sound becomes ruined. But when you have made God your concern in your affairs the balance of your life together will be restored and at that time will be cleared of turmoil. It is said that if God has decreed deficiency in intellect as someone's state it will not be possible for you to set that deficiency right by your competence. Yet do not turn altogether away: [This] means do not deviate from the clear path of the command. Stop where you have been told to stop and do what you have been commanded to do. So that you leave her like one suspended: [This] means that when you prevent them from being with someone other than you even as you cut them off from any share of you you harm [them] in two ways for there is nothing to be had from you and there [is] no way for them to be with someone else. This harm is very grave. The allusion in this [verse] is that when the path to your share in worldly things is blocked He ������ enables you to witness His reality to you and find His kindness. Surely whoever's annihilation is in God fa-inna man kāna fī Allāh talafuhu the Real is his substitute fa-l-ḥaqq subḥānahu khalafuhu. If you set things right between you and other created beings wa-in tuṣliḥū mā baynakum wa-bayna al-khalq and put your trust in what is between you and the Real wa-tathiqū fīmā baynakum wa-bayna al-ḥaqq surely God is ever forgiving of your failings fa-inna Allāha ghafūrun li-ʿuyūbikum merciful in pardoning your sins raḥīmun bi-l-ʿafwi ʿan dhunūbikum.

But if they separate God will compensate each of them out of His plenty. God is ever Embracing Wise. The essential companionship is the companionship of the heart in per- petual need of God since there is no separating oneself from the Real. As for everything other than the Real [human beings] have no need for one another except in the external sense-this is the thinking of those in a state of separation aṣḥāb al-tafriqa. As for the people of realization ahl al-taḥqīq they have no doubt that the need of created beings is entirely for God ������.

To God belongs everything in the heavens and everything in the earth, and We have charged those who were given the Book before you, and you, to be wary of God. “You who are worshipers and abstainers, come totally into the street of godwariness and make godwariness your shelter. Leave aside the road of uncertainty and suspicion.” He says this and commands it. Then He gives success to one group, and He puts another group into the road of abandonment. To all of them He gives awareness: “I am without needs. I have no benefit from the obedience of the one given success, nor any loss from the disobedience of the one abandoned. Everything in the heavens and the earth is My possession and kingdom. All are My predetermined things and artifacts. Had I wanted, I would have created all successful, or all abandoned. No one can protest against Me, and there is no turning away from My decree.” In the third verse, He says,

To God belongs everything in the heavens and everything in the earth, and God is suf- ficient as a trustee. This is an admonishment to the sincerely truthful and the lovers: “The seven heavens, the seven earths, and everything within them all belong to Me. I did not create them that you should turn your face toward them and attach your heart to them, remaining with them and being held back from Me. Rather, I created them to show them to you and to adorn them for your soul. Then, when you put aside everything and bring your face to Me, I will bring all of them into your service and put them all in your hands.” This meaning is in the report, “O this world! Serve those who serve Me, and trouble those who serve you!” The story of Sahl Tustarī is well known. The caliph of the day offered great wealth to him, but he did not accept anything. Someone asked him why he had not accepted. Sahl called upon God to lift the veil from the eyes of the questioner, who then looked and saw a world full of gems and pearls. Sahl said, “O chevalier! I have no need for the wealth of the caliph. The whole world is at my command. The storehouses of the earth have been offered to me, but I do not want them.” Why do you stay in this low place like crows looking for carrion? Break the cage and fly at once like peacocks to the heights. All on the face of gold and gems is unbelief and satanity- if you have the religion's fervor, step beyond the gold. [DS 52]

If He will He can remove you O people and bring others surely God is ever able to do that. One who is able to do without others in all eternity without beginning man istaghnā ʿanhu fī āzālihi has no need for them in all eternity without end fa-lā ḥājatin lahu ilayhi fī ābādihi. It is said that He has no need for any- one while the servant is unable to do without Him for even a single breath. It is said that there is no limit to the things which are decreed so that if it were not ʿAmr then it would be Zayd. If it were not a servant it would be servants. The only one for whom there is no substitute or replacement is the One the Unique.

Whoever desires the reward of this world then God has the reward of this world and of the hereafter; God is ever Hearing Seeing. When they attached their hearts to what is transitory in this world He reminded them of what happens in the hereafter saying �then God has the reward of this world and of the hereafter.� This was to inform them that the blessing of the hereafter is far above what they aspire to in this paltry place. When the object of their search was elevated to the hereafter He cut them off from any external or created thing [saying] �And God is better and more enduring� [20:73].

O you who believe be upright in justice; witnesses for God even though it be against yourselves; or parents and kinsmen whether the person be rich or poor; God is closer to the two. So do not follow any whim lest you swerve for if you twist or refrain surely God is ever aware of what you do. �Justice� qisṬ is being fair and equitable ʿadl. �To be upright� for God in being fair and equitable is to uphold His rights against yourself and to seek the same from everyone over whom you have authority. This can be accomplished either through an exhortation to act kindly or a rebuke concerning something despicable admonitions direction to a legal issue or guidance to something that is the right thing to do ḥaqq. The deepest realization of what is right and true taḥqīq will not touch the innermost self of one who holds back what is rightly due ḥaqq to God. The founda- tion of religion is to prefer the right of the Real ḥaqq al-ḥaqq over the right of created beings ḥaqq al-khalq. Whoever prefers anyone-a father mother child kinsman or relation-to God or holds back any portion due to Him is not upright in justice.

O you who have faith! Have faith in God and His Messenger. Faith is two sorts, one based on proof, the other on face-to-face vision. Faith by proof is the road of inference, and faith by face-to-face vision is finding the day of union. Faith by proof is to employ the evidence of intellects, and faith by vision is to reach the degrees of arrival. In terms of allusion He is saying: “O you have acquired faith by proof, strive to acquire faith by face-to-face vision!” What is faith by face-to-face vision? Gazing with the eye of response on the Responder, gaz- ing with the eye of solitariness on the Solitary, gazing with the eye of presence on the Present, being near to God's nearness by being far from self, being present with His generosity by being absent from self. He-majestic is His majesty!-is not far from the strivers nor absent from the desirers. He says, “We are nearer to him than the jugular vein” [50:16]. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O Lord! You are found by the souls of the chevaliers, You are present to the hearts of the rememberers. They give marks of You up close, but You are far beyond that. They fancy You from afar, but You are closer than the spirit.” Lovely idol! Are you then my beloved? Now that I look close, You are my spirit. It is also said that the meaning of the verse is this: O you who have faith by assenting, have faith by realizing! You have accepted the Shariah, now accept the Haqiqah. What is the Shariah? What the Haqiqah? The Shariah is a lamp, the Haqiqah a burn. The Shariah is a bond, the Haqiqah advice. The Shariah is need, the Haqiqah joy. The Shariah is the outer pillars, the Haqiqah the inner pillars. The Shariah is not having evil, the Haqiqah is not hav- ing self. The Shariah is service based on conditions, the Haqiqah exile based on witnessing. The Shariah is by intermediaries, the Haqiqah by unveiling. The folk of the Shariah keep obedience and leave aside disobedience, the folk of the Haqiqah flee from themselves and take joy in oneness. The folk of the Shariah hope for everlastingness and subsistent bliss, the folk of the Haqiqah boldy busy themselves with the Cupbearer.

Verily those who believed and then disbelieved and then believed and then disbelieved and then increased in disbelief-it was not for God to forgive them nor to guide them to a way. Give tidings to the hypocrites that for them there is a painful chastisement. Those whose states have alternated so that they rise and fall then rise up again and then stumble -He has sealed their states in their unseemliness. The arrows of divine power have struck them by decree and the misery of fate has caught up with them as their final state. The Real ������ will not guide them to a purpose nor lead them to good sense. �Give tidings to them of separation without end fa-bashshirhum bi-l-furqati al-abadiyya and tell them of punishment uninterrupted wa-akhbirhum bi-l-ʿuqūbati al-sarmadiyya.�

Verily those who believed and then disbelieved and then believed and then disbelieved and then increased in disbelief-it was not for God to forgive them nor to guide them to a way. Give tidings to the hypocrites that for them there is a painful chastisement. Those whose states have alternated so that they rise and fall then rise up again and then stumble -He has sealed their states in their unseemliness. The arrows of divine power have struck them by decree and the misery of fate has caught up with them as their final state. The Real ������ will not guide them to a purpose nor lead them to good sense. �Give tidings to them of separation without end fa-bashshirhum bi-l-furqati al-abadiyya and tell them of punishment uninterrupted wa-akhbirhum bi-l-ʿuqūbati al-sarmadiyya.�

Those who take disbelievers for friends instead of believers-do they desire power with themḍ Truly power belongs altogether to God. It has been revealed to you in the Book that: �When you hear God's signs being disbelieved and mocked do not sit with them until they engage in some other talk for otherwise you would surely be like them.� God will gather the hypocrites and disbelievers all together into hell. Whoever clings to a created being has sought refuge with someone other than the One who protects. He relies on a place that will provide no shelter. He has fallen into the abyss of error whose depth is bottomless and ruse calamitous. Do they desire power with those who have themselves been humbled by [the command] to �Be�ḍ How can they have any power to determine the truthḍ How can those who have no power extend power to anyone elseḍ It is said that �We do not know what is more shameless in their condi- tion: seeking power while they are themselves humbled by the [divine] subjugation and held in the [divine] grasp or their thinking and imagining that [power] can be from anything other than God.� It is said that whoever seeks something from any direction other than Him-failure is the ultimate end of his effort fa-l-ikhfāqu ghāyatu jahdihi. Whoever desires wealth in regions of indigence-being reduced to poverty is the outcome of his toil fa-l-imlāqu quṣārā kaddihi. It is said that if they had been rightly guided to finding [the true source of] power their seeking would not have been diverted to those who pos- sess no authority. Truly power belongs altogether to God: The power is of two kinds: an eternal power which is an attribute of God and a contingent power which He ������ apportions to whomever He will. [Power] belongs to God most high as something that is His and is [also] a gift from Him [to human beings]. It has been revealed to you in the Book... Do not make neighbors of those alienated in feeling and affection for the darknesses of their souls extend to your hearts as you seek to inhale the fragrances they refuse to take in. One becomes partner to the state of those with whom one sits. The sit- ting companion of those in a state of intimacy becomes an intimate himself while the sitting companion of those in darkness is himself estranged.

Those who take disbelievers for friends instead of believers-do they desire power with themḍ Truly power belongs altogether to God. It has been revealed to you in the Book that: �When you hear God's signs being disbelieved and mocked do not sit with them until they engage in some other talk for otherwise you would surely be like them.� God will gather the hypocrites and disbelievers all together into hell. Whoever clings to a created being has sought refuge with someone other than the One who protects. He relies on a place that will provide no shelter. He has fallen into the abyss of error whose depth is bottomless and ruse calamitous. Do they desire power with those who have themselves been humbled by [the command] to �Be�ḍ How can they have any power to determine the truthḍ How can those who have no power extend power to anyone elseḍ It is said that �We do not know what is more shameless in their condi- tion: seeking power while they are themselves humbled by the [divine] subjugation and held in the [divine] grasp or their thinking and imagining that [power] can be from anything other than God.� It is said that whoever seeks something from any direction other than Him-failure is the ultimate end of his effort fa-l-ikhfāqu ghāyatu jahdihi. Whoever desires wealth in regions of indigence-being reduced to poverty is the outcome of his toil fa-l-imlāqu quṣārā kaddihi. It is said that if they had been rightly guided to finding [the true source of] power their seeking would not have been diverted to those who pos- sess no authority. Truly power belongs altogether to God: The power is of two kinds: an eternal power which is an attribute of God and a contingent power which He ������ apportions to whomever He will. [Power] belongs to God most high as something that is His and is [also] a gift from Him [to human beings]. It has been revealed to you in the Book... Do not make neighbors of those alienated in feeling and affection for the darknesses of their souls extend to your hearts as you seek to inhale the fragrances they refuse to take in. One becomes partner to the state of those with whom one sits. The sit- ting companion of those in a state of intimacy becomes an intimate himself while the sitting companion of those in darkness is himself estranged.

Those who wait in watch for you and if a victory comes to you from God say �Were we not with youḍ�; but if the disbelievers have some luck they say �did we not gain mastery over you and did we not defend you against the believersḍ� God will judge between you on the Day of Resurrection and God will never grant the disbelievers a way over the believers. Because they lacked sincerity ikhlāṣ in the truest sense and had not tasted true conviction ʿaqīda they showed themselves to be of a different char- acter from those who in the [divine] decree submitted. [Those who sub- mitted] and the disbelievers are not the same. It is necessary for the people of the Real to be wary of [the disbelievers] and to stay aloof from them. Then He ������ included a beautiful expression of His sufficiency for them by His saying �God will never grant the disbelievers a way over the believers� which is an all-encompassing statement. Surely the evil of their deception is diverted back to them fa-inna wabāla kaydihim ilayhim maṣrūfun and the requital for their plotting is reserved for them wa-jazāÌa makrihim ʿalayhim mawqūfun. The right and true reality-its people are aided from the power of the Real ������ wa-l-ḥaqqu min qibali al-ḥaqqi subḥānihi manṣūrun ahluhu. The false-its foundation is uprooted through the help of the Real ������ wa-l-bāṬilu bi-naṣri al-ḥaqqi subḥānihi mujtaththun aṣluhu.

The hypocrites seek to trick God but He is tricking them. When they stand up to pray they stand up lazily and to be seen by people and they do not remember God save a little. Wavering all the time-not to these neither to those; and he whom God sends astray you will never find for him a way. The trickery of the hypocrites is the outward display of conformity on the path iẓhāru al-wifāqi fī l-Ṭarīqa while inwardly [they] cling to association [of others with God] in [their] creed wa-istishʿāru al-shirki fī l-ʿaqīda. The trickery of the Real toward them is what they imagine regarding salvation [after they] decided they have a special entitlement to it. But when the covering is lifted they will know for certain that what they thought was drink sharāb was a mirage sarāb. God most high said �And there will appear to them from God that which they had never reckoned� [39:47]. When they stand up to pray... The sign of hypocrisy is finding energy when one can be seen by others but then losing resolve when the oppor- tunity to be seen passes. Wavering all the time... Those who are worth the least among created beings are those who remove the vest of servanthood akhassu al-khalqi man yadaʿu ṣidāra al-ʿubūdiyya and have not found a way to true freedom wa-lam yajid sabīlan ilā ḥaqīqati al-ḥurriyya. They do not have even a sliver of precious nobility fa-lā lahu min al-ʿizzi shaẓīyya nor an agree- able way of living in their heedlessness wa-lā fī l-ghaflati ʿīshatu hanīyya.

The hypocrites seek to trick God but He is tricking them. When they stand up to pray they stand up lazily and to be seen by people and they do not remember God save a little. Wavering all the time-not to these neither to those; and he whom God sends astray you will never find for him a way. The trickery of the hypocrites is the outward display of conformity on the path iẓhāru al-wifāqi fī l-Ṭarīqa while inwardly [they] cling to association [of others with God] in [their] creed wa-istishʿāru al-shirki fī l-ʿaqīda. The trickery of the Real toward them is what they imagine regarding salvation [after they] decided they have a special entitlement to it. But when the covering is lifted they will know for certain that what they thought was drink sharāb was a mirage sarāb. God most high said �And there will appear to them from God that which they had never reckoned� [39:47]. When they stand up to pray... The sign of hypocrisy is finding energy when one can be seen by others but then losing resolve when the oppor- tunity to be seen passes. Wavering all the time... Those who are worth the least among created beings are those who remove the vest of servanthood akhassu al-khalqi man yadaʿu ṣidāra al-ʿubūdiyya and have not found a way to true freedom wa-lam yajid sabīlan ilā ḥaqīqati al-ḥurriyya. They do not have even a sliver of precious nobility fa-lā lahu min al-ʿizzi shaẓīyya nor an agree- able way of living in their heedlessness wa-lā fī l-ghaflati ʿīshatu hanīyya.

O you who believe take not the disbelievers as friends instead of the believers: do you desire to give God over you a clear warrantḍ He repeated the admonition to them and confirmed the command to separate themselves from enemies. This was to emphasize the warning strengthen the prohibition and end the argument by putting a stop to any possible excuses. Do you desire to give God over you a clear warrantḍ He warned them about their friendship with the disbelievers over and above other oppo- sitional acts because it involves a preference for something other than the [appropriate] object of adoration maʿbūd. Preferring another to the beloved maḥbūb is the gravest of sins in the precepts of love aḥkām al-widād. When one's heart becomes engaged with others in the place reserved for believers this necessarily brings about a bad outcome. How should one's heart be engaged with others in the place reserved for the Realḍ The punishment He promised them was to leave them to their own devices and to what they had chosen [when they] sided with the disbeliev- ers. What a wretched substitution! It is the same with those who remain apart from the Real ḥaqq-He leaves them with created beings khalq. He doubles their affliction by their remaining apart from the Real lil-baqāÌi ʿan al-ḥaqq and remaining with created beings wa-l-baqāÌi maʿa al-khalq. Both of these are severe punishments.

Verily the hypocrites will be in the lowest level of the fire; and you will never find a helper for them. This verse indicates that the hypocrite is not one who is sincerely seeking the protective trust mustaÌmin for being true to the trust īmān is what brings protection amān. The one who holds true to the trust muÌmin [or �the believer�] is saved by his faith īmān from the fire-that which causes one's falling to the lowest level of the fire cannot be called faith īmān. It is said that this is verified by His words God is the best of schem- ers [3:54 and 8:30] which is to say His scheming makr is superior to all other scheming. When the hypocrites' scheming with the believers was exposed their punishment was more severe than the punishment of those who declared their disbelief openly. Because of what is in the tradition �One meets God in whatever state one is in� it is said that He transfers them from their present state to one like it in the future. Just as today the hypocrites are in the lowest level of being cut off [from the communion of lovers] so will they be transferred to the lowest level of the fire. The lowest level of their being cut off in the present is that they bear the name of �faith� īmān while in fact they do not have even a sliver from God. This is the greatest of afflictions. It is said that they deserve the lowest level of the fire because they kept company here with the greatest name of God without respect ḥurma. It is said that they deserve [the lowest level of the fire] because they were present but lacked any sense of propriety adab in what they said. By this they were driven far away.

Save those who repent and make amends and hold fast to God and make their religion purely God's; those are with the believers; and God will certainly give the believers a great wage. Although not all of these conditions are ordinarily required to repent of one's sin they are necessary for hypocrites to renounce their hypocrisy because of the recalcitrant nature of their disbelief. For those who meet these conditions He said �those are with maʿa the believers.� He did not say �of � min the believers. In this there is another allusion to the imperfection in their rank even though they have sincerely made amends for the evil they did in the past. Regarding its meaning they have recited: Apologies are easy. What a difference between apologies and thankfulness! [Others] say that the preposition �with� maʿa indicates accompani- ment so that when they were included with the believers they became deserving in the same way as the group of the believers. Here repentance tawba means that they renounce their hypocrisy and make amends in the sincerity ṣidq of their faith and hold fast to God in absolving themselves of their own power and strength and bearing witness to the blessing of God toward them in guiding them and delivering them from their hypocrisy and make their religion purely God's. They regard their deliverance as being by the grace of God not by their newfound faith nor by the renouncement of their past hypocrisy. It is said that they make their religion purely God's means [that they] perpetually seek God's help in strengthening them in faith and protecting them from reverting to their past hypocrisy. It is said that they repent from hypocrisy and make amends through the purification of belief and hold fast to God by asking for His favor and make their religion purely God's in that their deliverance is by the grace and kindness of God not by their having done anything to make it happen.

Why would God chastise you if you are thankful and believeḍ God is ever Thankful Knowing. This verse is among the verses which evoke beautiful hope and powerful optimism because He has appointed two things as tokens of protection from punishment. These are thankfulness shukr and belief īmān which are simple and light-hearted qualities. Thankfulness or praise is an asser- tion qāla and belief or faith is a state ḥāla. When He is pleased with a servant's words and state He makes the way easy for him. Thankfulness or praise shukr is only sound when heard from one who is faithful rather than one who is not because it is an act of willing obedience Ṭāʿa. The obedience of those who have no faith is not genuine. And believe that is [believe or come to believe] in the end. It is as if He is explaining that salvation will only be for those who at the end of the day believe. The meaning of the verse then is that God will not chastise you with the chastisement of abiding [in hell] if you are thankful in your present state and believe in the end. It is said that when you are thankful and believe you attest to the fact that your salvation [comes] through God not through your thankfulness or your belief. It is said that thankfulness is witnessing the blessing from God and belief is seeing God in the blessing. It is as if He said �If you understand the blessing as coming from God then let not the witnessing of this blessing cut you off from witnessing the One who gives the blessing.� Wa kāna Allāh shākiran ʿalīman means God is ever Thankful Knowing Allāh shākirun ʿalīmun. The meaning of His being �thankful� is that He is the One who commends the servant and the One who bears witness to him in what he does. This is because the true sense and definition of thankfulness is praise for the one who acts in a beautiful way muḥsin by mentioning the beautiful action he does iḥsān. �The servant gives thanks to God� means he praises Him for His beautiful action iḥsān toward him which is His blessing to him. �The Lord gives thanks to the servant� means that He praises [the servant] for his beautiful action iḥsān which is his willing obedience Ṭāʿa to Him.

God does not like the utterance of evil words out loud unless a person has been wronged. God is ever Hearer Knower. What a person who has been wronged says about the one who has wronged him is not evil in the true sense of the word by the permission of God but it is nonetheless a good thing to let the matter drop. God most high has said �For the requital of an evil is an evil deed like it� [42:40] so requital is not an evil deed. [But whoever pardons and reconciles his reward will be with God. Truly He does not like wrongdoers] [42:40]. It is said that anyone who knows that his Protector hears is ashamed to give free voice to the urgings of his lower self. It is said that evil words out loud are what you hear within yourself [when] you think ill thoughts about others. The elect take responsibility in their inward thoughts for that which if heard [out loud] from ordinary people might be held against them. Unless illā a person has been wronged: Some say [this means] �not even wa-lā the one who has been wronged.� Others say its meaning is this: �But wa-lakinna a person who has been wronged� has the right to mention the one who has intentionally wronged him. It is said that those who do not prefer praise of the Real madḥ al-ḥaqq over defaming one's fellow creatures qadḥ al-khalq have been cheated of the present moment. It is said that those who look to created beings with the eye of connect- ing to the Real [see] that they are servants of God [and] will speak no ill of them. A man says to his companion �Out of respect for you I will bear the lowliest149 service to you even beyond that which I would bear for my son.� When there is commitment like this between human beings how much more worthy is the servant's regard for refined behavior adab between him and His Protector! It is said that God does not like the utterance of evil words out loud among ordinary people nor does He like that in the inward thoughts of the elect. It is said that the utterance of evil words out loud among ordinary people is their description of God in ways [for which they] have no permission or divine sanction.

If you show good or conceal it or pardon evil then surely God is ever Pardoning Powerful. If you show good taking on the good manners found in the law takhal- luqan bi-ādābi al-sharīʿa or conceal recognizing the truth in the precepts of the deeper reality taḥaqquqan bi-aḥkāmi al-ḥaqīqa or pardon evil adopting from God what He has entrusted you with in the most beauti- ful ways of behaving then surely God is ever Pardoning of your defects li-ʿuyūbikum Powerful in causing you to attain what you love ʿalā taḥsīli maḥbūbikum and causing you to recognize the true nature of what you seek wa-taḥqīqi maṬlūbikum. It is said that if you show good you will be an example for humankind in what you practice and in what you propose to others who might be guided from the way of your practice. If you conceal it content with only His knowing it and safeguard yourselves from the evils of affectation and trust that those of you who act for Him will be seen and known by Him or pardon evil that is you abandon150 what your lower selves call you to-then God will grant you His pardon for what you do. He [also] has the power to afflict you with that which the oppressor is afflicted with. This then is a warning to them about being heedless in witnessing the favor minna and a way of alerting them to the fact that they should seek refuge from being deprived of protection ʿiṣma and seek refuge from being abandoned so that they fall into discord fitna and trial miḥna. It is said [the verse means] if you show good acting well toward people or conceal it praying for them in secret or pardon evil even if you have been wronged [then surely God is ever Pardoning Powerful]. It is said concerning those who act well toward you show them good outwardly. Those who spare you from their evil be loyal in friendship and pray for them inwardly. Those who act badly toward you pardon them with generosity and graciousness. You will find pardon from God according to what you yourself do for surely your sins are more numerous. He has the power to give you in favor and blessings that which you cannot attain by taking vengeance or revenge.

Those who disbelieve in God and His messengers and seek to divide between God and His messengers and say �We believe in some and disbelieve in some� and seek to adopt a way between them. Those are the disbelievers truly; and We have prepared for the disbe- lievers a humiliating chastisement. [God] relates that they have added the blameworthy actions enumerated here to the shamefulness of their disbelief. He explains that He has doubled their chastisement as requital for their sin so that you will know that He is ever on the watch [89:14] over those who act in corrupt and harmful ways.

Those who disbelieve in God and His messengers and seek to divide between God and His messengers and say �We believe in some and disbelieve in some� and seek to adopt a way between them. Those are the disbelievers truly; and We have prepared for the disbe- lievers a humiliating chastisement. [God] relates that they have added the blameworthy actions enumerated here to the shamefulness of their disbelief. He explains that He has doubled their chastisement as requital for their sin so that you will know that He is ever on the watch [89:14] over those who act in corrupt and harmful ways.

And those who believe in God and His messengers and do not seek to divide between any of them those-We shall surely give them their wages. God is ever Forgiving Merciful. When they believed in all of the messengers and confirmed everything to which they were commanded they deserved acceptance and the beautiful recompense. To let go of one's faith in some individuals is to let go of one's faith in [the messages sent in other] time periods. Just as [God] will not accept the faith of a person whose faith does not include all the messages that have come before him likewise He will not accept the faith of a per- son whose faith does not include all that faith demands of him since [God] made that a condition for its actualization taḥqīq and perfection kamāl. This alludes to the fact that anyone who does not wholeheartedly enter into the covenant will not have so much as a sliver of the reality of com- munion [of lovers]. The Prophet ﷺ said �The pilgrimage is [the day of] ʿArafa.� Anyone who traverses the distance even if he comes from a deep ravine but then holds back even a little from ʿArafāt has not experienced the pilgrimage. The Prophet ﷺ said �The servant who has contracted with his master to be freed is still a servant to the last dirham.�

The people of the scripture will ask of you to cause a Book to be revealed to them from the heaven. They asked Moses for something greater than that for they said �show us God openly�; so the thunderbolt seized them for their evildoing. They then took to themselves the [golden] calf after clear proofs had come to them; yet We pardoned that; and We bestowed upon Moses clear authority. The verse includes two kinds of unseemly acts. The first was their asking to be shown [God] and the second was their worshiping the calf after clear signs had been made manifest to them. Their asking to be shown [God] was blameworthy because they impudently demanded it and there was no excuse for this after miracles had come to them. Therefore they were not seeking the vision for instruction nor as a means to confirm their faith nor were they brought to that [point] by intense longing. This shows a lack of manners sūÌ adab. There is an allusion [in the reference] to those who are content to have the calf as their object of worship. While submitting themselves to it how can they bear witness to the Realḍ It is said that the innermost selves of the people were untouched by deeper knowledge and they therefore clung with their intellects to a lim- ited thing maḥdūd allowing that to be their object of worship maʿbūd. And we bestowed upon Moses clear authority: a manifest proof-indeed a light that preserved him from declaring any likeness [to God] tamthīl or stripping [Him] of His attributes taʿṬīl. The clear authority is actualization taḥṣīl and declaring God incom- parable tanzīh neither stripping God of His attributes taʿṬīl nor compar- ing Him to His creation tashbīh. It is said that the clear authority is the power to hear the [divine] speech al-khiṬāb without intermediary. It is said that the clear authority belongs to this community in the future and it is their abiding in the state of meeting [God]. In the tradition of the vision [the Prophet] ﷺ said �You will not be gathered together [in one group] in seeing Him.�

And We raised above them the mount by the covenant with them and We said to them �Enter the gate bowing�; and We said to them �Transgress not the Sabbath and We took from them a firm covenant. The more signs were given to them outwardly the more denial and rejec- tion there was in their hearts. Receiving more communications did not benefit them since the eyes of their hearts were not open to witnessing [these communications]. God most high said �But signs and warners do not avail a folk who will not believe� [10:101].

So for their breaking their covenant and disbelieving in the signs of God and slaying the prophets wrongfully and for their saying �Our hearts are covered up�-nay but God sealed them for their disbelief; so they do not believe except for a few. Its meaning is: Because they committed these prohibited acts li-irtikābihim hādhihi al-manāhī and because they were marked by acts that deserve punishment wa-li-ittiṣāfihim bi-hādhihi al-majāzī We caused them to alight at the dwellings of disgrace aḥlalnāhum manāzila al-hawān and sent down upon them punishments of all kinds wa-anzalnā bihim min al-ʿuqūbati funūna al-alwān. It is said that the misfortune of their oppositional acts affected them cumulatively. One of the consequences of acting disobediently is being left to commit even more prohibited acts. By violating the covenant and not repenting they were pulled toward disbelief in [God's] signs. Then because of the misfortune of this disbelief they were left to themselves until they slew the prophets ���� ������ wrongfully. Then because of the misfortune of [these ever more shameful acts] they had the audacity to claim a keen ability to comprehend saying �Our hearts are the vessels for all kinds of knowledge.� God replied to them �but God sealed them for their dis- belief.� He hid the place of deeper knowledge ʿirfān from them and they wandered about in their errors.

And for their disbelief and their uttering against Mary a tremendous calumny. To transgress the limit is error just as it is error to diminish or subtract from the truth. Some people slandered Mary and accused her of fornication. Others transgressed the limit in a terrible calumny saying her son was the son of God. Both of these groups fell into error. It is said that Mary [���� ������] was a friend waliyya of God through whom two groups become miserable: those who exceed all bounds ahl al-ifrāṬ and those who fall short ahl al-tafrīṬ. This is also how it is with His friends-those who reject [the friends] suffer from their lack of respect for them and those who believe things about [the friends] that cannot be said of them suffer from their excessive adulation of them. This is something that most of the great ones have had to endure.

And for their saying �We slew the Messiah Jesus son of Mary the Messenger of God.� And yet they did not slay him nor did they crucify him but he was given the resemblance. And those who disagree concerning him are surely in doubt regarding him. They do not have any knowledge of him only the pursuit of conjecture; and they did not slay him for certain. Nay God raised him up to Him. God is ever Mighty Wise. It is said that God caused the one who slandered [Jesus] to resemble him and he was killed and crucified in his place. There is a saying that one who digs a grave for his brother falls into it. It is [also] said that Jesus ���� ������ said �Whoever agrees to have my resem- blance cast upon him so that he is killed in place of me will have the garden� and one of his companions agreed. It is said that because [this companion] patiently bore the injury talaf he was not deprived of the recompense khalaf from God. God most high said �Indeed We do not leave the reward of those of good deeds to go to waste� [18:30]. It is said that because this man who was a companion of Jesus ���� ������ was without any imperfection in his lower self nafs he became [Jesus's] friend in spirit rūḥ. When Jesus ���� ������ was raised up to the place of intimacy maḥall al-zulfa the spirit of this one who ransomed [Jesus] with his lower self was raised up to the place of nearness maḥall al-qurba.

And for their saying �We slew the Messiah Jesus son of Mary the Messenger of God.� And yet they did not slay him nor did they crucify him but he was given the resemblance. And those who disagree concerning him are surely in doubt regarding him. They do not have any knowledge of him only the pursuit of conjecture; and they did not slay him for certain. Nay God raised him up to Him. God is ever Mighty Wise. It is said that God caused the one who slandered [Jesus] to resemble him and he was killed and crucified in his place. There is a saying that one who digs a grave for his brother falls into it. It is [also] said that Jesus ���� ������ said �Whoever agrees to have my resem- blance cast upon him so that he is killed in place of me will have the garden� and one of his companions agreed. It is said that because [this companion] patiently bore the injury talaf he was not deprived of the recompense khalaf from God. God most high said �Indeed We do not leave the reward of those of good deeds to go to waste� [18:30]. It is said that because this man who was a companion of Jesus ���� ������ was without any imperfection in his lower self nafs he became [Jesus's] friend in spirit rūḥ. When Jesus ���� ������ was raised up to the place of intimacy maḥall al-zulfa the spirit of this one who ransomed [Jesus] with his lower self was raised up to the place of nearness maḥall al-qurba.

And there is not one of the people of the scripture but will assuredly believe in him before his death; and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them. Because He determined that there will be no protection amān granted to them at the time of despair their faith īmān at that time will not benefit them. This tells us that what is taken into consideration [comes from] the protection āmān granted by the Real not from the faith īmān of the servant.

And for the wrongdoing of those who are Jews, We forbade them certain good things. Embarking on prohibited things necessitates the forbidding of licit things. If you see gentleness and generosity reaching a servant, it is because he has preserved the outward of the Shariah and has wanted to show reverence to it in spirit and heart. Inevitably, he has reached the repose of whispered prayers and the gentle favors of union's gifts. In contrast, if you see harshness and severity, it is because he has looked with denial on the sanctuary of the Shariah and has put to work the religion's prohibited things in following the commanding soul. Yes, that is the way it is: When someone holds back from the outward of the Shariah, the beauty of the Haq- iqah veils its face from him. If someone disdains commands and prohibitions, what wonder if faith and recognition take their bags away from his heart? If not for the Shariah, the turning wheel would stop; if not for the religion, the Twins would quit the sky. [DS 56]

And because of the evildoing of some of those of the Jews We have forbidden them certain good things that were lawful for them and because of their barring from God's way many. And because of their taking usury when they had been forbidden it and their consuming people's wealth through falsehood and We have prepared for the disbelievers among them a painful chastisement. It is said that committing prohibited acts leads to the forbidding of what had been permitted. Whoever commits a prohibited act with his outward self is forbidden that which he used to find in his permitted states and the subtle kindnesses received in his innermost self.

But those who are firmly rooted in knowledge The firmly rooted in knowledge are those who have obtained the varieties of knowledge: knowl- edge of the Shariah, knowledge of the Tariqah, and knowledge of the Haqiqah. Knowledge of the Shariah is to be learned, knowledge of the Tariqah is to be practiced, and knowledge of the Haqiqah is to be found. Concerning knowledge of the Shariah He says, “Ask the folk of the remembrance” [16:43]. Concerning knowledge of the Tariqah He says, “Seek the means of approach to Him” [5:35]. Concerning knowledge of the Haqiqah He says, “We taught him knowledge from Us” [18:65]. He turned knowledge of the Shariah over to a teacher, He turned knowledge of the Tariqah over to a pir, and He turned knowledge of the Haqiqah over to Himself. Whoever fancies that he has no use for the intermediary of a teacher in knowledge of the Shari- ah is a heretic. Whoever claims that knowledge of the Tariqah is possible without a pir is a tempter. Whoever says that the teacher of knowledge of the Haqiqah is other than the Real is deluded. It has been said that those firmly rooted in knowledge are those who learn the knowledge of the Shariah and then put it into practice with self-purification to the point that they perceive the knowledge of the Haqiqah in their secret core. Thus MuṣṬafā said, “When someone acts on what he knows, God will bequeath him knowledge of what he does not know.” When someone does not put the knowledge of the Shariah into practice, he has wasted his knowledge, and it becomes an argument against him. When someone puts it into practice, his outward knowledge becomes an argument to his benefit, and he receives the knowledge of the Haqiqah as a gift.

Surely We have revealed to thee as We revealed to Noah, and the prophets after him. The two worlds are built on the foundation of prophethood's exaltedness, and prophethood's fruit is the beauty of the Shariah. The Shariah is the right path, and the prophets are the marks of the path. Until the leader sees the road, he does not lead. I invite to God upon insight, I and whosoever follows me [12:108]. The Exalted Lord sent the prophets to the people so that they would make apparent the road of obedience, and the servants, on the basis of that obedience, might reach gener- ous bestowal and reward; and, so that they would make apparent the road of disobedience and warn against it. Then the servants may avoid disobedience and not be deemed worthy for punishment. This then is infinite bounty and endless generosity. If He had left the servants in place, not sent the Messenger, and not held the lamp of guidance with the hand of the Messenger in their road, the servants would have remained within the wrap of their createdness and the darkness of their own opinions. They would have eaten everything that is their poison and done everything within which is their destruction. So, you should believe that the prophets are mercy and leaders for the world's folk. They are the best of the creatures and the chosen among mortal men. They are the callers at the top of the street of friendship and the cupbearers at the lip of the water of life. They are the title-page of the Shariah and the proof of the Haqiqah. If there is a goal in creating the engendered beings, it is they. If the Haqiqah has a treasure, they are its keepers. Surely We have revealed to thee…. The command came, “O paragon of east and west, O emulated in the two realms of being! A shining light has reached you from the world of revela- tion called 'messengerhood.' Before you We gave to the messengers, each in his own measure. As for that which is beyond the world of messengerhood and accords with the drinking place of your good fortune, it was not fitting to reach any wrongdoer or be grasped by the good fortune of any traveler.” The allusion to this by the paragon of the world was this: “I was given the Qur'an and the like of it along with it.” In other words, “As much as I have spoken to you from the world of prophethood with the tongue of messengerhood, just as much has been spoken to me from the world of the Haqiqah with the tongue of revelation.” This is exactly what he said elsewhere: “I have a moment with God embraced by no proximate angel, nor any sent prophet.”

And messengers We have told you of before and messengers We have not told you of; and God spoke directly to Moses. God's way sunna regarding his friends awliyāÌ is to veil some and to make others known. This is also His way with the prophets [���� ������]. He pro- claims the names of some and refers to others in a general way. Belief is obligatory in all the prophets as a whole and individually just as respect is obligatory for all of the friends as a whole and individually. Likewise He veils some of the states of the servants and makes others apparent. He asks for purity and sincerity with regard to what He makes apparent to them. With regard to what He veils from them He jealously protects their hearts from viewing these states as an entitlement that gives them special claim to the meanings of the realities He has singled out for them. [His words] and God spoke directly to Moses tell of His selecting [Moses] to hear His speech without intermediary.

messengers bearing good tidings and warning so that people might have no argument against God after the messengers. God is ever Mighty Wise. He informed created beings of the measure of [the messengers'] worth. He explained that He sent the messengers to them and that they should look to them alone for the gathering of their reward and to avoid what would make them deserving of punishment. [He explained] that created beings have no [other] way to the comfort they seek or the hurt they wish to avoid in the present or in the end. So that people might have no argument against God after the mes- sengers. God is ever Mighty Wise: How could one who has need ḥāja of God have an argument ḥujja against Godḍ But God addressed them in accordance with their understandings.

But God bears witness with what He has revealed to you; He has revealed it through His knowledge; and the angels also bear witness; and God suffices as a Witness. In mentioning His knowledge of [the Prophet's] sincerity God consoled him for the lies that created beings told about him. For this reason He said �God suffices as a Witness.�

Surely those who disbelieve and bar [people] from the way of God they have indeed gone far astray. Surely those who disbelieve and who have done wrong it is not for God to forgive them neither to guide them to any path except for the path of hell abiding therein forever; and for God that is an easy matter. He made their barring believers from following the truth the equivalent of their disbelief in God. [In equating these two] God most high treats the rights of His friends as seriously as He treats His own right. Then He said surely those who disbelieve and who have done wrong. He made their wrongdoing ẓulm the same as their disbelief kufr and attached to both of these the justly deserved abiding punishment. Even if wrongdoing is not like disbelief in deserving the threat of endless duration the misfortune of it is that God may abandon those who do it until they succumb to disbelief.

Surely those who disbelieve and bar [people] from the way of God they have indeed gone far astray. Surely those who disbelieve and who have done wrong it is not for God to forgive them neither to guide them to any path except for the path of hell abiding therein forever; and for God that is an easy matter. He made their barring believers from following the truth the equivalent of their disbelief in God. [In equating these two] God most high treats the rights of His friends as seriously as He treats His own right. Then He said surely those who disbelieve and who have done wrong. He made their wrongdoing ẓulm the same as their disbelief kufr and attached to both of these the justly deserved abiding punishment. Even if wrongdoing is not like disbelief in deserving the threat of endless duration the misfortune of it is that God may abandon those who do it until they succumb to disbelief.

Surely those who disbelieve and bar [people] from the way of God they have indeed gone far astray. Surely those who disbelieve and who have done wrong it is not for God to forgive them neither to guide them to any path except for the path of hell abiding therein forever; and for God that is an easy matter. He made their barring believers from following the truth the equivalent of their disbelief in God. [In equating these two] God most high treats the rights of His friends as seriously as He treats His own right. Then He said surely those who disbelieve and who have done wrong. He made their wrongdoing ẓulm the same as their disbelief kufr and attached to both of these the justly deserved abiding punishment. Even if wrongdoing is not like disbelief in deserving the threat of endless duration the misfortune of it is that God may abandon those who do it until they succumb to disbelief.

O people, the Messenger has come to you with the truth from your Lord, so have faith; that is better for you. But if you disbelieve, to God belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth. The allusion of the verse is that the threshold of Lordhood and the majesty of Unity has no need for the obedience of the obedient. He is pure of the worship of the creatures in heaven and earth. If all that is creation-the spheres and heavens, the existing things and the things coming to nothing- ness-went back to the concealment of nonexistence, that would not harm His purity and lordhood. There is no need for them to be joined with Him. The beauty of His Unity is His eternity, and the majesty of His eternity is His solitariness. There is a sound hadith from Abū Dharr Ghifārī, from God's Messenger, from God, that He said, “O My servants, I have forbidden Myself to do wrong, and all of it is forbidden to you. So My servants, do not wrong each other! Surely you are the ones who err by night and day, and I am the one who forgives sins and does not care. So ask forgiveness of Me, and I will forgive you. “O My servants, if the first of you and the last of you and the men of you and the jinn of you had the heart of the most godwary man among you, that would add nothing to My kingdom. O My servants, if the first of you and the last of you and the men of you and the jinn of you had the heart of the most depraved man among you, that would diminish nothing from My kingdom. O My servants, if the first of you and the last of you and the men of you and the jinn of you were to ask from Me and I were to give every man among them what he asked for, that would diminish nothing from Me, except as the ocean is diminished when a needle is dipped into it once.” But if you disbelieve, to God belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth. He is saying, “If all creatures were to put aside the activity of servants and loosen the belt of obedience, they would not be able to go outside of servanthood, nor could they lift away from themselves the bonds of slavehood in respect of creation.

O people of the scripture do not go to extremes in your religion and do not say about God except the truth: the Messiah Jesus the son of Mary was only the Messenger of God and His word which He cast to Mary and a spirit from Him. So believe in God and His messengers and do not say �Three.� Refrain it is better for you. Verily God is but One God. Glory be to Him that He should have a son! To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and in the earth. God suffices as a Guardian. Their going to extremes in their religion [refers to] their following their own opinion since they described what they worshiped in the likeness of created beings. [This] was also contradictory since they said one is three and three is one. To persevere in what is false only increases the falseness.

The Messiah would never disdain to be a servant of God neither would the angels who are nigh. Whoever disdains to worship Him and waxes proud He will assuredly muster them to Him all of them. As for those who believed who did righteous deeds He will pay them their wages in full and He will give them more of His bounty; How can they disdain the worship of Him when one's honor and dignity sharaf [comes] through worshipḍ How can they be too proud to humble themselves when one's ruin talaf [comes] from being too proudḍ Because of this matter the first words the Messiah spoke were Lo! I am God's servant [19:30]. Servants become beautiful in their humility toward [their] masters. This is something well known and without doubt. [The phrase] neither would the angels who are nigh does not imply that [the angels] are superior to the Messiah. Rather [God] was addressing them in accordance with their beliefs-they believed in the superiority of the angels over human beings.and as for those who disdain and are too proud He will chastise them with a painful chastisement and they shall not find for themselves besides God any friend or helper. The painful chastisement is that they will never attain to the communion [of lovers] after they have come to know His majesty. When what they know becomes indisputable they will know that they have been left behind. Their sorrow on that day for what has slipped away from them will be their most intense punishment.

The Messiah would never disdain to be a servant of God neither would the angels who are nigh. Whoever disdains to worship Him and waxes proud He will assuredly muster them to Him all of them. As for those who believed who did righteous deeds He will pay them their wages in full and He will give them more of His bounty; How can they disdain the worship of Him when one's honor and dignity sharaf [comes] through worshipḍ How can they be too proud to humble themselves when one's ruin talaf [comes] from being too proudḍ Because of this matter the first words the Messiah spoke were Lo! I am God's servant [19:30]. Servants become beautiful in their humility toward [their] masters. This is something well known and without doubt. [The phrase] neither would the angels who are nigh does not imply that [the angels] are superior to the Messiah. Rather [God] was addressing them in accordance with their beliefs-they believed in the superiority of the angels over human beings.and as for those who disdain and are too proud He will chastise them with a painful chastisement and they shall not find for themselves besides God any friend or helper. The painful chastisement is that they will never attain to the communion [of lovers] after they have come to know His majesty. When what they know becomes indisputable they will know that they have been left behind. Their sorrow on that day for what has slipped away from them will be their most intense punishment.

O people, a proof has come to you from your Lord, and We have sent down to you a clear light. The majestic Unity is placing a favor on the center point of mortal nature: “We have lit two lamps for you, one in the heart, the other in front of you. The one in front of you is the lamp of the Sun- nah, which is the proof itself, and the one in the heart is the lamp of faith and the shining light. Happy is the servant who walks between these two lamps! Who is more exalted than he in whose heart the greatest light is shining and the eyes of whose heart sees the eyes and face of the Friend face-to-face! One breath with the Friend is worth the two worlds. One vision of the Friend for a hundred thousand spirits is gratis!” In gratitude I will also send my spirit to You- a whiff of union with You does what a hundred spirits cannot.

As for those who have faith in God and hold fast to Him, He will make them enter into mercy from Him, and bounty, and He will guide them to Him on a straight path. From the servant come faith and holding fast by way of servanthood, and from the Exalted Lord bounty and mercy in the attribute of loving kindness. Then He says, “He will guide them to Him on a straight path.” He will give them the guidance and rectitude to know that the recompense they find and the generosity they see come from God's bounty and mercy, not from their faith and holding fast. As the Prophet said, “There is none of you who will be saved by his deeds.” They said, “Not even you, O Messenger of God?” He said, “Not even I-unless God envelops me with His mercy.”

They will ask you for a pronouncement. Say: �God pronounces to you concerning indirect heirs. If a man perishes having no children but he has a sister hers is half of what he leaves and he is her heir if she has no children. If there be two sisters theirs are two-thirds of what he leaves; if there be siblings men and women then the male shall receive the equivalent of the portion of two females. God makes clear to you lest you go astray; and God has knowledge of all things.� He cut short their disputes regarding the apportioning of inheritance by proclaiming the formula determined for them for truly wealth is an object of desire for humankind and the lower selves nufūs are prone to greed. If the appropriate amounts were not decisively determined doubts would arise from the use of independent judgment ijtihād and this would lead to contention and mutual attacks. This summation [of the portions of inheritance] definitively establishes the inheritance amounts for the dispu- tants. His designation of inheritance rights for women-even when their closest relatives do not defend them-shows consideration for their weaker position. [On the other hand] the preference given to males over them is because of the burdens [they have been given] in providing and seeking income and in supporting [women].