Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi — An-Nisa 4:1 – At-Tawbah 9:128

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.

(Give unto orphans their wealth�) [4:2]. Muqatil and al-Kalbi said: �This was revealed about a man from Ghatafan who had in his possession an abundant fortune which belonged to his orphaned nephew. When this orphan reached the age of puberty he claimed this fortune but his uncle refused to give it to him. As a result they took their dispute to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and then this verse was revealed. When the uncle heard this verse he said: �We obey Allah and we obey His Messenger; we seek refuge in Allah from the great peril�, and he handed the wealth over to his nephew. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: �Whoever is saved from the stinginess of his ego and turn it over like thus will abide in Allah�s Garden�. When the youth received his fortune, he spent it in the way of Allah, exalted is He, which prompted the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, to say: �The reward is confirmed but the sin still persists�. Some asked: �O Messenger of Allah! We know that the reward is confirmed, but how is it that the sin still persists when he is spending his wealth in the way of Allah?� He said: �The reward is confirmed for the youth while the sin persists for his father� �.

(And if ye fear that ye will not deal fairly by the orphans�) [4:3]. Abu Bakr al-Tamimi informed us> �Abd Allah ibn Muhammad> Abu Yahya> Sahl ibn �Uthman> Yahya ibn Za�idah> Hisham ibn �Urwah> his father> �A�ishah who said, regarding the words of Allah (And if ye fear that ye will not deal fairly by the orphans): �This was revealed about any custodian under whose care is a female orphan who possesses some wealth and does not have anyone to defend her rights. The custodian refuses to give this orphan in marriage out of greed for her money, harms her and treats her badly. And so Allah, exalted is He, says (And if ye fear that ye will not deal fairly by the orphans marry of the women, who seem good to you�) as long as they are lawful to you and leave this one�. This was narrated by Muslim> Abu Kurayb> Abu Usamah> Hisham. Sa�id ibn Jubayr, Qatadah, al-Rabi�, al-Dahhak and al-Suddi said: �People used to be wary of the wealth of orphans but took liberty with women and married whoever they liked. And sometimes they were fair to them and sometimes they were not. So when they asked about the orphans and the verse (Give unto orphans their wealth), regarding the orphans, was revealed, Allah, exalted is He, also revealed (And if ye fear that ye will not deal fairly by the orphans). He says here: �Just as you fear that you will not deal fairly by the orphan, so should you fear that you do not deal fairly by women. Therefore, marry only as many as you can fulfil their rights, for women are like orphans as far as weakness and incapacity are concerned�. This is the opinion of Ibn �Abbas according to the narration of al-Walibi�.

(Prove orphans�) [4:6]. This was revealed about Thabit ibn Rifa�ah and his uncle. Rifa�ah died when his son Thabit was very young. The uncle of Thabit went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: �The son of my brother is an orphan under my care, what is lawful for me from his wealth? And when should I give him back his wealth?� And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse.

(Unto the men (of a family) belongeth a share of that which parents and near kindred leave�) [4:7]. The commentators of the Qur�an said: �Aws ibn Thabit al-Ansari died and was survived by a wife whose name was Umm Kujjah and three daughters he had from her. Two men, who were the cousins and executors of Thabit, whose names were Suwayd and �Arfajah, took all his wealth and failed to give anything to his wife or daughters. This is because in the pre-Islamic period women and children, even if they were male, did not inherit anything, for only older man did. They used to say: �Only those who fight riding horses and capture booty are entitled to inherit�. Umm Kujjah went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: �O Messenger of Allah! I am the widow of Aws ibn Malik and he has left me with daughters on whom I do not have anything to spend. Their father had left behind a considerable fortune which is now with Suwayd and �Arfajah who have failed to give me, or my daughters, anything when they are still under my care. They do not feed me or even care about them�. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, summoned them, and in their defence they said: �O Messenger of Allah! Her children cannot ride a horse, withstand any responsibility or harm an enemy!� The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: �Leave for now, I shall wait for what Allah relates to me concerning their matter�, and they left. Then Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�.

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.

(Allah chargeth you concerning (the provision for) your children�) [4:11]. Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Ja'far informed us> al-Hasan ibn Ahmad al-Makhladi> al-Mu'ammil ibn al-Hasan ibn 'Isa> al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Sabbah> Hajjaj> Ibn Jurayj> Ibn al-Munkadir> Jabir who said: �The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and Abu Bakr came on foot to visit me at Banu Salamah when I was sick. He found me unconscious. He asked for some water, performed minor ritual ablution and then sprinkled some of the water on me and I woke up. I said: 'O Messenger of Allah! What shall I do with my wealth?' And so the verse (Allah chargeth you concerning (the provision for) your children: to the male the equivalent of the portion of two females�)�. This was narrated by Bukhari> Ibrahim ibn Musa> Hisham, and also by Muslim> Muhammad ibn Hatim> Hajjaj; and both Hisham and Hajjaj related this tradition from Ibn Jurayj. Abu Mansur Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Mansuri informed us> 'Ali ibn 'Umar ibn Mahdi> Yahya ibn Sa'id>> Ahmad ibn al-Miqdam> Bishr ibn al-Mufaddal> 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn 'Aqil> Jabir ibn 'Abd Allah who said: �A woman came to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, with her two daughters and said: 'O Messenger of Allah! These are the daughters of Thabit ibn Qays, or perhaps she said Sa'd ibn al-Rabi', who was killed fighting on your side at the Battle of Uhud. Their uncle has taken possession of their fortune and inheritance and did not leave anything belonging to them except that he took it to himself, so what do you think, O Messenger of Allah? For by Allah, they will never get married unless they have some money'. The Messenger of Allah said to her: 'Allah will judge for you concerning this'. And so Surah al-Nisa' was revealed which contains (Allah chargeth you concerning (the provision for) your children: to the male the equivalent of the portion of two females�). The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, then said to me: 'Summon for me the woman and her adversary'. He said to the uncle of the girls: 'Give the girls two third of the fortune, their mother one eighth and keep the remainder' �.

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.”

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!”

(And marry not those women whom your fathers married�) [4:22]. This was revealed about Hisn ibn Abi al-Qays who married the wife of his father Kubayshah bint Ma�an, al-Aswad ibn Khalaf who married the wife of his father, Safwan ibn Umayyah who married his father�s wife Fakhitah bint al-Aswad ibn al-Muttalib and also about Manzur ibn Zabban who married the wife of his father Mulaykah bint Kharijah. Said Ash�at ibn Sawwar: �When Abu Qays who was one of the righteous people of Medina died, his son Qays proposed to the wife of his father. She said to him: �But I consider you like my son. I will consult the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, to see what he commands�. When she went and informed him, Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�.

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 all married women (are forbidden unto you) save those (captives) whom your right hands possess�) [4:24]. Muhammad ibn �Abd al-Rahman al-Bunani informed us> Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Hamdan> Abu Ya�la> �Amr al-Naqid> Abu Ahmad al-Zubayri> Sufyan> �Uthman al-Batti> Abu�l-Khalil> Abu Sa�id al-Khudri who said: �We had captured female prisoners of war on the day of Awtas and because they were already married we disliked having any physical relationship with them. Then we asked the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, about them. And the verse (And all married women (are forbidden unto you) save those (captives) whom your right hands possess) was then revealed, as a result of which we consider it lawful to have a physical relationship with them�. Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn al-Harith informed us> �Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ja�far> Abu Yahya> Sahl ibn �Uthman> �Abd al-Rahim> Ash�ath ibn Sawwar> �Uthman al-Batti> Abu�l-Khalil> Abu Sa�id who said: �When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, captured the people of Awtas as prisoners of war we said: �O Prophet of Allah! How can we possibly have physical relationships with women whose lineage and husband we know very well?� And so this verse was revealed (And all married women (are forbidden unto you) save those (captives) whom your right hands possess)�. Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Farisi informed us> Muhammad ibn �Isa ibn �Amrawayh> Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Sufyan> Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj> �Ubayd Allah ibn �Umar al-Qawariri> Yazid ibn Zuray�> Sa�id ibn Abi �Arubah> Qatadah> Abu Salih Abu Khalil> Abu �Alqamah al-Hashimi> Abu Sa�id al-Khudri who reported that on the day of Hunayn the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, sent an army to Awtas. This army met the enemy in a battle, defeated them and captured many female prisoners from them. But some of the Companions of the Messenger, Allah bless him and give him peace, were uncomfortable about having physical relations with these prisoners because they had husbands who were idolaters, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed about this (And all married women (are forbidden unto you) save those (captives) whom your right hands possess).

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.

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.

(And unto each We have appointed heirs and near kindred �) [4:33]. Abu �Abd Allah Muhammad ibn �Abd Allah al-Farisi informed us> Muhammad ibn �Abd Allah ibn Hamawayh al-Harawi> �Ali ibn Muhammad al-Khuza�i> Abu�l-Yaman al-Hakam ibn Nafi�> Shu�ayb ibn Abi Hamzah> al-Zuhri> Sa�id ibn al-Musayyab who said: �The verse (And unto each We have appointed heirs) was revealed about those who used to adopt men who were not their natural sons and then make them inherit from them. Allah, exalted is He, revealed about them that something should be apportioned for them in the bequest while the division of estate He specifically allocated for the heirs who were immediate family relatives or close relatives. He denied a share of the estate to those who were adopted and, instead, allowed them to have a portion of the bequest�.

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.”

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.

(Who hoard their wealth and enjoin avarice on others�) [4:37]. Most Qur�anic exegetes said: �This was revealed about the Jews when they concealed the description of Muhammad, Allah bless him and give him peace, and did not reveal it to people despite the fact that they had it written in their Scriptures�. And al-Kalbi said: �This refers to the Jews; they failed to be truthful to those who came to them with regard to the description of Muhammad, Allah bless him and give him peace, despite the fact that they had it written down in their Scriptures�. Said Mujahid: �The three verses up to His saying (�when Allah is ever Aware of them) [4:39] were revealed about the Jews�. And Ibn �Abbas and Ibn Zayd said: �This was revealed about a group of Jews who used to go to some men from the Helpers, mixing with them and giving them advice. They used to say to them: �Do not spend your wealth for we fear poverty for you�, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Who hoard their wealth and enjoin avarice on others)�.

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.

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,

(Hast thou not seen those unto whom a portion of the Scripture hath been given, how they believe in idols and false deities�) [4:51]. Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya informed us> his father> Muhammad ibn Ishaq al-Thaqafi> 'Abd al-Jabbar ibn al-'Ala'> Sufyan> 'Amr>> 'Ikrimah who said: �When Huyayy ibn Akhtab and Ka'b al-Ashraf went to the people of Mecca they were asked: 'You are people of Scripture and ancient knowledge, so tell us about us and Muhammad?' 'What do you have to do with Muhammad?' he said. They said: 'We slaughter high-humped camels, give milk on top of water for others to drink, we assist those who are wronged, we do not severe ties of kinship and give water to the pilgrims and our religion is ancient while Muhammad's religion is new'. The Jews said: 'Rather, you are better than him and more guided in your way'. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Hast thou not seen those unto whom a portion of the Scripture hath been given, how they believe in idols and false deities) up to His words, exalted is He, (� and he whom Allah hath cursed, thou (O Muhammad) wilt find for him no helper) [4:52]�. The commentators of the Qur'an said: �After the Battle of Uhud, Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf went to Mecca, accompanied by seventy riders, in order to ally themselves with Quraysh against the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and break the covenant which they had with Allah's Messenger, Allah bless him and give him peace. Ka'b was the guest of Abu Sufyan while the other Jews were accommodated in the houses of Quraysh. The people of Mecca said: 'Your are people of Scripture and Muhammad has a Scripture and we are not completely sure that this is a scheme that you devised. So if you want us to go along with you, you have to prostrate to these two idols and believe in them', hence Allah's saying (they believe in idols and false deities). Ka'b then said to the people of Mecca: 'Let there be thirty of us and thirty of you; we shall all go to the Ka'bah and cling to it and promise the Lord of the House that we will do our best to fight Muhammad'.

(and he whom Allah hath cursed, thou (O Muhammad) wilt find for him no helper�) [4:52]. Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Muqri' informed us> Sufyan ibn Muhammad> Makki ibn 'Abdan> Abu'l-Azhar> Rawh> Sa'id>> Qatadah who said: �This verse was revealed about Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf and Huyayy ibn Akhtab, two Jews from Banu'l-Nadir, who met the people of Quraysh in the season of pilgrimage and were asked by the idolaters: 'Who is more guided to the way of the truth us or Muhammad? For we are the custodians of the Sacred Precinct, we provide water for the pilgrims and we are the inhabitants of the Sacred Precinct'. They said: 'No indeed, you are more guided than Muhammad'. They said this while knowing very well they were lying. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Those are they whom Allah hath cursed, and he whom Allah hath cursed, thou (O Muhammad) wilt find for him no helper). When they went back to their people, the latter told them: 'Muhammad claims that such-and-such was revealed about you'. They said: 'He has said the truth. By Allah, the hatred and resentful envy that we have for him drove us to do so' �.

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.

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 ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the messenger and those of you who are in authority�) [4:59]. Abu �Abd al-Rahman ibn Abu Hamid al-�Adl informed us> Abu Bakr ibn Abi Zakariyya al-Hafiz> Abu Hamid ibn al-Sharqi> Muhammad ibn Yahya> Hajjaj ibn Muhammad> Ibn Jurayj> Ya�la ibn Muslim> Sa�id ibn Jubayr> Ibn �Abbas that he said regarding the saying of Allah, exalted is He, (O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the messenger and those of you who are in authority): �It was revealed about Hudhafah ibn Qays ibn �Adiyy who was sent by the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, in a military expedition�. This was narrated by Bukhari from Sadaqah ibn al-Fadl and also by Muslim from Zuhayr ibn Harb and both transmitter related it from Hajjaj. Said Ibn �Abbas, according to the narration of Badhan: �The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, sent Khalid ibn al-Walid in a military expedition to one of the Arab clans. He was accompanied in this expedition by �Ammar ibn Yasir. When he drew closer to them at night, he stopped to camp in order to try to conquer them the following morning. Meanwhile this clan was warned about the approaching military expedition which made them flee the area, except for one man who was a Muslim. This man asked his family to get ready to move and then he went to the camp of Khalid and entered in on �Ammar. He said to him: �O Abu�l-Yaqzan! I am one of you. But my people ran away when they heard you were coming. I stayed because I am Muslim. Is this of any benefit to me, or shall I flee as my people did?� �Ammar said: �Stay, for it is beneficial to you�. The man returned to his family and told them to stay. The following morning, Khalid invaded the clan but found no one except this man, and so he imprisoned him and seized his property. �Ammar went to him and said: �Let the man go, for he is a Muslim and I have already given him amnesty and told him to stay�. Khalid said: �You give protection from me to others while I am the leader!� Ammar said: �Yes, I give protection from you to others while you are the leader�.

(Hast thou not seen those who pretend that they believe in that which is revealed unto thee and that which was revealed before thee, how they would go for judgment (in their disputes) to false deities when they have been ordered to abjure them?) [4:60]. Sa'id ibn Muhammad al-'Adl informed us> Abu 'Amr ibn Hamdan> al-Hasan ibn Sufyan> Ibrahim ibn Sa'd al-Jawhari> Abu'l-Yaman> Safwan ibn 'Amr>> 'Ikrimah> Ibn 'Abbas who said: �Abu Burdah al-Aslami was a soothsayer who used to settle the disputes that the Jews had amongst themselves. When a group of people from Aslam took their dispute to him, Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Hast thou not seen those who pretend�) up to his saying (� were seeking naught but harmony and kindness) [4:62]�. Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim> Abu Salih Shu'ayb ibn Muhammad> Abu Hatim al-Tamimi> Abu'l-Azhar> Ruwaym> Sa'id ibn Qatadah who said: �We were told that this verse was revealed about a dispute regarding a certain property in which were involved a man from the Helpers called Qays and a Jewish man. They took their dispute to a soothsayer in Medina to judge between them while leaving the Prophet of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. Allah, exalted is He, rebuked them for doing so. In fact the Jew was urging the Muslim to take their dispute to the Prophet of Allah, because he knew he will not wrong him. But the Helper refused to, even though he was a Muslim, and insisted to go to the soothsayer. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse censoring the person who was pretending to be Muslim as well as the Jew who belonged to the people of the Book, saying (Hast thou not seen those who pretend that they believe in that which is revealed unto thee�) up to His words (� thou seest the hypocrites turn from thee with aversion) [4:61]�. Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Marwazi informed us in writing> Muhammad ibn al-Husayn> Muhammad ibn Yahya> Ishaq al-Hanzali> al-Mu'ammil> Yazid ibn Zuray'> Dawud> al-Sha'bi who said: �One certain hypocrite had a dispute with a Jewish man. The Jew invited the hypocrite to take their dispute to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, because he knew that he did not accept bribery. The hypocrite, on the other hand, called the Jewish man to take their dispute to their own arbiters because he knew that they took bribery for the judgments they issued.

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]

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.

(Hast thou not seen those unto whom it was said: Withhold your hands�) [4:77]. Said al-Kalbi: �This verse was revealed about some Companions of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, among whom were �Abd al-Rahman ibn �Awf, al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad, Qudamah ibn Maz�un and Sa�d ibn Abi Waqqas. These Companions were subjected to a lot of harm from the idolaters. They used to say: �O Messenger of Allah, allow us to fight them�, but his answer was always: �Keep your hands off them, for I have not been commanded to fight them�. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, migrated to Medina and Allah, exalted is He, commanded them to fight the idolaters, some of them disliked fighting and found it very hard. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�. Sa�id ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-�Adl informed us> Abu �Amr Hamdan> al-Hasan ibn Sufyan> Muhammad ibn �Ali> his father> al-Husayn ibn Waqid> �Amr ibn Dinar> �Ikrimah> Ibn �Abbas who related that �Abd al-Rahman ibn �Awf and some of his fellow companions went to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, in Mecca and said: �O Prophet of Allah, we were mighty when we were idolaters but now that we are believers we became humiliated�. He said to them: �I am commanded to pardon, do not fight these people�. But when Allah, exalted is He, made him move to Medina, He commanded him to fight, they withheld their hands, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Hast thou not seen those unto whom it was said: Withhold your hands�).

(Wheresoever ye may be, death will overtake you�) [4:78]. Said Ibn �Abbas, according to the narration of Abu Salih: �When some Muslims were martyred in Uhud, the hypocrites who failed to join in the fighting said: �If our brothers who were killed remained with us, they would not have died or been killed�. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed this verse�.

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.

(What aileth you that ye are become two parties regarding the hypocrites�) [4:88]. Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya informed us> Abu 'Amr Isma'il ibn Najid> Yusuf ibn Ya'qub al-Qadi> 'Amr ibn Marzuq> Shu'bah> 'Adiyy ibn Thabit> 'Abd Allah ibn Yazid ibn Thabit who reported that a group of people initially accompanied the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, to Uhud but then turned back and returned to Medina. The Muslims were divided in their opinions about them. Some of them were of the opinion that they should be killed while others thought they should be spared, and so this verse was revealed. This was revealed by Bukhari> Bundar> Ghundar and also by Muslim> 'Abd Allah ibn Mu'adh> his father; and both transmitters (Ghundar and Ibn Mu'adh's father) related it from Shu'bah. 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Hamdan al-'Adl informed us> Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Ja'far ibn Malik> 'Ubayd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal> his father> al-Aswad ibn 'Amir> Hammad ibn Salamah> Muhammad ibn Ishaq> Yazid ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Qusayt> Abu Salamah ibn 'Abd al-Rahman> his father who related that a group of Arabs came to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and embraced Islam. Then they contracted the illness and fever that was going round in Medina and, as a result, renounced Islam and left Medina. They were met by a group among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace who asked them: �Why did you leave Medina?� They replied: �We contracted the illness of Medina and for this reason we disliked remaining there�. The Companions said: �Do you not have a good example in the person of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace?� Some of the Companions were of the opinion that these Arabs were hypocrites while others thought they were still Muslims. And because of this difference of opinion, Allah, exalted is He, revealed (What aileth you that ye are become two parties regarding the hypocrites�). Mujahid said apropos this verse: �This was revealed about some people who left Mecca to Medina, claiming to be Emigrants. They then renounced Islam and asked permission from the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, to go to Mecca to bring some merchandise with which to trade.

(It is not for a believer to kill a believer unless (it be) by mistake�) [4:92]. Abu �Abd Allah ibn Abi Ishaq informed us> Abu �Amr ibn Nujayd> Abu Muslim Ibrahim ibn �Abd Allah> Ibn Hajjaj> Hammad> Muhammad ibn Ishaq> �Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Qasim> his father who reported that al-Harith ibn Shadid was hard on the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace. He was on his way to embrace Islam when he was met by �Ayyash ibn Abi Rabi�ah, and not realising that al-Harith wanted to embrace Islam, he killed him. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse (It is not for a believer to kill a believer unless (it be) by mistake�). Al-Kalbi explained this event, saying: ��Ayyash ibn Abi Rabi�ah al-Makhzumi had embraced Islam but was fearful of coming in the open about it. He fled to Medina and took refuge in one of its fortresses. His mother was distressed a great deal. She said to her two sons Abu Jahl and al-Harith ibn Hisham, who were his half brothers from his mother�s side: �By Allah, I will stay outside in the sun, not eating or drinking, until you bring him back to me�. And they went looking for him, accompanied by al-Harith ibn Zayd ibn Abi Anisah, until they reached Medina. They went to �Ayyash in his fortress, and said to him: �Come down, your mother has not entered the confines of a house since you left. She has also sworn that she will not eat or drink until you go back to her. By Allah we give you assurance that we will not coerce you to do anything nor will we come between you and your religion�. When they mentioned his mother�s distress and gave him their assurance, he came down to them. They took him out of Medina, tied him up with strings and whipped him a hundred lashes each, and then took him to his mother. His mother said to him: �I will not untie your fetters until you disbelieve in that which you have believed�, and he was left fettered in the sun until he gave them some of what they had wanted. Al-Harith ibn Yazid went to him and said: �O �Ayyash, by Allah, if that which you followed was guidance, you have now left it, and if it was error, you were already in error�.

(Whoso slayeth a believer of set purpose�) [4:93]. Said Ibn �Abbas, according to the report of al-Kalbi from Abu Salih: �Maqis ibn Subabah, who was Muslim, found his brother Hisham murdered at Banu�l-Najjar. He went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and mentioned what had happened to him. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, sent with him an emissary from Banu Fihr and said to him: �Go to Banu�l-Najjar, greet them with the greeting of peace and say to them: �The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, commands you, if you know the killer of Hisham ibn Subabah, to hand him over to his brother to exact his retaliation; and if you do not know the killer, to pay him the blood money�. �The man from Fihr conveyed to them the message of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and they said: �We hear and obey Allah and His Messenger. By Allah, we do not know who the killer is, but we are willing to pay the blood money�. They gave him one hundred camels and they headed toward Medina. When they were very close to Medina, the devil whispered to Miqyas: �What have you done? Your acceptance of your brother�s blood money will be a slur on you. Kill the person who is with you and it would be as if you have avenged your brother in surplus of the blood money�. Miqyas did just that. He fractured the skull of the man from Fihr with a rock, rode a camel and drove away the rest to Mecca. He went back to Mecca as a disbeliever. Through him I avenged Fihr and charged his blood-wit To the chiefs of Banu�l-Najjar, the lords of Fari� castle. By killing him I gave vent to my vengeance and eased my tension, And was the first to return to the idols. This verse was then revealed (Whoso slayeth a believer of set purpose�). The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, sentenced him to death upon the conquest of Mecca. He was chased and captured by some people in the market place and executed�.

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.”

(Those of the believers who sit still, other than those who have a (disabling) hurt, are not on an equality with those who strive in the way of Allah�) [4:95]. Abu �Uthman Sa�id ibn Muhammad al-�Adl informed us> his grandfather> Muhammad ibn Ishaq al-Sarraj> Muhammad ibn Humayd al-Razi> Salamah ibn al-Fadl> Muhammad ibn Ishaq> al-Zuhri> Sahl ibn Sa�d> Marwan ibn al-Hakam> Zayd ibn Thabit who said: �I was with the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, when the verse (Those of the believers who sit still are not on an equality with those who strive in the way of Allah) and did not mention (other than those who have a (disabling) hurt). Ibn Umm Maktum said: �How is this so when I am blind and unable to see?� The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, was overwhelmed with revelation in this assembly and he leaned on my thigh. By Him in whose Hand is my soul, his weight grew so much on my thigh that I feared he would crush it. Then he was relieved, upon which he said: �Write: (Those of the believers who sit still, other than those who have a (disabling) hurt, are not on an equality with those who strive in the way of Allah)�, and I wrote it down�. This was narrated by Bukhari> Isma�il ibn �Abd Allah> Ibrahim ibn Sa�d> Salih> al-Zuhri. Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya informed us> Muhammad ibn Ja�far ibn Matar> Abu Khalifah> Abu�l-Walid> Shu�bah> Abu Ishaq> al-Bara� who said: �When the verse (Those of the believers who sit still are not on an equality�), the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, called Zayd who went to him with a shoulder blade and wrote on it this verse. But Ibn Umm Maktum complained about the fact that he is blind, and so the verse (Those of the believers who sit still, other than those who have a (disabling) hurt, are not on an equality with those who strive in the way of Allah) was revealed�. This was narrated by Bukhari from Abu�l-Walid and by Muslim from Bundar from Ghundar, and both Abu�l-Walid and Ghundar related it from Shu�bah. Isma'il ibn Abi al-Qasim al-Nasrabadhi informed us> Isma'il ibn Najid> Muhammad ibn 'Abdus> 'Ali ibn al-Ja'd> Zuhayr> Abu Ishaq> al-Bara' that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: �Call Zayd for me and ask him to bring with him a shoulder blade and an inkwell�, or he said: �a slate�.

(Lo! as for those whom the angels take (in death) while they wrong themselves�) [4:97]. This verse was revealed about some people in Mecca who professed Islam but did not migrate; they showed faith outwardly but were hypocrites inwardly. At the Battle of Badr, they joined the idolaters in their fight against the Muslims and were killed therein. The angels struck their faces and backs and said to them that which Allah, exalted is He, has mentioned in this verse. Abu Bakr al-Harithi informed us> Abu'l-Shaykh al-Hafiz> Abu Yahya> Sahl ibn 'Uthman> 'Abd al-Rahim ibn Sulayman> Ash'ath ibn Sawad> 'Ikrimah> Ibn 'Abbas who said with regard to the verse (Lo! as for those whom the angels take (in death) while they wrong themselves�) which he recited to the end: �They were Muslims who were in Mecca. They went out with the idolaters to fight and were killed with them, and so this verse was revealed�.

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 thou (O Muhammad) art among them and arrangest (their) worship for them�) [4:102]. The teacher Abu �Uthman al-Za�farani al-Muqri� informed us in the year [4]25> Abu Muhammad �Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn �Ali ibn Ziyad al-Suddi in the year 363> Abu Sa�id al-Fadl ibn Muhammad al-Jazari in the Sacred Mosque, Mecca, in 304> �Ali ibn Ziyad al-Lahji> Abu Qurrah Musa ibn Tariq> Sufyan> Mansur> Mujahid> Abu �Ayyash al-Zurraqi who said: �We performed the prayer of Zuhr with the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, upon which the idolaters exclaimed: �They were in a vulnerable situation, why did we not attack them by surprise?� Then they said: �There shall come another prayer which is more beloved to them than their own fathers, which is the midafternoon (�Asr) prayer�. Gabriel, peace be upon him, then came down with these verses between the Zuhr and the �Asr prayers. (And when thou (O Muhammad) art among them and arrangest (their) worship for them) in �Usfan, while the idolaters were led by Khalid ibn al-Walid; they were between us and the qiblah, and then He mentioned the prayer of fear�. �Abd al-Rahman ibn �Abdan informed us> Muhammad ibn �Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Dabbi> Muhammad ibn Ya�qub> Ahmad ibn �Abd al-Jabbar> Yunus ibn Bukayr> al-Nadr Abu �Umar> �Ikrimah> Ibn �Abbas who said: �The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, went out and met the idolaters in �Usfan. When he performed the Zuhr prayer, and the idolaters saw him bowing and prostrating, they said to each other: �This was a missed opportunity for you. If you had raided them then, they would not have felt you coming until you had effectively attacked them�. One of them said: �They have another prayer which is more beloved to them than their wives and wealth, so get ready to raid them when they are performing it�. Allah, glorious and majestic is He, then revealed to His Prophet, (And when thou (O Muhammad) art among them and arrangest (their) worship for them) up to the end of the verse, and informed him about the plot of the idolaters and mentioned therein the prayer of fear�.

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.

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.”

(Lo! We reveal unto thee the Scripture with the truth, that thou mayst judge between mankind by that which Allah showeth thee) [4:105] up to His words (� Whoso ascribeth partners unto Allah hath wandered far astray) [4:116]. All these verses were revealed regarding one incident. One man from the Helpers by the name of Tu�mah ibn Ubayriq, from Banu Zafar ibn al-Harith, stole an armour from his neighbour who was called Qatadah ibn al-Nu�man. The armour was in a sack of ground wheat. When he took the armour, the ground wheat was strewn about from a hole in the sack. Traces of ground wheat were left in his house. Tu�mah then took the armour and hid it with a Jew by the name of Zayd ibn al-Samin. When people looked for the armour in the house of Tu�mah, they could not find it. He swore to them by Allah that he did not take the armour or have any knowledge about it. The owners of the armour said: �No indeed, by Allah he entered our house and took it. We followed him until he entered his house and, therein, we saw traces of wheat�. When he swore by Allah that he did not steal it, they left him and followed the trail of ground wheat which led them to the house of the Jewish man. When they took him, he said that it was Tu�mah ibn Ubayriq who had left the armour with him, and some Jewish people testified that this was the case. Banu Zafar, the clan of Tu�mah, said: �Let us go to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace�. They spoke to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and requested him to argue in favour of their man, saying: �If you do not do so, our man will be doomed and exposed and the Jew will come out of this as an innocent man�. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was on the verge of doing as he was requested � for his heart was with them � and punish the Jew when Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Lo! We reveal unto thee the Scripture with the truth) up to the end of the verse. This is the view of a number of Qur�anic commentators.

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].

(It will not be in accordance with your desires, nor the desires of the People of the Scripture�) [4:123]. Abu Bakr al-Tamimi informed us> Abu Muhammad ibn Hayyan> Abu Yahya> Sahl> �Ali ibn Mushir> Isma�il ibn Abi Khalid> Abu Salih who said: �The people of the Book, the adherents of the Torah and the adherents of the Gospel, as well as the adherents of other religions sat together one day and each claimed that they were better than the others. This verse was revealed regarding this�. Said Masruq and Qatadah: �One day, the Muslims and the people of the Book argued with each other. The people of the Book said: �We are more guided than you; our Prophet came before yours and our Scripture was revealed before your Scripture. Moreover, we have a better right to Allah than you�. The Muslims said: �We are more guided than you and have a better right to Allah than you. Our Prophet is the seal of prophets and our Scripture makes all the Scriptures before it outmoded�. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse. Allah, exalted is He, later backed the argument of the Muslims against their opponents from amongst the adherents of other religions with His words (And whoso doeth good works, whether of male or female�) [4:124] and His words (Who is better in religion than he who surrendereth his purpose to Allah�) [4:125]�.

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 consult thee concerning women�) [4:127]. The judge Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Hasan informed us> Muhammad ibn Ya'qub>> Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abd al-Hakam> Ibn Wahb> Yunus> Ibn Shihab> 'Urwah ibn al-Zubayr> 'A'ishah who said: �People asked the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, for the legal ruling concerning them after the revelation of this verse about them, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse (They consult thee concerning women. Say: Allah giveth you decree concerning them, and the Scripture which hath been recited unto you (giveth decree)�)�. That which has been recited unto him in the Scripture refers to the first verse in which He says (And if ye fear that ye will not deal fairly by the orphans�) [4:3]. And Allah, exalted is He, says in the other verse (though ye desire to marry them), i.e. one of you desires to marry the orphan under his care when she is not of great beauty or possesses a lot of wealth. Thus, men were warned against marrying the orphaned because of their beauty or out of desire for their wealth, unless one was prepared to deal with them fairly, for the trend was that men shunned those orphans who had no wealth or were not beautiful. This was narrated by Muslim from Harmalah from Ibn Wahb.

(If a woman feareth ill treatment�) [4:128]. Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn al-Harith informed us> 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ja'far> Abu Yahya> Sahl> 'Abd al-Rahim ibn Sulayman> Hisham> 'Urwah> 'A'ishah who said concerning the words of Allah, exalted is He, (If a woman feareth ill treatment from her husband�): �This was revealed regarding the case of a woman who does not bear children for her husband and, because of this, he wants to divorce her; or it could be about a women who has friends and children whom she does not like to be separated from and so she tells her husband who intends to divorce her: 'Do not divorce me; keep me with you and, in exchange, I forgo all the rights due to me'. And so this verse was revealed�. This was narrated by Bukhari> Muhammad ibn Muqatil> Ibn al-Mubarak, and also by Muslim from Abu Kurayb> Abu Usamah, and both Ibn al-Mubarak and Abu Usamah related it from Hisham. Abu Bakr al-Hiri informed us> Muhammad ibn Ya'qub>> al-Rabi'> al-Shafi'i> Ibn 'Uyaynah> al-Zuhri> Ibn al-Musayyab who related that the daughter of Muhammad ibn Maslamah was married to Rafi' ibn Khadij but he wanted to divorce her because of something he disliked in her, it was either arrogance or something else. She said to him: �Do not divorce me, and you are free to apportion for me whatever you like�. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse (If a woman feareth ill treatment from her husband�).

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]

(O ye who believe! Be ye staunch in justice�) [4:135]. Asbat related that al-Suddi said: �This was revealed about the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace. A poor man and a rich man went to him to settle a dispute. He was inclined to judge in favour of the poor man because he thought that a poor man cannot wrong a rich person. But Allah, exalted is He, wanted to establish justice regarding the poor and rich alike. He said: (O ye who believe! Be ye staunch in justice) up to His words (whether (the case be of) a rich man or a poor man, for Allah is nearer unto both (than ye are)�)�.

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.

(Allah loveth not the utterance of harsh speech�) [4:148]. Said Mujahid: �One man sought hospitality with some people. However, because they did not show him proper hospitality, he complained about them. And so this verse was revealed, giving him dispensation to complain�.

(The people of the Scripture ask of thee that thou shouldst cause an (actual) Book to descend upon them from heaven�) [4:153]. This was revealed about the Jews. They said to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace: �If you are truly a prophet, bring us an actual Book from heaven as Moses did�, and so this verse was revealed.

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]

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.”

(But Allah (Himself) testifieth concerning that which He hath revealeth unto thee�) [4:166]. Said al-Kalbi: �The leaders of Mecca went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said to him: �We have asked the Jews about you and they claimed they do not know you. Therefore, bring us somebody who would testify to us that Allah has sent you to us as a messenger�, and so this verse was revealed�.

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 exaggerate in your religion�) [4:171]. This was revealed about some Christian denominations who claimed that Jesus is the son of Allah, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (O People of the Scripture! Do not exaggerate in your religion nor utter aught concerning Allah save the truth�).

(The Messiah will never scorn to be a slave unto Allah�) [4:172]. Said al-Kalbi: �The delegation of Najran said: �O Muhammad, why do you insult our lord?� He said: �And who is your lord?� They said: �It is Jesus�. �Why, what do I say about him?� he asked. They said: �You say he is the salve and messenger of Allah!� He said to them: �It is not shameful for Jesus to be the slave of Allah�. But they said: �It is shameful�, and then the verse (The Messiah will never scorn to be a slave unto Allah) was revealed�.

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 ask thee for a pronouncement. Say: Allah hath pronounced for you concerning distant kindred�) [4:176]. Abu �Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Hamid informed us>Zahir ibn Ahmad> al-Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn Mus�ab> Yahya ibn Hakim> Ibn Abi �Adiyy> Hisham ibn Abi �Abd Allah> Abu�l-Zubayr> Jabir who said: �I had seven sisters and I fell ill. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, came to visit me. [He found me unconscious and so] he spit on my face and I woke up. I said to him: �O Messenger of Allah, can I bequest for my sister two thirds of my wealth�. He said: �Hold back!� I said: �What about half?� He said: �Hold back!� and then he went out and left me. Then he came back and said to me: �O Jabir, you are not going to die as a result of your present illness. Allah has revealed verses explaining the share your sister should have. He has apportioned two thirds for them� �. Jabir used to say: �This verse (They ask thee for a pronouncement. Say: Allah hath pronounced for you concerning distant kindred�) was revealed about me�.

O you who have faith! It is narrated that Jaʿfar ibn MuḤammad said that these words have four traits through which the Lord of the Worlds honored and caressed the community. One is that they are a call, second an intimation, third an allusion, and fourth a bearing witness. O is a call, you is an intimation, who is an allusion, and have faith is a bearing witness. The call is an honor, the intimation of mercy, the allusion to love, and the bearing witness to recognition. “He called them before He made them appear, and He named them before He saw them.” They were in the concealment of nonexistence when He called them to honor. They had not yet come into the circle of existence when He named them with a beautiful name: He named you sub- mitters from before [22:78]. He saw the faults and He approved of the faults. He saw the offenses, and He bought the offenses. He saw the pure ones of the high world, and He chose the tainted ones of the low world, for “The sinner's sobs are more beloved to Me than the glorifier's murmur.” Given the beginningless solicitude of the Unneedy Threshold toward the Adamite, his situ- ation is like that of a child whose mother sews him new clothes. She says, “Beware, beware, O child! Do not let this fancy garment get dirty!” The child goes outside and busies himself playing with the other children and dirties the clothes. He comes back home with dirty clothes, so he hides in a corner, helpless and bewildered. He keeps on saying, “Mother, I'm sleepy.” The mother knows that the child is afraid of her rebuke. “Dearest,” she says, “come. I only sent you outside after I had soap and water in hand, for I knew what you would do.” The Adamite's state is like this. When that center point of good fortune and chosen one of the empire was sent out from the concealment of nonexistence to the confines of existence, the pure spirits and holy ones began to shout, and they aimed arrows of denial at the world that God was setting forth: “Wilt Thou set therein one who will work corruption there? [2:30]. You are creating a group who will blacken the garment of Today I have perfected your religion for you [5:3] with the smoke of disobedience and the dust of associationism.

(O ye who believe! Profane not Allah�s monuments�) [5:2]. Said Ibn �Abbas: �This was revealed about al-Hutam whose full name is Sharih ibn Dubay�ah al-Kindi. This man went from al-Yamamah to Medina to see the Prophet, Allah bless him and his Household and give him peace. When he arrived at Medina, he went in alone to speak with the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace. He said: �What do you call people for?� he said: �To testify that there is no god but Allah, to establish the prayer and to pay the poor due�. The man said: �This is good, except that I have chiefs without whose consultation I cannot take any decision. It may be that I embrace Islam and bring them with me�. And then he left. Before this, the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, had said to his Companions: �A man will enter in on you and will speak with the tongue of the devil�. When the man left, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: �He has come in with a disbeliever�s countenance and retreated with the steps of a treacherous one. The man is no Muslim�. The man passed by the camels of Medina which graze freely and led them away with him. People went after him but could not find him. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace went to perform the pilgrimage in the year of Hudaybiyyah, he heard the chanting �Labbayk� from the pilgrims of al-Yamamah. He said to his Companions: �Here is al-Hutam and his followers!� This man had put garlands on the camels he stole from Medina and offered them to the Ka�bah. When the Muslims wanted to get him, Allah, exalted is He, revealed (O ye who believe! Profane not Allah�s monuments�), by monuments here is meant that which is offered for Allah, even if those who offer it profess a religion other than Islam�. Said Zayd ibn Aslam: �The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and his Household and give him peace, and his Companions were in Hudaybiyyah when the idolaters barred them from entering the Sacred House. The Muslims were devastated. Then, a group of idolaters passed by them, they were in their way to perform the lesser pilgrimage. Some of the Companions of the Messenger, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: �Let us bar these people as their friends have barred us. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (O ye who believe! Profane not Allah�s monuments nor the Sacred Month nor the offerings nor the garlands, nor those repairing to the Sacred House)�, i.e. do not transgress against these pilgrims because their friends have barred you from entering the Sacred House�.

Forbidden to you are carrion and blood, the flesh of swine, that which has been offered up to other than God, the strangled, the beaten down, the fallen, the gored, what has been eaten by predators-except what you slaughter-what is sacrificed on stone alters, and that which you al- lot by divining arrows-that is ungodliness. Today those who disbelieve have despaired of your religion, so fear them not, and fear Me. Today I have perfected for you your religion and I have completed My blessings upon you, and I have approved for you the submission as a religion. Although carrion is vile and forbidden, a measure of it is still allowed at the time of constraint. Among the sorts of carrion is the flesh of a brother Muslim that is eaten by backbiting. In this there is never a concession in any state, whether by constraint or free choice. Hence this carrion is worse than that carrion, and its prohibition is greater. God says, “Do not backbite one another. Would one of you love to eat the dead flesh of his brother? You would abhor it” [49:12]. It has been said that an animal whose flesh is eaten has two states: One is that, when it is killed by the stipulation of the Shariah, it is pure. Taking it is allowed and eating it is permitted. When it dies by itself, it is defiled, and eating it is forbidden. By way of allusion He is saying that when this Adamic soul is killed by the sword of struggle in the path of discipline according to the Shariah-that is, when it has been subjugated by the religion and come to be commanded by the Shariah, made a servant and abased by the burden of obedience-the soul with this description is pure. Nearness to it is allowed, being its companion is lawful, seeing it is the heart's repose, and companionship with it is the spirit's happiness. But whenever a soul dies in the darkness of its own heedlessness such that it no longer perceives the work of the religion and exerts no effort in the limits set down by the Shariah, this soul is like the carrion whose body is defiled and nearness to which is forbidden. The strangled, the beaten down, the fallen to death, the gored. Beneath each of these words is an allusion in keeping with the tasting of the chevaliers of the Tariqah and according to the creed of the wayfarers of the Haqiqah's road. The strangled is an allusion to someone who places himself in the bonds of wishes, puts the chains of avarice on his own hands and feet, and throws the rope of wanting around his neck until he is killed by avarice and appetite. It is forbidden for the wayfarers and desirers to walk on the path of someone like this or to follow someone like this. The beaten down is an allusion to someone who stays a prisoner of caprice and a captive of Satan, beaten down by the fanciful notions of his soul and the disquieting thoughts from Satan, so that his heart dies in that beating and imprisonment. He becomes the carrion of the Tariqah, and companionship with him is forbidden. The fallen to death is an allusion to someone who has fallen into the valley of dispersion and been destroyed, losing the road of the Haqiqah. The gored is an allusion to someone who quarrels with his likes and similars for the sake of this world of carrion and is gored such that his adversary wins; he becomes carrion under the blows of a carrion-eater. What has been eaten by predators is that toward which the seekers of this world turn their heads; it is carrion and its seeker is like a dog. Only dogs eat carrion. It is nothing but rotting carrion which dogs try to drag away. Then He says, “except what you slaughter.” In the outward Shariah, He is saying that whenever a Shari'ite slaughtering takes place in the forbidden things that He mentioned such that it is allowed by the Shariah, then it is allowed and eating it is permitted. So also in the road of the Tariqah, whatever may be the traveling supplies of the road of the next world and the goods of this world necessary for life, taking them and having them is permissible in the religion and seeking them is allowed. The supplies for the religion's road pertain to the road of the religion. God says, “And take along supplies, but the best of supplies is godwariness” [2:197]. What is sacrificed on stone alters. Everything that is done for the caprice of wanting and not in conformity with the Shariah is sacrificed on stone alters. Making the caprice of your soul your ob- ject of worship and going forth according to what it desires is not the work of the religious, nor is it the state of the faithful. God says, “Hast thou seen him who has taken his caprice as his god?” [25:43]. And that which you allot by divining arrows-that is ungodliness. Every transaction and companionship that does not go forth with the permission of the Shariah and in conformity with the religion, the goal being to obtain this world and what is desired by the soul, is nothing but gam- bling. Its form is deception and deceit, its result ungodliness and corruption, and its final outcome punishment and chastisement. Today I have perfected for you your religion and I have completed My blessings upon you. Jaʿfar ibn MuḤammad said that “today” is an allusion to the day when MuṣṬafā was sent to creation and the crown of messengerhood was placed on the head of his prophecy. The carpet of his Shariah was pulled around the world and the rug of mercy was spread out. The smoke of associationism was wrapped up in its own misfortune and the traces and remnants of unbelief were effaced and dissolved. From the four corners of world the sound of the drum of Muhammad the Arab's good fortune rose up: “The truth has come, and falsehood has vanished away” [17:81]. God bless the son of āmina, who brought him forth open-handed and generous. Say to those who hope for Ahmad's intercession, “Bless him and wish him great peace.” * O you whose visage is everyone's gazing place before you all have fallen in the road. O Venus of the months and moon of all, your beauty has taken away everyone's luster and rank! The night of mortal nature still did not exist when the sun of his prophethood was set firmly in place in the heaven of its loftiness, for “I was a prophet when Adam was between water and clay.” “O great one! Show your beauty, so all of existence may become a sun. O master! Open the oyster shell of mercy, so these destitute ones may fill their pockets with pearls. “Why don't you take that face to the idol-worshipers- why not display it and take the unbelief from their hearts? “O master, We will mention your innate beauty only within By thy life! [15:72].

(They ask thee (O Muhammad) what is made lawful for them�) [5:4]. Abu Bakr al-Harithi informed us> Abu�l-Shaykh al-Hafiz> Abu Yahya> Sahl ibn �Uthman> Yahya ibn Abi Za�idah> Musa ibn �Ubayda> Aban ibn Salih> al-Qa�qa� ibn Hakim> Salma Umm Rafi�> Abu Rafi� who said: �The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, commanded me to kill dogs. But people said: �O Messenger of Allah, what is made lawful for us from this community [of dogs] which we are commanded to kill?� And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (They ask thee (O Muhammad) what is made lawful for them. Say: (all) good things are made lawful for you. And those beasts and birds of prey)�. This was narrated by al-Hakim Abu �Abd Allah in his Sahih> Abu Bakr ibn Balawayh> Muhammad ibn Shadhan> Mu�alla ibn Mansur> Ibn Abi Za�idah. The commentators of the Qur�an said in explanation of this story: �Said Abu Rafi�: �Gabriel, peace be upon him, went to see the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, but did not enter in on the Prophet even though he was granted permission to enter. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, came out and said to him: �We have given you permission to enter, O Gabriel!� He said: �Yes, you have, O Messenger of Allah, except that we do not enter a house where there is a picture or a dog�. They looked around and found that there was a puppy in one of the rooms�. Abu Rafi� said: �The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, commanded me to kill every dog in Medina. I proceeded with the execution of the command until I reached al-�Awali where I found a woman who kept a dog for her protection. Out of compassion for her, I did not kill her dog. I went back to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and informed him of what had happened, and he commanded me to go back and kill it. I went back and killed it. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, commanded the killing of dogs, a group of people went to him and said: �O Messenger of Allah, What is lawful for us of this community that we have been commanded to kill?� The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, did not answer, and then Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse.

O you who have faith, when you stand for the prayer, wash your faces and your hands up to your elbows.... If you find no water, have recourse to goodly dust. Outward purity has three sections: First is purity after impurity. Second is purity after excretion and sexual activity. Third is purity from the sheddings of the body, such as nails, hair, dirt, and so on. Each of these three sections has an explanation and an explication, and these will be spoken of elsewhere, God willing. Inward purity has three duties: First, purity of the limbs from disobedience, such as back- biting, lying, eating the forbidden, betrayal, and looking at women illicitly. When this purity is gained, the servant is adorned with obedience and reverence. This is the degree of the faith of the pious. Its mark is that the remembrance of the Real is always on their tongue, the fruit of the prom- ise in their heart, the freshness of His favors in their spirit. They are always visiting the sick, going to cemeteries, hurrying to supplicate for good people, and reaching for paradise. The second duty is purity of the heart from unapproved character traits, such as self-admira- tion, envy, pride, hypocrisy, avarice, animosity, and frivolity. Self-admiration ruins the mirror of friendship, envy reduces the worth of people, pride darkens the mirror of the heart, hypocrisy dries up the wellspring of obedience, avarice puts aside respect for people, animosity blocks up the water of familiarity, and frivolity takes away the tent-pole of companionship. When the servant has be- come pure of these defilements, he is numbered among the godwary. His mark is that he flees from concessions, he does not cling to ambiguity, he is always fearful, trembling, and fleeing from hell; he is content with a morsel and a tattered cloak, he has put aside the world and the world's folk, and he has melted himself in the crucible of sorrow. Faith is his basis, godwariness his traveling sup- plies, the grave his way station, and the afterworld his goal. With all this, he constantly weeps with the tongue of pleading and says, “O God, everyone is upon something, but I don't know what I'm upon. I fear only the moment when who I am appears. O God, I am always talking and speaking. So long as You do not show Yourself I will be searching and seeking. Because of unsettledness I run in the field of incapacity. I'm in the midst of the work, but I smell no scent. O God, my mount has stood back, my feet are worn down, my fellow-travelers have gone, and nothing has increased except bewilderment.” I am bewildered in Thee, take my hand, O guide of those bewildered in Thee! The third duty is purity of the secret core from everything except the Real. God says, “Say 'God,' then leave them” [6:91]. This purity is their adornment today, for tomorrow the cup of pure wine [76:21] will be in their hand. Today the light of hope shines in their hearts, but tomorrow the light of face-to-face vision will shine in their spirits. Today in their yearning the liver's water flows from their eyes, but tomorrow contemplation's water will flow in the stream of gentle favor. Today the dawn of happiness has come up from the rising place of freedom, but tomorrow the sun of so- licitude will advance in the heaven of face-to-face seeing. The mark of this purity is that one washes away love for this world, effaces the tracks of hu- man nature, and burns the veils of dispersion, so the heart is joyful in the garden of intimacy, and the spirit is occupied with the Real in the seclusion of face-to-face vision. How well was it said by that chevalier! “At last will be a day then this drum will give forth a sound, and that Generous One will whisper in secret to the lover's spirit. What a wonderful work, what a marvelous bazaar! Here we have intimate togetherness without being the same in kind. Since there is no one of the same kind, what is this intimacy? Since there is no one like Him, what is this love? Since you have not seen Him, what is this incapacity? Since the wine is still in the grape, what is this existence? Since waiting is all tribulation, what is this happiness in the heart? Since the eye of the secret core is veiled from Him, what is this ecstasy like fire? Since this path is all trial, what is this enjoyment in the midst of trial?” Though Your ache has put me in the fire, how I will ache if Your ache ever leaves me! Wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows.

(O ye who believe! Remember Allah�s favour unto you, how a people were minded to stretch out their hands against you�) [5:11]. Sa�id ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Ja�far al-Mu�adhdhin informed us> Abu �Ali al-Faqih> Abu Lubabah Muhammad ibn al-Mahdi al-Mihani> �Ammar ibn al-Hasan> Salamah ibn al-Fadl> Muhammad ibn Ishaq> �Amr ibn �Ubayd> al-Hasan al-Basri> Jabir ibn �Abd Allah al-Ansari who related that a man from Muharib by the name of Ghawrath ibn al-Harith said to his people of Banu Ghatafan and Muharib: �Shall I kill Muhammad for you?� �Yes, but how are you going to do it?� they asked him. He said: �I will assassinate him!� This man then proceeded to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and found him sitting with his sword in his lap. He said: �O Muhammad, let me see this sword of yours�. He handed the sword over to him. The man took the sword out of its scabbard, moved it about but whenever he was on the point of striking the Prophet with it, Allah, glorious and majestic is He, restrained him. The man then said: �O Muhammad, are you not scared of me?� �No!� answered the Prophet. The man said: �You are not scared of me even though the sword is in my hand?� The Prophet said: �Allah will protect me from you�. The man put the sword back in its scabbard and gave it back to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, upon which Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Remember Allah�s favour unto you, how a people were minded to stretch out their hands against you�). Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Tha�labi informed us> �Abd Allah ibn Hamid> Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan> Muhammad ibn Yahya> �Abd al-Razzaq> Ma�mar> al-Zuhri> Abu Salamah> Jabir who reported that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, stopped by at a certain location and so people spread about to seek shade under the trees. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, hang his weapon on a tree and sat down to rest. A Bedouin came along, got hold of the sword belonging to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, turned to him and said: �Who will save you from me now?� The Prophet said: �Allah!� The Bedouin repeated the same question two or three times, and the answer of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, was always the same: �Allah!� The Bedouin then put the sword back in its scabbard.

(The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger�) [5:33]. Abu Nasr Ahmad ibn �Ubayd Allah al-Makhladi informed us> Abu �Amr ibn Nujayd> Muslim> �Abd al-Rahman ibn Hammad> Sa�id ibn Abi �Arubah> Qatadah> Anas who related that a group of people from �Ukal and �Uraynah went to see the Messenger of Allah, Allah, bless him and give him peace. They said: �O Messenger of Allah, we were never people of agriculture, and before we settled around Medina we used to be people who looked after cattle�. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, ordered that they be given a flock of camels, a shepherd and commanded them to set off with them, with a dispensation to drink their milk and urine. When they reached the region of al-Harrah, they killed the shepherd of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and took off with the camels. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, sent after them and when they were captured and brought to him, he cut off their hands and feet and gouged their eyes. They were left in this state in Medina until they died. Said Qatadah: �It was mentioned to us that this verse was revealed about them (The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger and strive after corruption in the land�)�. Narrated by Muslim from Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna from �Abd al-A�la from Sa�id up to the quotation of Qatadah.

O you who have faith! Be wary of God, and seek the means of approach to Him. And struggle in His path. Perhaps you will prosper. Here you have a call of generosity, here you have an address with gentleness, and here you have an arrangement to be applauded, sweet to the hearts. It is a cause of familiarity and an aid to clarity. It makes one secure from distance and permits response. He is saying, “O you who are the faith- ful. You have heard the message, bowed your heads, and approved of the intermediary. Be wary of God. Fear God, avoid His anger, and think about Him, for everything is from Him. Say: All is from God [4:78]. Who in the world is like Him in loving kindness and servant-caressing? The hope of the disobedient is in Him, the remedy for trials is with Him. No one has pride save in His name, no one has ease save through His mark. There is no deliverance and joining without His guidance and kind favor.” This is why He says, “Seek the means of approach to Him.” This is the means of nearness, and nearness is the cause of joining and deliverance. The means of approach is the intermediaries that mark the friendship between the servant and the Patron. The cause of the conjunction between the two is obvious. From what come union and conjunction? Revering the commands, respecting the prohibitions, tenderness towards people, serving the Real, striving in the various supererogatory acts, and building up the spirit and heart. Striving in the various supererogatory acts can be done with three things: first, remembering the gaze of God; second, keeping one's days away from damage; and third, recognizing one's pov- erty at the halting place of exposure. When you remember God's gaze, you are one of the godwary. When you keep your days away from damage, you are one of the worshipers. When you recognize your poverty at the halting place of exposure, you are one of the humble. One can build up the heart with three things: listening to knowledge, mixing little with people, and curtailing wishes. As long as you are listening to knowledge, you are in the circle of the an- gels. As long as you are apart from the people, you are counted among the sinless.

(As for the thief, both male and female, cut off their hands�) [5:38]. Said al-Kalbi: �This was revealed about Tu�mah ibn Ubayriq who stole an armour. His story has already been covered�.

(O Messenger! Let not them grieve thee who vie one with another in the race to disbelief�) [5:41-47]. Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Hiri informed us by dictation> Abu Muhammad, the chamberlain of Ibn Ahmad al-Tusi> Muhammad ibn Hammad al-Abiwardi> Abu Mu'awiyah> al-A'mash> 'Abd Allah ibn Murrah> al-Bara' ibn 'Azib who said: �One day, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, passed by a Jewish man who had just been flogged and had his face darkened with coal. He summoned the Jews and asked them: 'Is this what your Scripture decrees as punishment for the adulterer?' 'Yes!' they replied. He then summoned one of their doctors and asked him: 'I implore you by Allah who has sent the Torah to Moses, is this what your Scripture decrees as punishment for the adulterer'. He said: 'No! And if you had not implored me by Allah, I would not tell you. Our Scripture rules that the punishment of the adulterer is stoning. But it became widespread among our notables. Initially, when one of the notables committed adultery, we left him unpunished while we applied stoning on the communality in cases of adultery. Then we decided to look for a punishment that was applied on both the notables and communality of people. And so we agreed on darkening the face with coal and flogging to replace stoning'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'O Allah! I am the first to reapply your command after they had suspended it'. And he ordered that the Jewish man be stoned. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (O Messenger! Let not them grieve thee who vie one with another in the race to disbelief) up to His words (If this be given unto you, receive it�), they said: 'Go to Muhammad; if he directs you to flog the adulterer and darken his face with coal and apply flogging, then follow him. But do not follow him if he directs you to apply stoning on him'. Up to His words (Whoso judgeth not by that which Allah hath revealed: such are disbelievers) [5:44]. He said: 'This relates to the Jews'. Up to His words (Whoso judgeth not by that which Allah hath revealed: such are wrong-doers) [5:45]. He said: 'This relates to the Christians'.

(O Messenger! Let not them grieve thee who vie one with another in the race to disbelief�) [5:41-47]. Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Hiri informed us by dictation> Abu Muhammad, the chamberlain of Ibn Ahmad al-Tusi> Muhammad ibn Hammad al-Abiwardi> Abu Mu'awiyah> al-A'mash> 'Abd Allah ibn Murrah> al-Bara' ibn 'Azib who said: �One day, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, passed by a Jewish man who had just been flogged and had his face darkened with coal. He summoned the Jews and asked them: 'Is this what your Scripture decrees as punishment for the adulterer?' 'Yes!' they replied. He then summoned one of their doctors and asked him: 'I implore you by Allah who has sent the Torah to Moses, is this what your Scripture decrees as punishment for the adulterer'. He said: 'No! And if you had not implored me by Allah, I would not tell you. Our Scripture rules that the punishment of the adulterer is stoning. But it became widespread among our notables. Initially, when one of the notables committed adultery, we left him unpunished while we applied stoning on the communality in cases of adultery. Then we decided to look for a punishment that was applied on both the notables and communality of people. And so we agreed on darkening the face with coal and flogging to replace stoning'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'O Allah! I am the first to reapply your command after they had suspended it'. And he ordered that the Jewish man be stoned. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (O Messenger! Let not them grieve thee who vie one with another in the race to disbelief) up to His words (If this be given unto you, receive it�), they said: 'Go to Muhammad; if he directs you to flog the adulterer and darken his face with coal and apply flogging, then follow him. But do not follow him if he directs you to apply stoning on him'. Up to His words (Whoso judgeth not by that which Allah hath revealed: such are disbelievers) [5:44]. He said: 'This relates to the Jews'. Up to His words (Whoso judgeth not by that which Allah hath revealed: such are wrong-doers) [5:45]. He said: 'This relates to the Christians'.

(O Messenger! Let not them grieve thee who vie one with another in the race to disbelief�) [5:41-47]. Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Hiri informed us by dictation> Abu Muhammad, the chamberlain of Ibn Ahmad al-Tusi> Muhammad ibn Hammad al-Abiwardi> Abu Mu'awiyah> al-A'mash> 'Abd Allah ibn Murrah> al-Bara' ibn 'Azib who said: �One day, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, passed by a Jewish man who had just been flogged and had his face darkened with coal. He summoned the Jews and asked them: 'Is this what your Scripture decrees as punishment for the adulterer?' 'Yes!' they replied. He then summoned one of their doctors and asked him: 'I implore you by Allah who has sent the Torah to Moses, is this what your Scripture decrees as punishment for the adulterer'. He said: 'No! And if you had not implored me by Allah, I would not tell you. Our Scripture rules that the punishment of the adulterer is stoning. But it became widespread among our notables. Initially, when one of the notables committed adultery, we left him unpunished while we applied stoning on the communality in cases of adultery. Then we decided to look for a punishment that was applied on both the notables and communality of people. And so we agreed on darkening the face with coal and flogging to replace stoning'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'O Allah! I am the first to reapply your command after they had suspended it'. And he ordered that the Jewish man be stoned. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (O Messenger! Let not them grieve thee who vie one with another in the race to disbelief) up to His words (If this be given unto you, receive it�), they said: 'Go to Muhammad; if he directs you to flog the adulterer and darken his face with coal and apply flogging, then follow him. But do not follow him if he directs you to apply stoning on him'. Up to His words (Whoso judgeth not by that which Allah hath revealed: such are disbelievers) [5:44]. He said: 'This relates to the Jews'. Up to His words (Whoso judgeth not by that which Allah hath revealed: such are wrong-doers) [5:45]. He said: 'This relates to the Christians'.

(O Messenger! Let not them grieve thee who vie one with another in the race to disbelief�) [5:41-47]. Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Hiri informed us by dictation> Abu Muhammad, the chamberlain of Ibn Ahmad al-Tusi> Muhammad ibn Hammad al-Abiwardi> Abu Mu'awiyah> al-A'mash> 'Abd Allah ibn Murrah> al-Bara' ibn 'Azib who said: �One day, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, passed by a Jewish man who had just been flogged and had his face darkened with coal. He summoned the Jews and asked them: 'Is this what your Scripture decrees as punishment for the adulterer?' 'Yes!' they replied. He then summoned one of their doctors and asked him: 'I implore you by Allah who has sent the Torah to Moses, is this what your Scripture decrees as punishment for the adulterer'. He said: 'No! And if you had not implored me by Allah, I would not tell you. Our Scripture rules that the punishment of the adulterer is stoning. But it became widespread among our notables. Initially, when one of the notables committed adultery, we left him unpunished while we applied stoning on the communality in cases of adultery. Then we decided to look for a punishment that was applied on both the notables and communality of people. And so we agreed on darkening the face with coal and flogging to replace stoning'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'O Allah! I am the first to reapply your command after they had suspended it'. And he ordered that the Jewish man be stoned. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (O Messenger! Let not them grieve thee who vie one with another in the race to disbelief) up to His words (If this be given unto you, receive it�), they said: 'Go to Muhammad; if he directs you to flog the adulterer and darken his face with coal and apply flogging, then follow him. But do not follow him if he directs you to apply stoning on him'. Up to His words (Whoso judgeth not by that which Allah hath revealed: such are disbelievers) [5:44]. He said: 'This relates to the Jews'. Up to His words (Whoso judgeth not by that which Allah hath revealed: such are wrong-doers) [5:45]. He said: 'This relates to the Christians'.

(O Messenger! Let not them grieve thee who vie one with another in the race to disbelief�) [5:41-47]. Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Hiri informed us by dictation> Abu Muhammad, the chamberlain of Ibn Ahmad al-Tusi> Muhammad ibn Hammad al-Abiwardi> Abu Mu'awiyah> al-A'mash> 'Abd Allah ibn Murrah> al-Bara' ibn 'Azib who said: �One day, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, passed by a Jewish man who had just been flogged and had his face darkened with coal. He summoned the Jews and asked them: 'Is this what your Scripture decrees as punishment for the adulterer?' 'Yes!' they replied. He then summoned one of their doctors and asked him: 'I implore you by Allah who has sent the Torah to Moses, is this what your Scripture decrees as punishment for the adulterer'. He said: 'No! And if you had not implored me by Allah, I would not tell you. Our Scripture rules that the punishment of the adulterer is stoning. But it became widespread among our notables. Initially, when one of the notables committed adultery, we left him unpunished while we applied stoning on the communality in cases of adultery. Then we decided to look for a punishment that was applied on both the notables and communality of people. And so we agreed on darkening the face with coal and flogging to replace stoning'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'O Allah! I am the first to reapply your command after they had suspended it'. And he ordered that the Jewish man be stoned. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (O Messenger! Let not them grieve thee who vie one with another in the race to disbelief) up to His words (If this be given unto you, receive it�), they said: 'Go to Muhammad; if he directs you to flog the adulterer and darken his face with coal and apply flogging, then follow him. But do not follow him if he directs you to apply stoning on him'. Up to His words (Whoso judgeth not by that which Allah hath revealed: such are disbelievers) [5:44]. He said: 'This relates to the Jews'. Up to His words (Whoso judgeth not by that which Allah hath revealed: such are wrong-doers) [5:45]. He said: 'This relates to the Christians'.

(O Messenger! Let not them grieve thee who vie one with another in the race to disbelief�) [5:41-47]. Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Hiri informed us by dictation> Abu Muhammad, the chamberlain of Ibn Ahmad al-Tusi> Muhammad ibn Hammad al-Abiwardi> Abu Mu'awiyah> al-A'mash> 'Abd Allah ibn Murrah> al-Bara' ibn 'Azib who said: �One day, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, passed by a Jewish man who had just been flogged and had his face darkened with coal. He summoned the Jews and asked them: 'Is this what your Scripture decrees as punishment for the adulterer?' 'Yes!' they replied. He then summoned one of their doctors and asked him: 'I implore you by Allah who has sent the Torah to Moses, is this what your Scripture decrees as punishment for the adulterer'. He said: 'No! And if you had not implored me by Allah, I would not tell you. Our Scripture rules that the punishment of the adulterer is stoning. But it became widespread among our notables. Initially, when one of the notables committed adultery, we left him unpunished while we applied stoning on the communality in cases of adultery. Then we decided to look for a punishment that was applied on both the notables and communality of people. And so we agreed on darkening the face with coal and flogging to replace stoning'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'O Allah! I am the first to reapply your command after they had suspended it'. And he ordered that the Jewish man be stoned. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (O Messenger! Let not them grieve thee who vie one with another in the race to disbelief) up to His words (If this be given unto you, receive it�), they said: 'Go to Muhammad; if he directs you to flog the adulterer and darken his face with coal and apply flogging, then follow him. But do not follow him if he directs you to apply stoning on him'. Up to His words (Whoso judgeth not by that which Allah hath revealed: such are disbelievers) [5:44]. He said: 'This relates to the Jews'. Up to His words (Whoso judgeth not by that which Allah hath revealed: such are wrong-doers) [5:45]. He said: 'This relates to the Christians'.

(O Messenger! Let not them grieve thee who vie one with another in the race to disbelief�) [5:41-47]. Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Hiri informed us by dictation> Abu Muhammad, the chamberlain of Ibn Ahmad al-Tusi> Muhammad ibn Hammad al-Abiwardi> Abu Mu'awiyah> al-A'mash> 'Abd Allah ibn Murrah> al-Bara' ibn 'Azib who said: �One day, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, passed by a Jewish man who had just been flogged and had his face darkened with coal. He summoned the Jews and asked them: 'Is this what your Scripture decrees as punishment for the adulterer?' 'Yes!' they replied. He then summoned one of their doctors and asked him: 'I implore you by Allah who has sent the Torah to Moses, is this what your Scripture decrees as punishment for the adulterer'. He said: 'No! And if you had not implored me by Allah, I would not tell you. Our Scripture rules that the punishment of the adulterer is stoning. But it became widespread among our notables. Initially, when one of the notables committed adultery, we left him unpunished while we applied stoning on the communality in cases of adultery. Then we decided to look for a punishment that was applied on both the notables and communality of people. And so we agreed on darkening the face with coal and flogging to replace stoning'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'O Allah! I am the first to reapply your command after they had suspended it'. And he ordered that the Jewish man be stoned. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (O Messenger! Let not them grieve thee who vie one with another in the race to disbelief) up to His words (If this be given unto you, receive it�), they said: 'Go to Muhammad; if he directs you to flog the adulterer and darken his face with coal and apply flogging, then follow him. But do not follow him if he directs you to apply stoning on him'. Up to His words (Whoso judgeth not by that which Allah hath revealed: such are disbelievers) [5:44]. He said: 'This relates to the Jews'. Up to His words (Whoso judgeth not by that which Allah hath revealed: such are wrong-doers) [5:45]. He said: 'This relates to the Christians'.

For every one of you We have appointed an avenue and a method.... So vie in good deeds. The avenue is the Shariah, and the method is the Haqiqah. The avenue is the customs of the Sha- riah and the method is the road toward the Real. The avenue is what MuṣṬafā brought, and the method is a lamp that the Real holds next to the heart. The avenue is following the Shariah, and the method is finding access to the light of that lamp. The avenue is the message that you heard from the Messenger, and the method is the light that you find in the secret core. The Shariah belongs to everyone, and the Haqiqah belongs to some rather than others. So vie in good deeds. The vying of the renouncers is through rejecting this world, the vying of the worshipers is through cutting off caprice, the vying of the recognizers is through negating wishes, and the vying of the tawḤīd-voicers is through abandoning people and forgetting both this world and the afterworld.

(So judge between them by that which Allah hath revealed�) [5:49]. Said Ibn �Abbas: �A group of Jews which included Ka�b ibn Asad, �Abd Allah ibn Suriya and Shas ibn Qays said to each other: �Let us go to Muhammad lest we seduce him from his religion�. When they went to him, they said: �O Muhammad, you know that we are the rabbis and nobles of the Jews, and if we were to follow you, the Jews will follow us without objection. We will believe in you and confirm your message in exchange for a favour: we have a dispute with some people and we want you to judge in our favour against them�. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, refused to do so, and Allah, exalted is He, revealed about them (� but beware of them lest they seduce thee from some part of that which Allah hath revealed unto thee�)�.

O you who have faith, take not the Jews and Christians as friends. They are friends of each other. Whoso of you takes them as a friend is one of them. Surely God does not guide the wrongdoers. The majestic compeller, the great Lord, the knower to perfection, the exalted Possessor of Maj- esty, calls to His servants with a call of generosity. By way of gentleness He caresses them and in the attribute of clemency and mercy He turns the faces of their hearts away from others toward Himself. He is saying, “Do not take the stranger as friend, and do not approve of the enemy for your companionship. When you take a friend and take a companion, approve of him for the sake of God. Take the friend in God's work and approve of the companion in God's religion. When you seek the realities of faith, seek them from friendship with God's friends and enmity with the enemies of the religion.” MuṣṬafā said, “The firmest handle of faith is love in God and hate in God.” The enemies of the religion whose enmity is obligatory are first Satan, and second the com- manding soul. The soul is harder than Satan, for Satan does not go after the faith of the faithful, but rather their disobedience. The soul, however, pulls him to unbelief and wants his unbelief. Satan flees from [the formula] “There is no power and no strength but in God,” but the soul does not flee. Joseph the sincerely truthful suffered many trials-he was thrown into the well, sold into slav- ery, and remained in prison for years-but he never lamented the way he did at the commanding soul: “Surely the soul commands to ugliness” [12:53]. MuṣṬafā said, “Your worst enemy is the soul between your two sides.”

O you who have faith, if any of you turn back on your religion, God will bring a people whom He loves, and who love Him. This verse contains an allusion for the knowers and good news for the faithful. The allusion is that God is the guardian and defender of the creed of submission, the unswerving religion, the Muhammadan Shariah, and that it will always remain. What will this religion lose if some people turn away? If some people turn back, the Lord of Mightiness will bring others who embrace this religion with spirit and heart and nurture it joyfully. With them God will preserve the signposts of His commands and the foundations of His prohibitions. With their places He will decorate the carpet of the Shariah. Upon them He has inscribed the letters of love, for He says, “whom He loves, and who love Him.” Upon the page of their hearts He has written with the divine script: He wrote faith in their hearts [58:22]. He has illuminated their inmost eye with the lamp of recognition: So he is upon a light from his Lord [39:22]. The Divinity is their nurturer, the lap of prophethood their cradle, beginninglessness and endlessless their warders, the playing field of gentleness the lodge of their gaze, and the carpet of awe the resting place of their aspiration. This is just what God says in another place: “So if they disbelieve, we have already entrusted it to a people who do not disbe- lieve” [6:89]. The Prophet said, “A group among my people will never cease supporting the Real. None who oppose them will harm them, and then God's command will come.” The good news is that whoever does not turn back is counted among the friends, the folk of love and faith. Those who do not fall into the abyss of turning back have the good news that the name of love will fall upon them. God says, “If any of you turn back on your religion, God will bring a people whom He loves, and who love Him.” First He affirms His love, then the servants' love. Thus you know that so long as God does not love the servant, the servant will not love. WāsiṬī said, “Gehenna was nullified when He mentioned His love for them with His words, 'Whom He loves, and who love Him. ' What do defective attributes have to do with beginningless and endless attributes?” Ibn ʿAṬāÌ was asked what love is. He said, “Branches that grow in the heart and give fruit in the measure of intellect.” The Pir of the Tariqah said, “The sign of finding friendship's response is approval, the water of friendship increases through loyalty, the basis of friendship's treasure is light, the fruit of friend- ship's tree is joy. Whoever fails to keep away from the two worlds is excused from friendship. Whoever seeks from the Friend something other than the Friend is ungrateful. Friendship is friend- ship for God, all the rest disquiet.” Whom He loves, and who love Him. A great work and a magnificent bazaar rose up in water and clay and became the kiblah of the Real's friendship and the target of union's arrow. How could the traveler not be delighted that friendship is the nearest way station to the Protector? The tree that produces only the fruit of joy is friendship, the soil that grows nothing but the flowers of intimacy is friendship, the cloud that rains nothing but light is friendship, the drink whose poison turns into honey is friendship, the road whose dust is musk and ambergris is friendship. Friendship's inscrip- tion is beginningless, and friendship's burning brand endless. When the Friend's friendship is my habit and disposition, I am all from the Friend, and all of me is the Friend. Behold how long friendship's good fortune lasts! Listen how fitting is the tale of the friends! The field of friendship is a vast heart, and the kingdom of paradise is one branch of friendship's tree. He who drinks friendship's wine is promised vision. Whoever is truthful will one day reach his desire. God revealed to David, “O David, he who seeks Me will in truth find Me, but how can those who seek others find Me? “O David, tell the people of the earth, 'Turn toward companionship and intimacy with Me! Become intimate with My remembrance! Then I will be your heart's intimate.' “I have created the clay of my friends from the clay of My bosom friend Abraham, from the clay of My speaking companion Moses, and from the clay of My beloved MuḤammad. “O David, I have created the hearts of those who yearn for Me from My light and nurtured them with My majesty.

Your friend is only God, and His Messenger. Abū Saʿīd Kharrāz said, " When God desires to take one of His servants as a friend, He opens for him the door to His remembrance. When he takes pleasure in the remembrance, He opens for him the door to proximity. Then He lifts him up to the sitting place of intimacy. Then He seats him on the throne of tawḤīd. Then He lifts the veils from him, puts him into the abode of solitariness, and unveils majesty and tremendousness to him. When his eyesight falls on majesty and tremendous- ness, he remains without himself. At this point he becomes a servant in annihilation, so he falls under His protection and is rid of the claims of his soul. " Abū Saʿīd is saying, " When God wants to choose a servant and make him His friend among His servants, the first caress that He places upon him is to keep him in His remembrance such that he turns away from his own work toward the Real's work and turns away from remember- ing himself to remembering the Real. He comes forth from love for himself to love for the Real. Once he is at rest in remembering and loving the Real, He brings him near to Himself. The mark of nearness is the sweetness of obedience, dislike of disobedience, retiring from the people, and pleasure in seclusion. Then He sits him in the sitting place of seclusion, on the carpet of inti- macy, on the throne of tawḤīd, free of creatures, happy with the Real, unsettled in passion, the veils lifted, brought into the playing field of solitariness, with majesty and tremendousness un- veiled. He is a stranger to himself, one with the Real, consumed within himself, having reached the Patron. " He keeps on saying, " With reports I went forth seeking certainty, fear my resource, hope my companion. The goal was hidden from me and I was striving in the religion. All at once the lightning of self-disclosure flashed from ambush. With thought they see days like that, with the Friend like this. " Listen with your spirit to these words spoken beautifully by the Pir of the Tariqah: " O most generous supervisor! O most merciful Fount of Bounty! O veiled by majesty and disclosed by generosity, apportioner before Tablet and Pen, displayer of the celebration of guidance after a thousand misfortunes! May I be delivered one day from the bother of Eve and Adam and be freed from the bonds of existence and nonexistence! May I remove this remorse and regret from my heart and take ease with the Beloved for a breath, the cup of happiness in hand again and again in the sitting place of intimacy! " How long talk of Adam's attributes and creation? How long debate about the world's time and eternity? How long ambushing the servants, how long not disowning the world and Adam?

(O Ye who believe! Choose not for guardians such of those who received the Scripture before you, and of the disbelievers, as make a jest and sport of your religion) [5:57]. Said Ibn �Abbas: �Rifa�ah ibn Zayd and Suwayd ibn al-Harith were among those who displayed their faith in Islam but were hypocrites. Some Muslim men used to show affection to them, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�.

(And when ye call to prayer they take it for a jest and sport�) [5:58]. Said al-Kalbi: �When the caller to prayer, appointed by the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, called to prayer, the Muslims stood up to perform it. Seeing this, the Jews used to comment: 'they stood up, may they never stand up! They prayed, may they never pray! They bowed down, may they never bow down!' They used to say this to mock the Muslims and make fun of them. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�. Said al-Suddi: �This was revealed about a man from the helpers of Medina. Whenever he heard the caller to prayer say, 'I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah', he would say: 'May the liar be burnt!' One night, the servant of this man entered his house and brought some fire with him, while this man and his family were sleeping. A spark from this fire caused the whole house to burn down with the man and his family in it�. Other commentators said: �When the disbelievers heard the call to prayer, they resentfully envied the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and the Muslims for it. They said: 'O Muhammad, you have innovated something that we have never heard of amongst bygone nations. If you claim prophethood, then you have gone against the prophets who came before you with this matter that you have innovated. Had there been any good in this matter, the prophets and messengers before you would have had a better right to it. So from where did you get this cry which resembles the cry of camels? What an ugly sound and what a revolting disbelief!' And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse (And who is better in speech than him who prayeth unto his Lord and doeth right, and saith: Lo! I am of those who surrender (unto Him)) [41:33]�.

(Say: O People of the Scripture! Do ye blame us for aught else than that we believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed aforetime, and because most of you are evil-livers?) [5:59]. Said Ibn �Abbas: �A group of Jews went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and asked him about the messengers he believed in. He replied: �I believe (� in Allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed unto Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received, and that which the Prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered) [2:136]�. But when he mentioned Jesus, they rejected his prophethood and said: �By Allah, we know of no adherents of any religion who are less lucky in this world and the next than you; nor do we know of any other religion which is more evil than yours. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (Say: O People of the Scripture! Do ye blame us for aught else than that we believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us) up to His words (and because most of you are evil-livers?)� �.

O Messenger! Make known that which hath been revealed unto thee from thy Lord�) [5:67]. Said al-Hasan: �The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: �When Allah, exalted is He, sent me as His message, I felt oppressed by it, for I knew that some people will give me the lie�. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was apprehensive of the Quraysh, Jews and Christians, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�. Abu Sa�id Muhammad ibn �Ali al-Saffar informed us> al-Hasan ibn Ahmad al-Makhladi> Muhammad ibn Hamdun ibn Khalid> Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Halwani> al-Hasan ibn Hammad Sijjadah> �Ali ibn �Abis> al-A�mash> Abu�l-Hajjab> �Atiyyah> Abu Sa�id al-Khudri who said: �This verse (O Messenger! Make known that which hath been revealed unto thee from thy Lord�) was revealed on the day of �Ghadir Khumm� about �Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be well pleased with him�. (Allah will protect thee from mankind) [5:67]. Said �A�ishah, may Allah be well pleased with her: �The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, stayed up one night and so I said: �What�s the matter, O Messenger of Allah?� He said: �Is there not any righteous man who would stand to watch over us tonight?� Then we heard commotion caused by arms and the Messenger of Allah asked: �Who�s there?� �It is Sa�d and Hudhayfah, we have come to keep watch over you�, came the response. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, went to sleep, and he slept so deep that I heard his snoring; this verse was then revealed. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, then popped his head out of the collar of his garment and said: �O people, you can leave, for Allah has protected me� �. Isma�il ibn Ibrahim al-Wa�iz informed us> Isma�il ibn Nujayd> Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Khalil> Muhammad ibn al-�Ala�> al-Himmani> al-Nadr> �Ikrimah> Ibn �Abbas who said: �The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, used to be guarded. Abu Talib used to send every day men from the Banu Hashim to guard him until this verse was revealed (O Messenger! Make known that which hath been revealed unto thee from thy Lord) up to His words (Allah will protect thee from mankind). And so when his uncle wanted to send with him people to protect him, he said: �O uncle! Indeed Allah has protected me from the jinn and humans� �.

(Thou wilt find the most vehement of mankind in hostility to those who believe (to be) the Jews) up to His words (But those who disbelieve and deny Our revelations, they are owners of hell-fire) [5:82-86]. These verses were revealed about the Negus and his followers. Said Ibn �Abbas: �When he was in Mecca, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, used to fear the idolaters� persecution of his Companions. He therefore sent Ja�far ibn Abi Talib and �Abd Allah ibn Mas�ud, at the head of a group of his Companions, to the Negus. He said: �The Negus is a righteous man; he is not an oppressor and none is oppressed in his dominion. So head toward him and remain there until Allah creates relief for the Muslims�. When they went to him, the Negus honoured them and then asked them: �Do you memorise anything of that which was revealed to you?� They answered in the affirmative and then recited to him [some Qur�an,] with monks and priests surrounding him. Whenever they read a verse, the tears rolled down their cheeks due to the truth which they recognized. Allah, exalted is He, says: (That is because there are among them priests and monks, and because they are not proud)�. Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Farisi informed us> Muhammad ibn �Abd Allah ibn Hamdun ibn al-Fadl> Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan> Muhammad ibn Yahya> Abu Salih, the scribe of al-Layth> al-Layth> Yunus> Ibn Shihab> Sa�id ibn al-Musayyab and �Urwah ibn al-Zubayr as well as others who said: �The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, sent �Amr ibn Umayyah al-Damri with a message to the Negus. The latter read the message of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and then called Ja�far ibn Abi Talib and all the Emigrants with him and he also invited priests and monks to the assembly. He ordered Ja�far ibn Abi Talib to recite to them from the Qur�an, and he read Surah Maryam, peace be upon her. They believed in the Qur�an and tears flowed from their eyes. It is about them that Allah, exalted is He, revealed (And thou wilt find the nearest of them in affection to those who believe (to be) those who say: Lo! We are Christians) up to His words (Inscribe us as among the witnesses)�.

And when they hear what has been sent down to the Messenger, thou seest their eyes over- flow with tears because of the truth they recognize. They say, “Our Lord, we have faith, so write us down among the witnesses.” This verse alludes to the fact that faith is to be heard, seen, recognized, spoken, and done. They hear is evidence that it is to be heard. Thou seest their eyes overflow with tears is evidence that it is to be seen. Because of the truth they recognize is evidence that it is to be recognized. They say is evidence that it is to be spoken. Then, at the end of the verse, He says “That is the recompense of the beautiful-doers” [5:85]. Beautiful-doers is evidence that its deeds are to be done. He began with hearing because first there is hearing. The servant hears the truth, it makes him happy, he accepts it, he comes into work, and he acts upon it. The Lord of the Worlds is pleased with the group in whom all these traits are found. It has been said that three things are the marks of recognition, and that this group has all three to perfection: weeping, supplication, and approval-weeping for disloyalty, supplication for be- stowal, and approval of the decree. Anyone who claims to have recognition and does not have these traits is not truthful in his claim, is not counted among the recognizers, and has no standing among the chevaliers and the religious. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “Recognition is two: the recognition of the common people and the recognition of the elect. The recognition of the common people is by hearsay, and the recogni- tion of the elect is by face-to-face vision. The recognition of the common people comes from the source of munificence, but the recognition of the elect comes from what they find.” Concerning the recognition of the common people He says, “When they hear what has been sent down to the Messenger.” Concerning the recognition of the elect He says, “He will show you His signs, and you will recognize them” [27:93]. When they hear is praise of the folk of the Shariah, and He shall show you His signs is a felici- tation for the folk of the Haqiqah. When someone speaks of the Shariah and turns his back in any respect, he becomes a heretic. When someone speaks of the Haqiqah and looks at himself in any respect, he becomes an associater.

(Thou wilt find the most vehement of mankind in hostility to those who believe (to be) the Jews) up to His words (But those who disbelieve and deny Our revelations, they are owners of hell-fire) [5:82-86]. These verses were revealed about the Negus and his followers. Said Ibn �Abbas: �When he was in Mecca, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, used to fear the idolaters� persecution of his Companions. He therefore sent Ja�far ibn Abi Talib and �Abd Allah ibn Mas�ud, at the head of a group of his Companions, to the Negus. He said: �The Negus is a righteous man; he is not an oppressor and none is oppressed in his dominion. So head toward him and remain there until Allah creates relief for the Muslims�. When they went to him, the Negus honoured them and then asked them: �Do you memorise anything of that which was revealed to you?� They answered in the affirmative and then recited to him [some Qur�an,] with monks and priests surrounding him. Whenever they read a verse, the tears rolled down their cheeks due to the truth which they recognized. Allah, exalted is He, says: (That is because there are among them priests and monks, and because they are not proud)�. Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Farisi informed us> Muhammad ibn �Abd Allah ibn Hamdun ibn al-Fadl> Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan> Muhammad ibn Yahya> Abu Salih, the scribe of al-Layth> al-Layth> Yunus> Ibn Shihab> Sa�id ibn al-Musayyab and �Urwah ibn al-Zubayr as well as others who said: �The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, sent �Amr ibn Umayyah al-Damri with a message to the Negus. The latter read the message of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and then called Ja�far ibn Abi Talib and all the Emigrants with him and he also invited priests and monks to the assembly. He ordered Ja�far ibn Abi Talib to recite to them from the Qur�an, and he read Surah Maryam, peace be upon her. They believed in the Qur�an and tears flowed from their eyes. It is about them that Allah, exalted is He, revealed (And thou wilt find the nearest of them in affection to those who believe (to be) those who say: Lo! We are Christians) up to His words (Inscribe us as among the witnesses)�.

(Thou wilt find the most vehement of mankind in hostility to those who believe (to be) the Jews) up to His words (But those who disbelieve and deny Our revelations, they are owners of hell-fire) [5:82-86]. These verses were revealed about the Negus and his followers. Said Ibn �Abbas: �When he was in Mecca, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, used to fear the idolaters� persecution of his Companions. He therefore sent Ja�far ibn Abi Talib and �Abd Allah ibn Mas�ud, at the head of a group of his Companions, to the Negus. He said: �The Negus is a righteous man; he is not an oppressor and none is oppressed in his dominion. So head toward him and remain there until Allah creates relief for the Muslims�. When they went to him, the Negus honoured them and then asked them: �Do you memorise anything of that which was revealed to you?� They answered in the affirmative and then recited to him [some Qur�an,] with monks and priests surrounding him. Whenever they read a verse, the tears rolled down their cheeks due to the truth which they recognized. Allah, exalted is He, says: (That is because there are among them priests and monks, and because they are not proud)�. Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Farisi informed us> Muhammad ibn �Abd Allah ibn Hamdun ibn al-Fadl> Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan> Muhammad ibn Yahya> Abu Salih, the scribe of al-Layth> al-Layth> Yunus> Ibn Shihab> Sa�id ibn al-Musayyab and �Urwah ibn al-Zubayr as well as others who said: �The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, sent �Amr ibn Umayyah al-Damri with a message to the Negus. The latter read the message of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and then called Ja�far ibn Abi Talib and all the Emigrants with him and he also invited priests and monks to the assembly. He ordered Ja�far ibn Abi Talib to recite to them from the Qur�an, and he read Surah Maryam, peace be upon her. They believed in the Qur�an and tears flowed from their eyes. It is about them that Allah, exalted is He, revealed (And thou wilt find the nearest of them in affection to those who believe (to be) those who say: Lo! We are Christians) up to His words (Inscribe us as among the witnesses)�.

(Thou wilt find the most vehement of mankind in hostility to those who believe (to be) the Jews) up to His words (But those who disbelieve and deny Our revelations, they are owners of hell-fire) [5:82-86]. These verses were revealed about the Negus and his followers. Said Ibn �Abbas: �When he was in Mecca, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, used to fear the idolaters� persecution of his Companions. He therefore sent Ja�far ibn Abi Talib and �Abd Allah ibn Mas�ud, at the head of a group of his Companions, to the Negus. He said: �The Negus is a righteous man; he is not an oppressor and none is oppressed in his dominion. So head toward him and remain there until Allah creates relief for the Muslims�. When they went to him, the Negus honoured them and then asked them: �Do you memorise anything of that which was revealed to you?� They answered in the affirmative and then recited to him [some Qur�an,] with monks and priests surrounding him. Whenever they read a verse, the tears rolled down their cheeks due to the truth which they recognized. Allah, exalted is He, says: (That is because there are among them priests and monks, and because they are not proud)�. Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Farisi informed us> Muhammad ibn �Abd Allah ibn Hamdun ibn al-Fadl> Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan> Muhammad ibn Yahya> Abu Salih, the scribe of al-Layth> al-Layth> Yunus> Ibn Shihab> Sa�id ibn al-Musayyab and �Urwah ibn al-Zubayr as well as others who said: �The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, sent �Amr ibn Umayyah al-Damri with a message to the Negus. The latter read the message of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and then called Ja�far ibn Abi Talib and all the Emigrants with him and he also invited priests and monks to the assembly. He ordered Ja�far ibn Abi Talib to recite to them from the Qur�an, and he read Surah Maryam, peace be upon her. They believed in the Qur�an and tears flowed from their eyes. It is about them that Allah, exalted is He, revealed (And thou wilt find the nearest of them in affection to those who believe (to be) those who say: Lo! We are Christians) up to His words (Inscribe us as among the witnesses)�.

(O ye who believe! Forbid not the good things which Allah hath made lawful for you�) [5:87]. Abu 'Uthman ibn 'Amr al-Mu'adhdhin informed us> Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Hamdan> al-Husayn ibn Nasr ibn Sufyan> Ishaq ibn Mansur> Abu 'Asim> 'Uthman ibn Sa'id>> 'Ikrimah> Ibn 'Abbas who related that a man went to see the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: �I have forbidden meat on myself because whenever I eat it I feel the urge to sleep with women�, and so the verse (O ye who believe! Forbid not the good things which Allah hath made lawful for you) and also (Eat of that which Allah hath bestowed on you as food lawful and good�) [5:88]. The commentators of the Qur'an said: �The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, sat down one day and gave an admonition to people whereby he described the Day of Judgement to them and did not mention anything other than things which would instil fear in them. People cried as a result of the softening of their hearts. Then ten of the prophetic Companions gathered in the house of 'Uthman ibn Maz'un al-Jumahi. They included Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, 'Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud, 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr, Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, Salim, the client of Abu Hudhayfah, al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad, Salman al-Farisi and Ma'qil ibn Muqarrin. They agreed to fast the day and stand in prayer at night, never to sleep in their beds, eat meat or fat, never to sleep with their wives or use perfume. They also agreed to wear coarse wool garments, reject the worldly life, wander through the land and become monks, and cut off their male organs. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, heard of this, he gathered them and said: 'I was informed that you agreed to do such-and-such things, is this true?' They said: 'It is, but we only meant to do good'. He said to them: 'I was not commanded to do those things, and your own selves have a right over you. Fast and break fast, stand in prayer at night and sleep, for I stand in prayer at night but I also sleep; I sometimes fast and sometimes do not; I eat meat and fat.

God will not take you to task for idle talk in your oaths, but He will take you to task for the oaths you have bound. The expiation thereof is the feeding of ten indigent people with what you usually feed your own family, or clothing them, or freeing a slave. When overpowered by ecstasy the chevaliers of the Tariqah sometimes swear oaths renewing the covenant and affirming the compact. They say things like, “By your rightful due, I will not gaze at other than You, I will not speak to other than You, and I will not leave Your covenant!” By virtue of tawḤīd these oaths are idle talk and negligence in the witnessing of Unity. How can it be the servant's place to give himself worth, to fancy that he is someone, or to consider his own words to have such status that he can swear an oath to Him? Rather, what is fitting for the servant is to welcome His rulings with beautiful approval. Whether He summons or drives away, he should not protest and not turn away. He should not speak of the realities of union and separation. He should take what He gives, and accept what comes. He should know that in reality it is He who is lovingly kind to perfection and it is He who determines and governs in every state. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O closer to us than ourselves, O more lovingly kind to us than ourselves, O caresser of us without us by Your generosity-not because of our worthiness, not because of our works. The burden is beyond our capacity, the practice not proper to us, the favor not within our ability. Whatever we have done has damaged us, whatever You have done subsists for us. Whatever You have done in our place You have done by Yourself, not for our sake.” Expiation in the Shariah is well-known to the folk of knowledge-freeing slaves, feeding people, and clothing them. So also, in the tongue of allusion, expiation in the Tariqah is of three sorts: expending the spirit by virtue of ecstasy, expending the heart in the soundness of intention, and expending the soul by constant effort. If you are not able to do this, then abstain and fast from prohibited and blamable things.

O you who have faith! Wine, arrow-shuffling, idols, and divining arrows are a filth and of the deeds of Satan. The Prophet said, “Wine is the gatherer of sin and the mother of loathsome things”: Wine is the root of loathsome things and the key to great sins, the basis of misdeeds, the seed of misguided acts, and the source of discord. It dries up the springhead of obedience, holds back the water of remembrance, and opens the door to heedlessness. The soul becomes drunk from wine and is held back from the prayer. The heart becomes drunk from heedlessness and is held back from secret whispering. The Pir of the Tariqah spoke to these heedless people in the tongue of admonition: “O drunk- ards full of appetite! O sleepers in heedlessness! Have shame before that Lord who knows the treachery of the eyes and sees the inside of the hearts! He knows the treachery of the eyes and what the breasts conceal [40:19]. Oh, where is a whip like that of ʿUmar or a sword like that of ʿAlī to give these discourteous drunkards the Shari'ite punishment in the world of justice and to get these sleeping, heedless people to move! Does the poor wretch who drinks wine not know that when he puts the cup in his hand, the Throne and the Footstool tremble? From the Exalted Presence comes the call, 'By My exaltation and majesty, I will give them to taste of My chastisement in boiling water and Zaqqūm!'” Arrow-shuffling is gambling. When someone plays everything and loses all in a gambling house, he is considered great and recognized as a preceder. This is an allusion to the path of the chevaliers: They throw themselves down on the highway of predetermination so as to become abased before every piece of straw and to come out from the bonds of every color, counting them- selves as nothing. As long as you stay in bond to color, nature, the spheres, and the stars, how can you be allowed to say, “Speak like a Qalandar”? [DS 972]

(There shall be no sin (imputed) unto those who believe and do good works for what they may have eaten (in the past)) [5:93]. Muhammad ibn �Abd al-Rahman al-Mutawwi�i informed us> Abu �Amr Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Hiri> Abu Ya�la> Abu�l-Rabi� Sulayman ibn Dawud al-�Ataki> Hammad> Thabit> Anas who said: �I was serving people wine in the house of Abu Talhah when intoxicants were made unlawful. Their wine was made from unripe dates, split unripe dates and dates. We heard a crier announcing that intoxicants were made unlawful. And so wine started flowing in the streets of Medina. Abu Talhah said: �Go out and spill it�, and so I spilled it. But then one of the people said: �So-and-so and so-and-so were killed with wine in their bellies�. As a result, Allah, exalted is He, revealed (There shall be no sin (imputed) unto those who believe and do good works for what they may have eaten (in the past))�. Narrated by Muslim from Abu�l-Rabi� and by Bukhari from Abu Nu�man and both Abu�l-Rabi� and Abu Nu�man narrated it from Hammad. Abu �Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Muzakki informed us> Abu �Amr ibn Matar> Abu Khalifah> Abu�l-Walid Shu�bah> Abu Ishaq> al-Bara� ibn �Azib who said: �A group of Companions of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, died while still drinking wine. When intoxicants were made unlawful, some said: �What will happen to our companions? They have died while still drinking wine�. And so this verse was revealed: (There shall be no sin (imputed) unto those who believe and do good works for what they may have eaten (in the past))�.

O you who have faith, do not slay game when you are ritually consecrated. He forbade hunting to the ritually consecrated because such a person has the intention of visiting the Kaabah. In terms of allusion, He is saying, “When someone aims for My house and turns his face to the eminent, holy Kaabah, hoping to be in My neighborhood, at least desert game should be protected and secure from him, for in his undertaken goal he has brought himself into the crowd of the pious and the good, and the attribute of the pious is this: 'They do not harm an ant, nor do they have hidden thoughts of evil.'” It has been said that ritual consecration is of two sorts: the hajji's consecration in the body, and the recognizer's consecration in the heart. As long as the hajji is consecrated in the body, game is forbidden to him. As long as the recognizer is consecrated in the heart, seeking, wanting, and free choice are forbidden to him. The mark of the heart's consecration is three things: to be on loan to the creatures, to be a stranger to oneself, and to be at ease from attachment. The fruit of the heart's consecration is three things today and three things tomorrow. Today it is the sweetness of whispered prayer, the birth of wisdom, and the soundness of perspicacity; tomorrow it will be the light of contemplation, the call of gentleness, and the cup of wine.

Know that God is intense in punishment and that God is forgiving, ever-merciful. He is intense in punishment toward the enemies and forgiving, ever-merciful toward the friends.5 The intense in punishment is severity and harshness toward the enemies. The forgiving, ever- merciful is caresses and generosity for the friends. He combined severity and gentleness in one verse so that the servant would live in fear and hope between severity and gentleness. When he looks at severity, he fears, and when he sees gentleness, he hopes. Fear is the fortress of faith, the antidote to caprice, and the weapon of the faithful. Hope is the steed of service, the supplies for striving, and the provision of worship. It has also been said that the servant's faith and certainty have two wings: fear and hope. How can a bird fly with one wing? In the same way, the faithful cannot travel the road of the religion in fear without hope or in hope without fear. True faith is like a balance: One pan is fear, the other pan hope, and the beam is love. The pans are hung from knowledge. Just as a balance must have pans, so hope and fear must have knowledge, which is why He put Know that at the beginning of the verse. Fear without knowledge is the fear of the Khawarij, hope without knowledge is the hope of the Murji'ah, and love without knowledge is the love of libertines.

Say: “The vile and the goodly are not equal, even if the manyness of the vile stirs you to admiration.” In the tongue of the Shariah, the vile is the forbidden, and the goodly is the permitted. In the tongue of the Haqiqah, every occupation that is empty of the mention and remembrance of the Real is vile; and every occupation at the beginning of which comes the Real's name, in the middle of which is the witnessing of the Real, and at the end of which is praise and gratitude is goodly. ʿāÌisha the sincerely truthful commanded that a shirt be sewn. The person who was sew- ing seems to have been heedless of remembering the Real. His heedlessness became known to ʿāÌisha. She commanded him to undo the sewing. She said, “This is vile, and the vile is not ap- propriate for me.” It has been said that every wealth from which God's rightful due is taken and the alms tax given is goodly, and everything from which it is not taken is vile and on the edge of destruction. MuṣṬafā said, “No property is wasted in the land and the sea except by holding back its alms tax.” It has also been said that the vile is what you accumulate and store up in this world, holding it back from the hand of expenditure and good. The goodly is what you send forth for yourselves, spend in the good, and store up for the next world. This is the meaning of “What we sent forward was our gain, and what we left behind was our loss,” which was already mentioned.

O you who have faith, do not ask about things which would harm you if they were made to appear to you. He is saying, “Do not circle around the stations of the great ones, do not seek access to their states, and do not ask about their way stations, for then you will see that your level falls short of that and you will despair, and despair is the seed of remorse and the foundation of idleness.” A merchant from the bazaar came to Junayd and said, “O Pir of the Tariqah! If servanthood is what you have, then what do we have? What can we hope for? This is a place for despair.” That pir said, “The army of the commander is not all special friends and boon companions. There are also dog-keepers and herdsmen. In the empire, all are useful and all live in their own places and their own measures.” Though you be beautiful, do not disdain the ugly, for in this realm flies are as useful as peacocks. [DS 307] You should consider exalted the state of the dervish who said in his whispered prayer, “O God, approve of me as a lover! If you do not approve of me as a lover, approve of me as a servant! If you do not approve of me as a servant, approve of me as a dog!” O friend, if you won't give me the forefront of respect, at least keep me outside the door like the dogs.

O you who have faith! Against you are your own souls. Those who are misguided cannot hurt you if you are guided. The tongue of commentary is what I explained. The tongue of allusion in keeping with the tasting of the folk of desire is this: “O faithful, beware! Subjugate your own soul before it subjugates you. Busy it with obedience before it busies you with disobedience.” When Abū ʿUthmān was asked about this verse, he replied, “Against you is your own soul. If you occupy yourself with making its corruption wholesome and concealing its shameful parts, you will be too busy to gaze on the creatures and to occupy yourself with them.” Ḥusayn Manṣūr Ḥallāj gave advice to his disciple, saying, “Against you is your own soul-if you do not keep it busy, it will keep you busy.” MuḤammad ibn ʿAlī said, “Against you is your own soul-if you spare the creatures its evil, you will have taken care of most of its rightful due.” The nature of the soul is always to be at rest with this world and to hurry toward disobedience. It counts disobedience as a small thing and is lazy in obedience. It is conceited and acts with eye- service toward the creatures. Within it are found associationism, eye-service, and hypocrisy. It is said, “The soul is duplicitous in all its states, hypocritical in most of its states, and an associater in some of its states.” Abū Yazīd BasṬāmī said, “If in that world the Lord says to me, 'Make a wish,' I will ask per- mission to enter hell to punish this soul, for in this world it has always made me writhe and suffer.” MuṣṬafā said, “Your worst enemy is your soul between your two sides.” He said this because when you get along with an enemy, you become secure from his evil, but when you get along with your own soul, you will perish. If you act well toward someone, he will thank you at the resurrec- tion, and if you act badly, he will complain. The state of the soul is the opposite: If you act well toward it in this house, it will be your antagonist in that house, and if you act badly toward it in this house, it will thank you in that house.

(O ye who believe! Let there be witnesses between you�) [5:106]. Abu Sa'id ibn Abi Bakr al-Razi informed us> Abu 'Amr ibn Hamdan> Abu Ya'la> al-Harith ibn Shurayh> Yahya ibn Zakariyya ibn Abi Za'idah> Muhammad ibn Abu'l-Qasim> 'Abd al-Malik ibn Sa'id ibn Jubayr> his father> Ibn 'Abbas who said: �Tamim al-Dari and 'Adiyy ibn Badda' used to come to Mecca. On one occasion, a man from Quraysh, from Banu Sahm, travelled with the two of them. However, this man died in a land where there was not a single Muslim and he had to entrust them with his belongings, with the understanding that they were to be given to his family. When the two of them arrived, they gave his belongings to his family but kept to themselves a silver bowl adorned with layers of gold. They denied having seen this bowl when they were asked about it. The two men were taken to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, who asked them to swear that they neither saw the bowl nor did they keep it. When they swore, he let them go. Later this bowl was found with some of the people of Mecca who said that they had bought it from Tamim al-Dari and 'Adiyy ibn Badda'. The heirs of the man from Banu Sahm took the bowl and two men from among them swore that the bowl belonged to their man, that their testimony is truer than the testimony of the other two men and that they did not transgress. These two verses were revealed about this event (O ye who believe! Let there be witnesses between you) up to the end�.

Praise belongs to God who created the heavens and the earth and made the darknesses and the light. He begins by lauding Himself, thereby praising Himself with His own beginningless laudation and reporting of His own self-sufficient brilliance and unitary elevation. This is praise of the tremendous Lord, the wise Enactor. He is subsistent through His own subsistence, transcendent through His own attributes, magnificent through His own magnificence. His elevation is everlasting, His brilliance self-standing, His existence unitary, His being self- sufficient, His face majestic, His power perfect-Glory be to Him! And God is the One, the All- Subjugating [39:4], the exalted, the all-compeller, the great, the transcendent. One of the great ones of the religion and leaders of the Tariqah said, “Who is worthy of praise other than He whose power created the heavens and the earth and made the darknesses and the light?” Who is fitting and who is worthy to be praised for purity and named for greatness other than He who created heaven and earth, created day and night, set up heaven like a roof, adorned earth like a cradle, readied the day for your livelihood, and made the night your time of rest? It has also been said that heaven is an allusion to the heaven of recognition, which is the hearts of the recognizers. Earth is an allusion to the earth of service, which is the souls of the worshipers. He decorated heaven with the form of the stars, adorned it with sun and moon, and made it the gaz- ing place of the earth-dwellers. In the same way, He adorned the heaven of recognition with the sun of knowledge, the moon of tawḤīd, and the stars of thoughts, and then He made it the gazing- place of the heaven-dwellers. Whenever the satans aim to listen stealthily, they are subjugated from the heaven of exaltedness by the stoning of stars. This is why the Exalted Lord said, “We have made them stonings for the satans” [67:5]. In the same way, whenever Satan aims to instill disquiet, a lightning flashes in the heart of the faithful servant from the heaven of recognition and burns Satan. This is why He says, “Surely the godwary, when a visitation from Satan touches them, remember, and then see clearly” [7:201]. On the expanse of the earth there are seven seas in which are benefits and livelihood for creatures.

He it is who created you from clay. Adam was two things: clay and spirituality. His clay pertained to the World of the Creation, and his spirituality to the World of the Command. What pertains to creation is “He fermented Adam's clay in His hand.” What pertains to the command is I have blown into him of My spirit [15:29]. Surely God chose Adam [3:33] pertains to the beauty of the command, and Adam disobeyed [20:121] to the taint of creation. In Adam were both rose garden and field of clay, so the clay was the place of roses. Every rose, however, has a thorn. A rose like the bosom friend Abraham had a thorn like the rebellious Nimrod. A rose like Moses had thorns like Pharaoh and Haman. A rose like Jesus had thorns like those impure Jews. A rose like MuḤammad the Arab had a thorn like Abū Jahl the wretched. Who knows the secret of Adam's innate disposition? Who recognizes Adam's good fortune and rank? No eagle of anyone's mind has alighted on the branch of the tree of Adam's good for- tune. No eye of anyone's insight has perceived the beauty of the sun of Adam's limpidness. When he was at rest in the highest paradises, he supposed that the same tent of safety would be pitched for him endlessly. Then he was addressed by the side of the Compeller and the court of the Exalted: “What, one who is reared amidst ornaments? [43:18]. O Adam, We want to make a man of you. You have become satisfied with color and scent like pretty brides! “How long will you sit like a woman in hope of color and scent? Fix your aspiration on the road and set out like a man! [DS 205] “O Adam! Pull your hands back from the neck of Eve, for you must use your hands for the neck of passion's crocodile. You must become the drinking companion of the Shariah's lion. Pull back from the attributes of being, for you must travel with the feet of discipline and the boots of blame into the open horizons of poverty. Go, sit on the dust-pile, and be content with a piece of bread, ragged clothes, and ruins, so that you may become a man. “Throw away life, travel the road, live upright, and be a man! Then you will subsist-when you empty your skirt of these ruins.

And He is God in the heavens and in the earth. One can say that He is in heaven through Essence, everywhere through knowledge, in the spirit through companionship, and in the soul through proximity. The soul comes to nothing in Him, and He takes the place of the spirit that comes to nothing in Him. He is in finding where found, and in recognition where recognized. Reports do not spoil the Haqiqah, nor does the Haqiqah nullify the reports. Say “He sat” [7:54], for He is upon the Throne through sitting. Recite “He is with you” [57:4], for He is with you wherever you are. He does not take up place through need, but rather displays places through mercy. He built the Throne for the God-seekers, not for the God-recognizers. If the God-recognizer should take one breath without Him, he would have bound the sash of unbelief. O boast of my tongue in the two worlds and delight of my spirit in tomorrow's vision! O my occupation in the two worlds, remake my situation's occupation with Yourself! I have no spirit to scatter before the finding of You, no tongue to acknowledge Your favors. He who sees You is concealed in vision, and he who seeks You is neither on earth nor in heaven.

(Had we sent down unto thee (Muhammad) (actual) writing upon parchment�) [6:7]. Said al-Kalbi: �The idolaters of Mecca said: �O Muhammad, by Allah we will not believe until you bring us a book from Allah along with four angels with it, bearing witness that it is from Allah and that you are His messenger�, and so this verse was revealed�.

Say: “To whom belongs what is in the heavens and in the earth?” Say: “To God. He has written mercy against Himself.” Ask them, O MuḤammad! Does anyone dwell in the house? In verified truth, does the rightful due of the realm of being have any weight with the Real? If they fail to answer, that will be a healing. So say, “God in His lordhood is enough.” God, and that's it. The rest is folly. O God! It is not from anyone to You, nor from You to anyone-all is from You to You, all is You, and that's it. Glory be to God! A world full of things and full of people-He overthrows it all in one breath. A hundred eyes would not be enough for me to gaze on this work. He has written mercy against Himself. Before He began to create the newly arrived things and to originate the engendered beings, He struck the coin of mercy in the mint of the Unseen as the hard cash of the servants' states and deeds: Surely I am God; there is no god but I [20:14]. “My mercy takes precedence over My wrath.” Tomorrow on the Day of Mustering, the Messenger will call out at the top of the bazaar of the resurrection: “O King, here is a handful of the disobedient. Let me be instructed to clothe them in the shirt of Your mercy, for You have said, 'We sent thee only as a mercy to the worlds' [21:107]. O Lord, it is the day of the bazaar for these beggars. I was catching them with the lasso of the invitation, so I made them many promises. O Lord, do not shame MuḤammad in this gathering of the multitudes! Turn Your promise of mercy and generosity into reality, for You Yourself said, 'O My servants who have been immoderate against yourselves, despair not of God's mercy' [39:53].” From the Court of Majesty will come the call of generosity and mercy: “O MuḤammad! The work of your community is not outside of three: Either they are people of faith, or they are recognizers, or they are disobedient. If they have faith and are hoping for paradise, then here is My paradise. If they are the disobedient hoping for My forgiveness, then here is My mercy and forgiveness.

And His is whatsoever dwells in the night and the day, and He is the Hearing, the Knowing. The newly arriving things are God's as a kingdom, in God as manifestation, from God in appear- ance, and unto God in return. And He is the Hearing of the moans of the yearners, and the Knowing of the longing of the finders. It has been said that night is a general darkness that appears around the world, and day is a general brightness that reaches the whole world. Before the creation of the world and before the creation of light and darkness, there was neither night nor day. In paradise there is no sun, but all is day, for in reality the general brightness is there. Whatever is closer to God has a more complete light and luminosity. ʿAbdallāh ibn Masʿūd said, “Surely there is no day or night with your Lord- He illuminates the heavens with the light of His face.” It is mentioned in the traditions that the Lord of the Worlds created a tremendous angel, plac- ing night in one of his fists and day in the other. Whenever the angel closes one fist and opens the other, that is the ruling power of the day. When he closes this fist and opens the other, that is the ruling power of the night. By way of allusion, God is saying: “I placed the disk of the sun in the fist of the angel, but I did not give the hearts of My friends to anyone. The angel has no interven- tion in or power over the hearts of the friends.” Know that the disk of the sun is in the fist of the angel, but the heart of the lovers is in the fist of the King-majestic and high is He! MuṣṬafā said, “The hearts of the servants are between two fingers of the All-Merciful.”

Say: “Shall I take as friend other than God, the Originator of the heavens and earth, who feeds and is not fed?” “After He has honored me with His beautiful friendship, shall I take another as friend? After the brightness of His solicitude has fallen upon me, shall I gaze on someone else in the two houses?”5 “The sun of solicitude and kind favor has shone upon me from the Majestic and Exalted Threshold and taken care of my business without me in the two worlds, lighting up my heart with the eternal love and adorning it with the ornament of intimacy. He gave me such eminence at the forefront of acceptance that sometimes He puts up with my disdain: By thy life! [15:72]. Some- times the grasp of the attributes explains the polish of my heart's mirror by virtue of solicitude: Did We not expand for thee thy breast? [94:1]. Sometimes the assessor of the beginningless and endless register turns over the acceptance and rejection of the creatures to my threshold: Whatever the Messenger gives you, take; whatever he prohibits you, forgo [59:7]. With all this good fortune, rank, solicitude, and kind favor, how would it be appropriate for my heart to request someone else or to gaze upon this world and the afterworld?” Hence he said concerning this world, “What do I have to do with this world?” And concerning the afterworld: “The eyesight did not swerve, nor did it trespass” [53:17]. Neither this world, nor the afterworld-rather, seeing the Patron. The Originator of the heavens and earth, the God who created earth and heaven. He is the enactor of the world and the world's folk, the knower of the apparent and the hidden. He does not partake of daily provision, but He assigns daily provision to the servants. Who feeds and is not fed. To Him belongs the attribute of generosity, so He feeds. To Him belongs the rightful due of eternity, so He is not fed.

And if God touches thee with harm, none can remove it but He. Just as in creating harm, He is one and unique, so also in repelling harm, He is unique and without equal. If all the world's folk were to gather together, the jinn and mankind holding hands to bring about a pain that is not there, they would not be able to do it; or to remove a pain that is there with- out God's wish, they would not find a way. Know that the wellspring of pain and remedy is one! Recognize that the source of blessing and trial is one! And see that the rising place of unbelief and faith is one! In the circle of togetherness these have one color, and in the way stations of dispersion they are multicolored. This is what that chevalier put into verse: On your two cheeks are both unbelief and faith, in your two lips are both pain and remedy. [DS 810]

And He is the Severe over His servants. He breaks the pleasures of the servants, and in Essence and attributes He is above all the travelers. For the poor He is the good fortune of the heart and the life of the spirit. He perceives the unper- ceivable and sees the unseen face-to-face. One breath with the Real in exchange for the two worlds is cheap, one vision of Him for a hundred thousand spirits is gratis, one moment of intimacy with Him is sweeter than the spirit. He who is slain in this work is between fire and joy, and he who is unaware of this work is jailed in the prison of mortal nature. O God, vision of You is close, but at such closeness the work is too subtle. O God, everyone is upon something, but I don't know what I'm upon. I fear only the moment when who I am appears. Since he who is in remembrance is happy with You, why is he who is happy with You lamenting? When someone has a sweetheart like You in his arms, how would he be aware of the noise of the Resurrection?

Say: “What thing is greater in bearing witness?” Say: “God.” There is no bearing witness more truthful than the Real's own bearing witness to what He wit- nessed at the first. That is His words, “God bears witness that there is no god but He” [3:18]. This is the Real's bearing witness that the Real is the Real. On the first day, at the beginningless covenant, with true words and pure speech, He reported of the unitary existence, the self-sufficient being, the endless majesty, the eternal beauty, the con- tinuous Essence, and the self-standing attributes. Abū ʿAbdallāh Qurashī said, “This is a teaching for the servants and a right guidance for the seekers. With His own gentleness He is teaching the servants to bear witness in their measure to His oneness and solitariness, just as He bears witness as is fitting for Him. Put aside the path of resistance, lest you fall into the pit like the abandoned Iblis.” One of them said, “God bears witness to His oneness, His unity, and His self-sufficiency. Oth- ers, like the angels and the possessors of knowledge, bear witness by assenting to the truth of that to which He bears witness concerning Himself.” He Himself bore witness to His lordhood, greatness, and oneness, for no one else was worthy of bearing witness. The creatures cannot reach the core of His majesty and tremendousness, and their bearing witness is nothing but assenting to the truth of the Real's bearing witness. Jaʿfar ibn MuḤammad said, “The bearing witness of people is built on four pillars: first fol- lowing the commands, second avoiding prohibitions, third contentment, and fourth approval.” It is said that people's bearing witness is of three sorts: the bearing witness of the common people, the bearing witness of the elect, and the bearing witness of the elect of the elect. The bear- ing witness of the common people is to emerge from associationism. The bearing witness of the elect is to enter into contemplation. The bearing witness of the elect of the elect is the breeze of companionship from the side of proximity for the sake of union. The self-purifier sees all from Him, the recognizer sees all in Him, the tawḤīd-voicer sees all as He. Every named being is a loan. True being is He-the rest are suspect. Say “God,” then leave them [6:91]. Oh, all is You, and that's it! How could anyone appear alongside You?

(Of them are some who listen unto thee�) [6:25]. Abu Salih reported that Ibn �Abbas said: �Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah, al-Nadr ibn al-Harith, �Utbah and Shaybah the sons of Rabi�ah and Umayyah and Ubayy the sons of Khalaf listened to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, [reciting the Qur�an], and so they asked al-Nadr: �O Abu Qutaylah, what does Muhammad (s)ay?� He said: �By Him who has made it [the Ka�bah ] His House, I do not know what he is saying, except that I see his lips moving, muttering something. But what he says is nothing but the fables of the people of old, like the stories I used to relate to you regarding bygone nations�. Al-Nadr used to talk abundantly about bygone nations. He used to relate this to the Quraysh who listened to what he had to say. Then, Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�.

(And they forbid (men) from it and avoid it�) [6:26]. 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Abdan informed us> Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Nu'aym> 'Ali ibn Hamshadh> Muhammad ibn Mandah al-Asfahani> Bakr ibn Bakkar> Hamzah ibn Habib> Habib ibn Thabit> Sa'id ibn Jubayr> Ibn 'Abbas who said, regarding Allah's word (And they forbid (men) from it and avoid it�): �It was revealed about Abu Talib who used to warn the idolaters against harming the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, but, at the same time, kept away from that which was revealed to him�. This was also the opinion of 'Ata' ibn Dinar and al-Qasim ibn Mukhaymarah. Said Muqatil: �This is because the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, went to see Abu Talib to invite him to embrace Islam when the Quraysh gathered at Abu Talib's, intending to harm the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace. Abu Talib said: By Allah, they will not reach to you with all their numbers Until I am laid buried in the ground. So carry on with you matter unobstructed And receive a glad tiding and peace of mind. And you have presented a religion which is most certainly One of the best religions on earth. Had it not been for fear of reproach or being insulted You would have found me a firm believer in it. Allah, exalted is He, revealed: (And they forbid (men) from it and avoid it)�. Said Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, al-Suddi and al-Dahhak: �This was revealed about the unbelievers of Mecca. They used to forbid people from following Muhammad, Allah bless him and give him peace, and they themselves stayed away from him�. This is also the opinion of Ibn 'Abbas according to the report of al-Walibi.

No, what they had been concealing beforehand now appears to them, and even if they were sent back, they would return to what had been prohibited to them. This is an allusion to the Day of Resurrection, which is the day of the unveiling of states and the manifestation of secrets, the day secret cores will be tried [86:9] and hidden things will become manifest. There will be many who were counted among the renunciants in this world and who wore the color of the friends and the dress of the familiar but who will see on that day the burning brand of wretchedness on their own foreheads, having been brought down to the dwelling place of the strangers. There will also be many whom you recognized as shameless and knew as bound for the manacles, who had nothing in this world, who were no one and nameless, yet in whose name on that day will be brought the treasuries of the unseen and the robes of generosity. The holy ones of the Higher Plenum and the dwellers in the Gardens of the Shelter will be staring and astonished at His work. It will be as the poet said: Many a prayerful pir will be left behind without steed, many a tavern-going scoundrel will saddle a roaring lion. [DS 110] And even it they were sent back, they would return to what had been prohibited to them. Even if the folk of punishment were sent back to this world of theirs, they would return to their refusal and denial. And even if the folk of limpidness and loyalty were sent back to this world of theirs, they would return to the beauty of their deeds.

(We know well how their talk grieveth thee�) [6:33]. Said al-Suddi: �Al-Akhnas ibn Shurayq and Abu Jahl ibn Hisham met with each other and the former said to the latter: 'O Abu'l-Hakam, tell me about Muhammad, for there is one here with us who wants to hear what you say: is he truthful or a liar?' Abu Jahl responded: 'By Allah, Muhammad is truthful. Muhammad has never lied. But if Banu Qusayy take the office of keepers of the banner, giving water to the pilgrims, gatekeeper of the House, the Nadwah and prophethood, what else remains for the rest of Quraysh?' And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�. Said Abu Maysarah: �The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, once passed by Abu Jahl and his companions, and they asked him: 'O Muhammad, by Allah, we do not give you the lie, for we consider you truthful. What we deny is that which you have brought'. And so this verse was revealed (though in truth they deny not thee (Muhammad) but evil-doers flout the revelations of Allah)�. Said Muqatil: �This verse was revealed about al-Harith ibn 'Amir ibn Nawfal ibn 'Abd Manaf ibn Qusayy ibn Kilab. This man used to give the lie openly to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, but when he retired to his family, he would say: 'Muhammad is not of those who lie, and I think he is truthful', and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�.

Say: “Do you see: Were God's chastisement to come to you or were the Hour to come to you, would you supplicate other than God, if you are truthful?” If harm touches you, whom will you want to remove it? If an affair turns against you, from whom will you hope for gentleness in it? The poor child of Adam who does not know the worth of this gentleness and does not recog- nize the danger of this exaltedness! This verse is both a manifestation of His exaltedness, majesty, and unneediness toward the servants, and a preparation for His gentleness, bounteousness, and largesse of mercy toward them. He is saying, “If in My lordhood I should assault these creatures because of justice, who is it that will hold that assault back from them and come to their aid? Were I suddenly to bring forth the banner of the resurrection from the ambush of the Unseen, where will these servants flee? Whose hand will they grasp? Whom will they call?” Then, with His own generosity, he answers:

No, He it is whom you will supplicate, so He will remove that for which you supplicate Him if He will, and you will forget what you associated with Him. “You will call upon Me, you will know Me, and you will ask Me to remove the trial. It is I who am powerful to perfection, I who am bounteous with bestowal, I who am the beautiful doing, beautiful- wanting friend and companion.” In the reports of David has come this: “O David! Ask the earth-dwellers why they do not be- come friends with Me, for I am worthy of friendship. I am the Lord with munificence and without niggardliness, with knowledge and without ignorance, with patience and without incapacity. There is no change in My attributes and no alteration in My words. I am the bestower upon the servants and vast in mercy. I have never turned back from bounty and generosity. In the Beginningless I wrote mercy toward them against Myself and burned the incense of love. I lit up their hearts with the light of recognition.” The tongue of the servants' state says in the tune of thanksgiving, “Love for Your Essence, my God, is the belief of the friends, remembering Your description, O Lord, dispels the grief of the grieving. The cash in hand of the servants is the treasure-house of Your bounty, so the hopeful keep on sewing the purse of hope.” “O David, if those who turn away from Me knew how I wait for them and how I yearn to put aside their acts of disobedience, they would die in yearning for Me and would cut off all their ties be- cause of love for Me. O David, this is what I desire for those who turn away from Me. How then is My desire for those who turn toward Me?! “O David! I give blessings, and they show gratitude to others. I fend off trial, and they see that from others. Their shelter is My Presence, and they take shelter in others. All right, let them go, let them flee, and they will return at last.” You also have brightness from Me- you'll keep wandering, then you'll come to Me. “O David! I am the friend of him who befriends Me. I am the companion of him who takes Me as companion.

Indeed We sent to nations before thee, and We seized them with misery and hardship that perhaps they would plead. Ibn ʿAṬāÌ said, “'We seized from them all the paths so that they would return to Us.'9 I shut down all the roads to them so that they would turn away totally from the realm of being and busy them- selves with My companionship, putting love for Me in their hearts.” Conforming with this is the story of Majnūn. He was seen circumambulating the Kaabah, out of touch with himself and agitated. The sea of passion was sending up waves in his breast, and his hands were raised in prayer: “'O God, increase me in love for Laylā!' Lord God, increase the passion for Laylā in my heart and multiply the trial of her love a thousand times!” His father, who was the prince of the time, said, “O Majnūn! Many antagonists have risen up against you. Go away for a few days, and perhaps they will forget about you, and this madness for Laylā will become less.” Majnūn went and on the third day came back. He said, “Father, excuse me. Passion for Laylā has closed all the roads to me, and I can only take the road to Laylā's street.” Each has a prayer-niche in some direction, but SanāÌī's prayer-niche is Your street. [DS 1004]

And drive not away those who supplicate their Lord morning and evening, desiring His face. The unbelievers came before MuṣṬafā and said, “O MuḤammad, we want to have faith in you, but it is beneath our dignity to sit with these beggars and smell the unpleasant scent of their shabby clothes. Keep them away from you so that we may have faith in you.” God's Messenger desired eagerly for them to have faith, which is why God said, “Perhaps thou art consuming thyself with grief that they do not have faith in this talk” [18:6]. One narrative has reported that God's Messenger sent ʿUmar with a message to these poor men, telling them to come less often for a few days so that perhaps those people would have faith. ʿUmar had not taken three steps before Gabriel came and brought this verse-“And drive not away! O MuḤammad, do not drive them away, for I have not driven them away. Do not caress those whom I have not called.” Yes, those accepted by the Presence are one thing, those driven away by severance something else! Those poor men were the ones called by And God invites to the abode of peace [10:25], and those estranged ones were the ones driven away by Slink into it, and do not talk to Me! [23:108]. God's Messenger called ʿUmar back. The unbelievers returned and said, “If you can, at least give us a turn one day and them a turn another day, and then we may have faith in you.” God's Messenger aspired to set these turns as they wanted. Gabriel came and brought this verse: “And keep thy soul patient with those who supplicate their Lord [18:28]. Be with them, for I am with them. You should want them, for I want them.” When the unbelievers despaired of his setting down turns day by day, they returned and said, “If you do not set down turns, we allow that. We will sit along with them for a time, and you look at us, not at them. You show respect to us, and then we will have faith in you.” MuṣṬafā called ʿUmar and sent him to the poor men to make their hearts happy and to seek their heart's approval for this so that perhaps those unbelievers would have faith.

And when those who have faith in Our signs come to thee, say, “Peace be upon you. Your Lord has written mercy against Himself, that whosoever of you does an ugly deed in ignorance, and thereafter repents and makes wholesome, He is forgiving, ever-merciful.” “The faithful are one thing, the recognizers something else. The faithful first look at the artifacts and the signs, then they reach Us from the signs. The recognizers first reach Us, then they return from Us to the signs. “O MuḤammad! Unto those who have faith in Us by the intermediary of the signs, convey Our greeting of peace by the intermediary of yourself! Unto those who recognize Us without interme- diary and find Us without the artifacts, We will convey Our greetings of peace without intermedi- ary.” That is in His words, “Peace-a word from an ever-merciful Lord” [36:58]. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O God, he who recognizes You through the artifacts depends on the secondary causes, he who recognizes You through the attributes is imprisoned by reports, and he who recognizes You by allusion seeks companionship. He who is snatched away by You is protected from himself.” Although He has turned you over to the angel who writes your slips against you, He Himself has undertaken to write mercy for you. His writing for you is beginningless, and that writing against you is temporal. The temporal does not nullify the beginningless. WāsiṬī said, “By His mercy they arrived at worshiping Him. It is not that by worshiping Him they arrived at His mercy. By His mercy they attained what is with Him, not by their acts, for the Prophet said, 'Not even I, unless God envelops me with His mercy.'” Whosoever of you does an ugly deed in ignorance, and thereafter repents and makes whole- some, He is forgiving, ever-merciful. It has been narrated in a report, “You called upon Me, and I said 'Here I am!' You asked from Me, and I bestowed upon you. You stood up against Me, and I gave you respite. You left Me, and I took care of you. You disobeyed Me, and I curtained you. If you return to Me, I will accept you. If you turn away from Me, I will wait for you.” He is saying, “My servants, My creatures! You called out to Me, I answered you with 'Here I am!' You asked for blessings from Me, I bestowed gifts upon you.

(Say: I am (relying) on clear proof from my Lord�) [6:57]. Said al-Kalbi: �This verse was revealed about al-Nadr ibn al-Harith and the chiefs of Quraysh. They used to say mockingly to the Prophet: �O Muhammad bring on us the chastisement you promised us�, and so this verse was revealed�.

So also We were showing Abraham the dominion of the heavens and the earth, that he might be one of those with certainty. When night darkened over him, he saw a star. He said, “This is my Lord.” When it set he said, “I love not those that set.”... Then when he saw the sun rising, he said, “This is my Lord, this is greater.” When it set he said, “O my people, I am quit of what you associate. Surely I have turned my face toward Him who originated the heavens and the earth, unswerving, and I am not of the associaters.” First He showed him the dominion of heaven and earth so that he would derive evidence of the exis- tence of the Artisan by way of inference. He looked at the stars and said, “This is my Lord,” that is, “evidence of my Lord, for my Lord has no beginning or end, but this has set.” He said, “I love not those that set.” At last the beauty of the Haqiqah showed its face to him. By means of inference and proofs he went back to witnessing and face-to-face vision. He turned away from everything and said, “Surely they are an enemy to me, save the Lord of the Worlds” [26:77]. He said to Gabriel, “As for turning toward you, no.” First he was like a knower, then he became like a recognizer. WāsiṬī said, “The world's creatures are going to Him, but the recognizers are coming from Him.” He also said, “If someone says, 'I recognized God through the evidence,' ask him how he recognized the evidence.'” True, at the beginning there is no escape from evidence, as was the beginning of Abraham's path. All that evidence came into Abraham's path-the star, the moon, the sun. When he reached each piece of evidence, he would cling to it and say, “This is my Lord.” When he passed beyond the degrees of the evidence, he saw the beauty of tawḤīd with the eye of face-to-face vision. He said, “O my people, I am quit of what you associate,” that is, I am quit of inference from the crea- tures to the Creator, for there is no evidence for Him save Himself. This is the same as that great one of the religion said: “I recognized God through God, and I recognized that which is beneath God through God's light.

So also We were showing Abraham the dominion of the heavens and the earth, that he might be one of those with certainty. When night darkened over him, he saw a star. He said, “This is my Lord.” When it set he said, “I love not those that set.”... Then when he saw the sun rising, he said, “This is my Lord, this is greater.” When it set he said, “O my people, I am quit of what you associate. Surely I have turned my face toward Him who originated the heavens and the earth, unswerving, and I am not of the associaters.” First He showed him the dominion of heaven and earth so that he would derive evidence of the exis- tence of the Artisan by way of inference. He looked at the stars and said, “This is my Lord,” that is, “evidence of my Lord, for my Lord has no beginning or end, but this has set.” He said, “I love not those that set.” At last the beauty of the Haqiqah showed its face to him. By means of inference and proofs he went back to witnessing and face-to-face vision. He turned away from everything and said, “Surely they are an enemy to me, save the Lord of the Worlds” [26:77]. He said to Gabriel, “As for turning toward you, no.” First he was like a knower, then he became like a recognizer. WāsiṬī said, “The world's creatures are going to Him, but the recognizers are coming from Him.” He also said, “If someone says, 'I recognized God through the evidence,' ask him how he recognized the evidence.'” True, at the beginning there is no escape from evidence, as was the beginning of Abraham's path. All that evidence came into Abraham's path-the star, the moon, the sun. When he reached each piece of evidence, he would cling to it and say, “This is my Lord.” When he passed beyond the degrees of the evidence, he saw the beauty of tawḤīd with the eye of face-to-face vision. He said, “O my people, I am quit of what you associate,” that is, I am quit of inference from the crea- tures to the Creator, for there is no evidence for Him save Himself. This is the same as that great one of the religion said: “I recognized God through God, and I recognized that which is beneath God through God's light.

So also We were showing Abraham the dominion of the heavens and the earth, that he might be one of those with certainty. When night darkened over him, he saw a star. He said, “This is my Lord.” When it set he said, “I love not those that set.”... Then when he saw the sun rising, he said, “This is my Lord, this is greater.” When it set he said, “O my people, I am quit of what you associate. Surely I have turned my face toward Him who originated the heavens and the earth, unswerving, and I am not of the associaters.” First He showed him the dominion of heaven and earth so that he would derive evidence of the exis- tence of the Artisan by way of inference. He looked at the stars and said, “This is my Lord,” that is, “evidence of my Lord, for my Lord has no beginning or end, but this has set.” He said, “I love not those that set.” At last the beauty of the Haqiqah showed its face to him. By means of inference and proofs he went back to witnessing and face-to-face vision. He turned away from everything and said, “Surely they are an enemy to me, save the Lord of the Worlds” [26:77]. He said to Gabriel, “As for turning toward you, no.” First he was like a knower, then he became like a recognizer. WāsiṬī said, “The world's creatures are going to Him, but the recognizers are coming from Him.” He also said, “If someone says, 'I recognized God through the evidence,' ask him how he recognized the evidence.'” True, at the beginning there is no escape from evidence, as was the beginning of Abraham's path. All that evidence came into Abraham's path-the star, the moon, the sun. When he reached each piece of evidence, he would cling to it and say, “This is my Lord.” When he passed beyond the degrees of the evidence, he saw the beauty of tawḤīd with the eye of face-to-face vision. He said, “O my people, I am quit of what you associate,” that is, I am quit of inference from the crea- tures to the Creator, for there is no evidence for Him save Himself. This is the same as that great one of the religion said: “I recognized God through God, and I recognized that which is beneath God through God's light.

So also We were showing Abraham the dominion of the heavens and the earth, that he might be one of those with certainty. When night darkened over him, he saw a star. He said, “This is my Lord.” When it set he said, “I love not those that set.”... Then when he saw the sun rising, he said, “This is my Lord, this is greater.” When it set he said, “O my people, I am quit of what you associate. Surely I have turned my face toward Him who originated the heavens and the earth, unswerving, and I am not of the associaters.” First He showed him the dominion of heaven and earth so that he would derive evidence of the exis- tence of the Artisan by way of inference. He looked at the stars and said, “This is my Lord,” that is, “evidence of my Lord, for my Lord has no beginning or end, but this has set.” He said, “I love not those that set.” At last the beauty of the Haqiqah showed its face to him. By means of inference and proofs he went back to witnessing and face-to-face vision. He turned away from everything and said, “Surely they are an enemy to me, save the Lord of the Worlds” [26:77]. He said to Gabriel, “As for turning toward you, no.” First he was like a knower, then he became like a recognizer. WāsiṬī said, “The world's creatures are going to Him, but the recognizers are coming from Him.” He also said, “If someone says, 'I recognized God through the evidence,' ask him how he recognized the evidence.'” True, at the beginning there is no escape from evidence, as was the beginning of Abraham's path. All that evidence came into Abraham's path-the star, the moon, the sun. When he reached each piece of evidence, he would cling to it and say, “This is my Lord.” When he passed beyond the degrees of the evidence, he saw the beauty of tawḤīd with the eye of face-to-face vision. He said, “O my people, I am quit of what you associate,” that is, I am quit of inference from the crea- tures to the Creator, for there is no evidence for Him save Himself. This is the same as that great one of the religion said: “I recognized God through God, and I recognized that which is beneath God through God's light.

So also We were showing Abraham the dominion of the heavens and the earth, that he might be one of those with certainty. When night darkened over him, he saw a star. He said, “This is my Lord.” When it set he said, “I love not those that set.”... Then when he saw the sun rising, he said, “This is my Lord, this is greater.” When it set he said, “O my people, I am quit of what you associate. Surely I have turned my face toward Him who originated the heavens and the earth, unswerving, and I am not of the associaters.” First He showed him the dominion of heaven and earth so that he would derive evidence of the exis- tence of the Artisan by way of inference. He looked at the stars and said, “This is my Lord,” that is, “evidence of my Lord, for my Lord has no beginning or end, but this has set.” He said, “I love not those that set.” At last the beauty of the Haqiqah showed its face to him. By means of inference and proofs he went back to witnessing and face-to-face vision. He turned away from everything and said, “Surely they are an enemy to me, save the Lord of the Worlds” [26:77]. He said to Gabriel, “As for turning toward you, no.” First he was like a knower, then he became like a recognizer. WāsiṬī said, “The world's creatures are going to Him, but the recognizers are coming from Him.” He also said, “If someone says, 'I recognized God through the evidence,' ask him how he recognized the evidence.'” True, at the beginning there is no escape from evidence, as was the beginning of Abraham's path. All that evidence came into Abraham's path-the star, the moon, the sun. When he reached each piece of evidence, he would cling to it and say, “This is my Lord.” When he passed beyond the degrees of the evidence, he saw the beauty of tawḤīd with the eye of face-to-face vision. He said, “O my people, I am quit of what you associate,” that is, I am quit of inference from the crea- tures to the Creator, for there is no evidence for Him save Himself. This is the same as that great one of the religion said: “I recognized God through God, and I recognized that which is beneath God through God's light.

They measured not God with the rightful due of His measure.... Say “God,” then leave them to play in their plunging. In other words, they did not recognize Him with the rightful due of His recognition, they did not describe Him with the rightful due of His description, and they did not venerate Him with the right- ful due of His veneration. No one has recognized Him as is worthy of Him. No one has known Him as is worthy of Him. They encompass nothing of His knowledge [2:255]. You have been given no knowledge save a little [17:85]. Majestic is the Unity, so how can there be finding? Holy is the Self-Sufficient, so how can there be arrival? He is known, but encompassing Him in knowledge is absurd; He is seen, but perceiving His attribute is impossible; He is recognized, but having an overview of His descrip- tion is not correct. He took away His attribute and measure so that no one exalted would reach His exaltation, no understanding would perceive His extent, no knower would know His measure. What familiarity has water and dust with Him who always was and always will be? What affinity has eternity with new arrival? How can the subsistent Real join with the trace of what undergoes annihilation? How can the worthy link up with the unworthy? How can the prisoner of variegation reach the guise of stability? If others were of any use in His gentle presence, the passionate for His beauty would have a hope for union. It would be possible to search, were there a way to seek; He would be known in the end, were there a way to ask. Say “God,” then leave them. This is an eloquent allusion to the reality of solitariness, the center point of togetherness, making the aspiration one-pointed, recognizing the Real as one, and turning away from others toward Him. Say “God,” then leave them: Keep the heart turned toward Him and leave aside the others. What does someone seized by His love have to do with others? In this work, this world and the next are like a wall, and, for the recognizer, talking about the two is noth- ing but defect and shame. Shiblī said to one of his companions, “Stick to God, leave everything else, and be with Him. And say, “God,' then leave them to play in their plunging.”

Who does greater wrong than he who forges a lie against God? In the tongue of commentary placing lies on God and tying lies to Him is what we explained and clari- fied in the story of Musaylima and ʿAnsī.12 As for the tongue of the folk of allusion and the tasting of the chevaliers of the Path, this has another secret and intimation, by virtue of the report given by MuṣṬafā, “Every verse has an outwardness and an inwardness.” The reality of this secret is that anyone who claims recognition of God is a forger in reality, for the majesty of Unity is pure and not in any need of recognition by water and dust. This is why the pirs of the Tariqah have said, “Whoever remembers has forged, whoever shows patience has been audacious, and whoever recognizes is cut off.” Junayd said, “My greatest sin is my recognition of Him.” In other words, “It is that I should fancy and claim that I have recognized Him as is fitting for Him in the rightful due of His reality and the limits of His exaltedness.” But such recognition does not come from the Adamite, nor do his understanding and imagination reach it. This recognition fits only into the Lordhood's own knowledge, for in reality He recognizes Himself and knows Himself. God says, “They measured not God with the rightful due of His measure” [6:91]. The attributes of new arrival have no access to eternity, and everything that comes from the compass of power to the world of ignorance is im- prisoned by variegation, and variegated things have no access to stability. Whenever someone is guided by gazing and inference, he is walking in his own tracks. Whoever walks in his own tracks is nothing but deluded. Whoever hopes for recognition is seeking his own portion, and whoever seeks his own portion is nothing but self-nurturing and self-worshiping. Quit being the companion of self-nurturing habit-worshipers! Kiss the dust beneath the feet of those who have disowned self! [DS 972] The Adamite was not, then he was. That which was not, then was, is nonbeing. How can recogni- tion of being come from nonbeing? Someone who exists between two nonexistences is nothing at all. How can all things come to a nothing? Good fortune does not come by artifice, nor recognition by causes. Felicity does not come by worship, nor recognition by sufficiency. Shiblī said, “You did not recognize Him with your recognition. On the contrary, you perceived Him with your knowledges and your opinions and you intellected Him with your imaginations and your understandings. You measured Him with your beliefs and your hearts, and all that is turned back upon you and created like you.”

Surely God is the splitter apart of the grain and the date-stone. He splits open the seeds of food so that plants will come out and be suited for nourishment. In the same way He splits open the seed of the heart so that the jewel of self-purification, within which is the servant's deliverance, will show its face. The former becomes the cause of the abidance of the servant's soul, and the latter the cause of the firm fixity of the servant's faith. He Himself nurtures both and provides daily provision to both. He nurtures the heart with witnessing Him, and He nur- tures the soul with His blessings. Then He makes the soul the steed of the heart. It rides upon it in the playing field of worship and makes it pass over the way stations of the acts of worship, arriving at the goal of Surely the final end is unto your Lord [53:42]. This is the day of triumph, endless felicity, and boundless good fortune, risen up gratis for the servant-the fragrant herb of boasting sprung from the thorn of poverty, and the dawn of happiness risen from the horizon of freedom.

Splitter apart of the dawn; and He has made the night as a stillness. If He brightens the regions of the world with the morning of being, what wonder is it that He should brighten the secret regions of the heart with the morning of recognition! One of the pirs of the Tariqah said, “Splitter apart of the dawn means that He splits open the hearts with the explanation of the lights of unseen things and He illuminates the secret cores with the remembrance of the good things and the repose of the reports.”

He it is who has configured you from one soul. By way of allusion He is saying, “I created you from Adam, that unique soul, and among all the created things, I gave no one else the good fortune I gave to him and the rank and level I appointed for him.” He called Himself, “the most beautiful of creators” [23:14], and He said of Adam, “in the most beautiful stature” [95:4]. In other words, God is the most beautiful of creators, and Adam is the most beautiful of creatures. “O Adam, in creativity, I am the unique, and among the creatures you are the unique.” This is the same that is brought in one of the reports concerning the attribute of Adam's creation: The Exalted Lord said, “I loved something, so I created it solitary for the Solitary.”

And He it is who sent down out of heaven water, by which We bring forth the growth of everything.... Gaze at their fruits when they fructify and ripen. Surely in these are signs for a people who have faith. He alludes to the Essence of the Unity, who alludes to the attributes of the Lordhood, sent down alludes to the artisanry of the Divinity. He is a Lord who is existent by Essence, described by at- tributes, and recognized through artifacts and signs. It has also been said that He alludes to what is beyond being, so that the listener will give ear to it, the seeker will find access to it, and the gazer will look to it. Who alludes to being, so that the listener will become familiar, the seeker will come to see, and the wanter will come to know. He it is comes in the Qur'an thirty-nine times, twenty with and, and nineteen without. Sent down out of heaven water until the end of the verse-all these are marks that the Creator is one and has no peer in Godhood. He is without contrivance in power, without changing of state in self-standingness, secure from cease in kingship, transcendent in Essence and description. The Lord of the Worlds is calling the servants to this tawḤīd. Do you not see that at the end of the verse He says “Gaze”? Look carefully so that you may know, and know so that you may perceive! Here He speaks of gazing. Elsewhere He says, “None will remember but those who are penitent” [40:13]: No one will gaze, accept, and recognize the reminder except the one whose heart is right with the Real and who gazes upon Him before his eyes. This is the allusion at the end of the verse: “Surely in that are signs for a people who have faith.” The ones who find access to the signs of power are those who have faith in the signs of the attributes, the ones who have shame before God are those who are aware of His gaze, and the ones who will fear God are those who know that God is powerful over them.

(Yet they ascribe as partners unto Him the jinn�) [6:100]. Al-Kalbi said: �This verse was revealed about the atheists who claimed that Allah and Satan were two brothers; that Allah was the creator of human beings, beasts and cattle whereas Satan was the creator of vipers, predatory animals and scorpions. Hence Allah�s saying (Yet they ascribe as partners unto Him the jinn)�.

(Revile not those unto whom they pray beside Allah lest they wrongfully revile Allah through ignorance�) [5:108]. Said ibn �Abbas, according to the report of al-Walibi: �They [the idolaters] said: �O Muhammad, either you stop reviling our idols or we will revile your Lord�. And so Allah, exalted is He, warned against reviling their idols lest they wrongfully revile Allah through ignorance�. Qatadah said: �The Muslims used to revile the idols of the unbelievers and the latter used to react against them. Allah, exalted is He, therefore, warned the Muslims against being the cause which drives ignorant unbelievers, who have no knowledge of Allah, to revile Allah as a result of reviling their idols�. Said al-Suddi: �When Abu Talib was dying, [some chiefs of] the Quraysh said: �let us go to this man and ask him to forbid his nephew from reviling our idols, for we feel shame to kill him after he passes away and drive the Arabs to say: �He used to defend him but once he passed away, they killed him�. And so Abu Sufyan, Abu Jahl, al-Nadr ibn al-Harith, Umayyah and Ubayy the sons of Khalaf, �Uqbah ibn Abi Mu�ayt, �Amr ibn al-�As, al-Aswad ibn al-Bukhturi went to see Abu Talib. They said to him: �You are our master and chief, but Muhammad has harmed us and harmed our idols. We would like you to call him and warn him against speaking ill of our idols. And from our part, we will leave him alone to his Allah�. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, went when he was summoned. Abu Talib said to him: �These are your people and cousins!� The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, asked them: �What do you want?� They said: �We want you to leave us alone with our idols and we will leave you alone with your Allah�. Abu Talib said: �Your people are being fair with you, so give your consent�. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: �If I agree to this would you agree to give me one sentence, if you were to utter it, you would rule over the Arabs and non-Arabs alike?� Abu Jahl said: �Yes, by your father, we will give it to you and also give you ten other things like it; but what is it? He said: �Say: there is no god but Allah!� They refused and expressed their aversion at this proposal, upon which Abu Talib said; �Son of my brother, ask for something else, for your people are wary of this�.

(And they swear a solemn oath by Allah that if there come unto them a portent they will believe therein...) [6:109] up to (Howbeit, most of them are ignorant) [6:111]. Muhammad ibn Musa ibn al-Fadl informed us> Muhammad ibn Ya�qub al-Umawi> Ahmad �Abd al-Jabbar> Yunus ibn Bukayr> Abu Ma�shar> Muhammad ibn Ka�b who said: �The Quraysh spoke to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. They said: �You inform us that Moses, peace be upon him, had a staff with which he struck a stone and twelve springs gushed forth, and that Jesus, peace be upon him, revived the dead, and that Thamud had a camel; why do you not bring us some of those signs so that we believe in you?� The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, asked them: �What sign do you want me to bring you?� They said: �Turn [mount] al-Safa into gold�. He said: �Would you believe in me if I did as you ask?� They said: �Yes, by Allah, if you do, we will all follow you�. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, stood up and began supplicating. Then, Gabriel, peace be upon him, came to him and said: �If you wish, I can turn al-Safa into gold. However, never did I send a sign that people disbelieved in except that I sent chastisement after it. If you wish, I will leave them until some of them decide to repent�. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: �Leave them until some of them decide to repent�. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (And they swear a solemn oath by Allah that if there come unto them a portent they will believe therein) up to His words (� they would not believe unless Allah so willed�) [6:111]�.

(And they swear a solemn oath by Allah that if there come unto them a portent they will believe therein...) [6:109] up to (Howbeit, most of them are ignorant) [6:111]. Muhammad ibn Musa ibn al-Fadl informed us> Muhammad ibn Ya�qub al-Umawi> Ahmad �Abd al-Jabbar> Yunus ibn Bukayr> Abu Ma�shar> Muhammad ibn Ka�b who said: �The Quraysh spoke to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. They said: �You inform us that Moses, peace be upon him, had a staff with which he struck a stone and twelve springs gushed forth, and that Jesus, peace be upon him, revived the dead, and that Thamud had a camel; why do you not bring us some of those signs so that we believe in you?� The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, asked them: �What sign do you want me to bring you?� They said: �Turn [mount] al-Safa into gold�. He said: �Would you believe in me if I did as you ask?� They said: �Yes, by Allah, if you do, we will all follow you�. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, stood up and began supplicating. Then, Gabriel, peace be upon him, came to him and said: �If you wish, I can turn al-Safa into gold. However, never did I send a sign that people disbelieved in except that I sent chastisement after it. If you wish, I will leave them until some of them decide to repent�. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: �Leave them until some of them decide to repent�. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (And they swear a solemn oath by Allah that if there come unto them a portent they will believe therein) up to His words (� they would not believe unless Allah so willed�) [6:111]�.

Were We to send down the angels to them, were the dead to speak to them, and were We to muster all things in front of them, they would still not have faith, unless God willed. He is speaking about those rejected by the Presence, those driven away by severance. “If We were to send the angels of heaven-the proximate and the cherubim, the emissaries and the pi- ous, the watchers over the decree and the measuring out, the trustees of the Exalted Threshold- to the earth to invite the abandoned to Us and to report about Us; and if We were to muster the dead in the earth to direct them to Our threshold; and if We were to bestow eloquence on all the animals and inanimate things, the entities and bodies of the created things, the form and essence of the determined things, and the instances and individuals of the known things and send these to them to offer them the signs of Our divinity and the signposts of Our lordhood so that they may see and know all of the reports, still, as long as I, who am the Lord, did not want and did not show them the road, they would not have faith and they would not find the way to recognize Us. How can a handful of dust talk about the eternal were it not for the eternal solicitude and want of the Generous?” Who is the heart that it should scatter pearls without You? What is the body that it should run a kingdom without You? By God, intelligence does not know the way without You, the spirit has not the gall to remain without You The belief of the Folk of the Sunnah is that as long as the Exalted Lord does not make Himself recognized to the servant's heart, and as long as He does not fix the marks that bear witness to the eternal attributes in the servant's heart, the servant will not find the road to recognition of Him. This is why the ulama of the Sunnah and the leaders of emulation have said, “Recognition becomes necessary when transmitted, requisite when conveyed, and acquired when made known.” Indeed, it is a candle, but when will He light it? It is a pearl, but where will He deposit it? God says, “It is one of My secrets that I deposit in the hearts of those whom I love among My servants.

Thus have We made for every prophet an enemy, satans of jinn and men. When someone's rank is higher, his trial will be more complete. When someone is nearer to the Real and his heart more limpid, his soul will be more captured by the hand of the enemy. Yes, without the grief of tribulation, the story of love cannot be told. Without the venom of trial, the honey of friendship cannot be found. Look at what Adam the Chosen, that sapling honored by the Real and nurtured by hallowing, saw from his enemy Iblis. God says, “Then Satan made them slip therefrom and brought them out from what they were in” [2:36]. And that other elder of the prophets and father of the world's folk, Noah-look at what he saw from his own people. For nine hundred and some years he invited them, and every day they beat him so much that he became unconscious, and they advised his own children to be his enemies. That paragon was patient in this trial and he kept hoping that they would have faith. Finally it was said to him, “None of your community will have faith except those who already have faith” [11:36]. He said, “Lord God, since my hope has been cut off and there is no way to wholesomeness, their being in this world will do nothing but increase corruption and cause ruin. Leave no disbeliever dwelling on the earth [71:26].” After that Abraham, the prophet who was the tree of tawḤīd, fell to his knees night and day, placing his white old age in his hands: “Keep me and my sons away from worshiping idols” [14:35]. Look at what reached him from the rebellious Nimrod and what hardship he suffered from his arrogance and obstinacy! So also the prophets one by one-Hūd, ṣāliḤ, Lot, Zachariah, John, Jesus, Moses-came to lamentation at the hands of the tyrants, the arrogant, and the refractory, weeping to the Real. Then, after all of them, MuḤammad MuṣṬafā's trial was more complete and his torment from enemies greater. Thus he said, “No prophet whatsoever has been tormented as I have been tormented.” Those estranged and disrespectful people did not know the measure of that paragon. They did not have the eyes to recognize him. They set out to kill him and bound their belts in cruelty toward him.

What, shall I want other than God as a judge? “Shall I take other than God as an object of worship? Certainly not! Should I know a god other than God? No, never.” The object of worship without peer is He, for He is one and unique. In activity and all-compellingness He has no equal, in running the work and mastering the work He has no similar. In caressing servants He is well known, in loving kindness and showing love, He is the one described. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O God, You are found by the recognizers, You are the wish of the hearts of the yearners, You are mentioned on the tongue of the praisers! How should I not want You, for You hear the voice of the supplicators. How should I not praise You, for You make the hearts of the servants happy. How should I not know You, for You are the adornment of the universe. How should I not love You, for You are the delight of the spirit.”

Wert thou to obey most of those in the earth, they would misguide thee from the path of God. In terms of number, God's delegates are few, but they have weight and gravity. The folk of false- hood are many, but they have no weight or meaning. For a world of metaphor, one iota of reality is enough. For a world of foolishness and falsehood, one breath of the lords of finding is enough. One swat of the Lion for a world full of carrion-eaters, one blast of the Trumpet for a hundred thousand Pharaoh-natures! [DS 184] “O MuḤammad! If you see them in terms of number and manyness, they will throw you into trouble. If you seek to get along with them, they will hold you back from the Real. Obey Our command, and turn away from them. So shout out what thou art commanded, and turn away from the associaters” [15:94].

Leave aside the outward of sin and its inward. Know that the Exalted Lord created the creatures with His majestic power and perfect exaltation and arranged them in keeping with His subtle artisanry, wise gaze, and limitless generosity. He completed their limitless blessings both outwardly and inwardly. He said, “He has lavished on you His blessings, outward and inward” [31:20]. Then He asked the servants to be grateful for the blessings: “And be grateful for the blessings of God, if He it is whom you worship” [16:114]. If you want to show what is stipulated for servanthood, then display gratitude for His blessings and do not employ the blessings of your Lord in opposing Him, whether outwardly or inwardly. This is why He said, “Leave aside the outward sin and the inward.” Just as He made blessings two sorts, the outward and the inward, so also He made opposition two sorts, the outward and the inward. The outward blessing is the perfection of creation, and the inward blessing is the beauty of character. The counterparts of these are outward sin, which is op- position that enters the outward bodily parts, and inward sin, which is love for disobedience that enters the heart. This is why Sahl Tustarī said concerning the meaning of this verse, “Abandon acts of disobedience with your limbs and also love for those acts in your heart.” It has also been said that outward sin is seeking this world and inward sin is seeking paradise. Even though seeking paradise is not disobedience in the tongue of learning, in the path of the che- valiers and the tasting of the recognizers, seeking paradise is to seek blessings. When someone seeks blessings, he is held back from the mystery of the Beneficent and the joy of the Presence. They count anything that holds you back from that mystery and joy as association and disobedi- ence, even if, for some people, it is obedience and worship. In this meaning they sang, Any talk that keeps you back from the road-let it be unbelief or faith. Any picture that holds you back from the Friend-let it be ugly or beautiful. [DS 51]

(And eat not of that whereon Allah's name hath not been mentioned�) [6:121]. The idolaters said: �O Muhammad, tell us: 'When a sheep dies, who has killed it?' He said: 'Allah killed it!' They said: 'How is it then that that which is killed by you and your Companions is lawful, that which is killed by a dog or bird of prey is lawful but that which is killed by Allah is unlawful?' And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�. Said 'Ikrimah: �When Allah, exalted is He, revealed the unlawfulness of the meat of carrion, the Magians among the people of Persia wrote to the idolaters of Quraysh, who were their allies in the pre-Islamic period and kept contact with each other, that Muhammad and his Companions claim that they follow the command of Allah but then say that what they slaughter is lawful and that which is slaughtered by Allah is unlawful. This caused doubt in the minds of some Muslims, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�.

What, is he who was dead, and We gave him life, making for him a light whereby he walks among the people, like one who is in the darknesses, not coming out from them? The life of recognition is one thing, and the life of mortal nature something else. The world's folk live through the life of mortal nature, and the friends live through the life of recognition. The life of mortal nature comes to an end when this world ends and the term arrives. When their term comes, they shall not put it back by an hour, nor put it forward [7:34]. But it is fitting that the life of recognition never come to an end, for recognition will never be finished. Day by day it is more and closer to the Real. God says, “We shall surely give him to live a goodly life” [16:97]. Junayd was washing the corpse of one of his disciples. He took hold of Junayd's index finger and said, “This one is being transferred from abode to abode. His friends do not die. Rather, they are taken from their secret cores to another house.” Junayd said, “Yes, I know, such is the case. But you must let go of my finger so that I can wash you and carry out the custom of the Shariah.” Abū ʿAbdallāh Khafīf said that Abu'l-Ḥasan Muzayyan said, “I went to Mecca, and Shaykh Abū Yaʿqūb AqṬaʿ was in the state of going. They said to me, 'If he looks at you, present the Sha- hadah to him.' They took me as inexperienced because I was a child. I sat at his pillow, and he looked at me. I said, 'O Shaykh, bear witness that there is no god but God!'” He said, “You mean me? By the exaltedness of Him who does not taste death! Nothing re- mains between Him and me save the veil of exaltedness.” Shaykh al-Islām said, “The curtain of His exaltedness is He, for He indeed is He, and you are you.” Abū ʿAbdallāh Khafīf said, “A man was burning in the Divinity beyond the curtain of exalted- ness, and they came and presented him with the Shahadah!” Abu'l-Ḥusayn Muzayyan for a time used to say, “A beggar like me came so that I could pres- ent the Shahadah to His friends!” Shāh Kirmānī recited this verse and then said, “The mark of this life is three things: Finding intimacy by losing dread, being filled with solitariness by the constancy of remembrance, and be- ing aware of awe by the purity of watchfulness.

Whomsoever God desires to guide, He expands his breast to the submission. The mark of this expansion is that at three moments He throws three lights into the heart of the servant: the light of intellect at the beginning, the light of learning in the middle, and the light of recognition at the end. Then, with the sum total of these lights, all his difficulties are solved and he begins to see something of the Unseen. MuṣṬafā said, “Be wary of the perspicacity of the man of faith, for he gazes with the light of God.” With the light of the beginning he knows his own defects, with the light of the middle he rec- ognizes his own loss, and with the light of the end he perceives his own nonbeing. With the light of the beginning he escapes from associationism, with the light of the middle he escapes from op- position, and with the light of the end he escapes from himself. Disown yourself, for what harms you is you. Don't talk about stars, for your heaven is you.

This is the path of thy Lord, straight. The straight path is undertaking servanthood while realizing lordhood. This is a dispersion con- firmed by togetherness, and a togetherness delimited by the Shariah. Dispersion without togeth- erness is the effort of the Mu'tazilites, who fell off the road and did not reach the station of the Haqiqah. Togetherness without dispersion is the path of the libertines, who let go of the Shariah and fancied a Haqiqah that was not. It is said that dispersion is the Shariah's place, and togetherness is the Haqiqah's place. If the Shariah is empty of the Haqiqah, this is deprivation, and if the Haqiqah is empty of the Shariah, this is abandonment. The Shariah is explication, the Haqiqah face-to-face vision. MuṣṬafā was possessor of both face-to-face vision and explication. If the Shariah and the Haqiqah are not brought together in the servant, the Abode of Peace will not be his place and home.

Surely what you are promised will come. Take what is to come as come, take what is to go as gone, take this bright day as dark, and take this world's delusion as a day that has ended. A chevalier was seen limping without a cause. They asked him, “Why are you limping?” He said, “Tomorrow I am going to the thorn-field.” They said, “Then tomorrow!” He said, “Take tomorrow as come, take this curtain as torn, and take the disgrace as arrived!” How long making the abode of delusion an abode of joy? How long making the abode of flight an abode of lodging? [DS 182] O chevalier! The life of this world is wind-as soon as you look, it's gone. This world is like a mad man's laughter and a drunkard's weeping. The mad man laughs without happiness, and the drunkard weeps without grief. This world is like ice placed in the sun, and it passes in anguish. Or it is like a sugar cube put in the mouth, and it falls apart. Yes, the taste is so sweet, but the body melts away. As soon as you put it in your mouth, it melts. This world is a pleasant gazing place, a verdant disclosure, but as soon as you look, it passes. As soon as you bind your heart to it, it goes. “If not for death, every man would claim lordhood.” Were it not for the abasement of death, from all sides of the world would rise up the call, “I am your Lord the most high” [79:24]. You will see all these seats of honor emptied of chiefs. They bloomed like roses on the wall, then they dropped from the wall and slept in the dust. Why do you not take heed and think about your final end? The Lord of the Worlds says, “You shall surely know whose outcome shall be the Abode” [6:135]. Yes, know what this world will reach and who shall have the house of triumph and foreverness! See how the poor and broken will be brought on steeds of generosity, and the chieftains empty of meaning will be driven by whips of severity! Wait-you'll find those you see as parts today are wholes. Wait-you'll see those you see as thorns today are roses. The exalted ones who'll be good fortune's garden there- don't take and treat them like lowly thorns here. The rosebush that yesterday's cruelty makes appear to you like firewood- wait till the hand of Spring's justice brings it to display! [DS 185]

Whoso brings a beautiful deed shall have ten the like of it, and whoso brings an ugly deed shall be recompensed only with its like. The former will be bounty and the latter justice. O Lord, if You show bounty, Your bounty has no limit, and if You show justice, Your justice cannot be rejected. If You show bounty, let others be just or unjust! If You show justice, others' bounty is like the wind. If You show bounty, bounty is appropriate for You. If You show justice, not increasing is appropriate for You. Part of His bounty is that one beautiful deed of the servant becomes ten, and by His bounty, ugly deeds change into beautiful deeds. God says, “Those-God shall change their ugly deeds into beautiful deeds” [25:70]. Abū Dharr narrates: “I said, 'O Messenger of God, teach me a deed that will bring me near to the Garden and keep me far from the Fire.' “He said, 'When you do an ugly deed, follow it with a beautiful deed.'” “I said, 'Is “There is no god but God” one of the beautiful deeds?' “He said, 'It is the most beautiful of the beautiful deeds.'' The beautiful deeds of the worshipers are one thing, the beautiful deeds of the recognizers something else. The worshipers are in the station of service, but the recognizers are on the carpet of witnessing in the station of nearness and the intimacy of contemplation. Each one's beautiful deeds are in the measure of his traveling. The beautiful deeds of the re- nunciants are an aspiration greater than this world, the beautiful deeds of the desirers are an object of desire greater than the afterworld, the beautiful deeds of the sincerely truthful are a yearning to see the Patron. The renunciants have service according to the Sunnah, the desirers have recogni- tion in contemplation, the sincerely truthful have laudation in the Reality. This is the end of the traveling of the wayfarers, the final goal of the levels of the sincerely truthful, and the beginning of the Real's attraction. MuṣṬafā was in this station when he opened the tongue of laudation and said in the attribute of confoundedness, “I do not number Thy laudations-Thou art as Thou hast lauded Thyself.”

Say: “As for me, my Lord has guided me to a straight path.” The straight path has a beginning and an end. The beginning is the Sunnah and the congregation, and the end is the intimacy of finding and the continuity of contemplation. The Sunnah and the congrega- tion are that you accept the verses and reports about the unperceived attributes with spirit and heart. You come forward with assent and surrender and you stand with the name and the outwardness. You do not wander around it with imagination. You avoid self-exertion, interpretation, and reflective thinking about it. You stipulate it in its entirety, without addition or subtraction, without judgment, declaring similarity, or concealment. And you convey it exactly as you received it. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “Everyone who enters by the door of surrender and assent is given one of three drinks: Either he is given the drink of recognition, so his heart comes to life through the Real, or he is given poison through which the commanding soul is slain beneath his own severity, or he is given a wine through the finding of which the spirit becomes drunk and per- plexed. From here begins the finding of the Haqiqah and the intimacy of companionship. He finds the pleasure of service and the sweetness of obedience. He joins with the joy of recognition and reaches the repose of whispered prayer. Then he falls into an occupation that cannot be expressed until he becomes all life in that.” 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. * You are not empty of me, but I do not see Your face, You are a spirit with me, but I do not see You.

Say: “My prayer and my sacrifice, my life and my death, belong to God.” He who knows that he is in God knows that he belongs to God. When he knows that his soul belongs to God, no portion of him remains for other than God. He surrenders to God's decree, he does not protest against God's predetermination, he does not oppose God's chosen ones, and he does not turn away from embracing God's command. This verse about MuṣṬafā alludes to the station of union. Union is joining with the Real and being released from oneself. The mark of this work is a heart alive through meditation and a tongue loosed in remembrance. One becomes a loan to the creatures, a stranger to oneself, at ease from attachment, at rest with the Real. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O God, ever since You called me, I have been alone in the crowd. When You said 'Come!,' my seven bodily parts heard. What comes forth from the Adamite? The Adamite's worth is clear: His purse is empty, he treads on air. “This work was before Adam and Eve, a bestowal before fear and hope, but the Adamite undergoes trials because of seeing. He alone is joyful who is free of seeing causes and disloyal toward his own self. Though the millwheel of the states is turning, so what? The pivot of His will is in place.” O friend, I have become all yours. In truth these words have no lying, no deceit. Were you to jump right out of your own selfhood, I would likely be there in your place, my dear.

The weighing that day is true. The weighing of deeds with the scales of self-purification is true, and the weighing of states with the scales of truthfulness is just. Hapless and deprived is he whose deeds are tainted with eye- service and whose states are mixed with self-admiration, for in the station of the scales these states will have no value and those deeds will have no weight. God says, “On the Day of Resur- rection, We shall assign them no weight” [18:105]. Among the traditions of ʿUmar is this: “Take an accounting of yourselves before you are brought to account, weigh your deeds before they are weighed, and prepare for the Greatest Exposure.” He is saying, “Weigh your own deeds before they are weighed against you, take an account of yourself and gaze upon your own works: What have you made ready for the Greatest Exposure and the gathering place of the resurrection?” This is why the Lord of the Worlds said, “Let every soul consider what it has forwarded for tomorrow” [59:18]. A report has come that an intelligent man has four hours in which to seek his felicity and adorn his days: the hour in which he takes an accounting of himself and weighs his own deeds and states, the hour in which he whispers secretly with the Real and shows his need to Him, the hour in which he takes care of his own livelihood, and the hour in which he takes his ease in whispered prayer and in what he has been given of this world. The weighing that day is true. The pirs of the Tariqah and the lords of recognition say that the scales are diverse. The soul and spirit have a scale, the heart and intellect have a scale, and recogni- tion and the secret core have a scale. The scale of the soul and spirit is commands and prohibitions, and its two pans are the Book and the Sunnah. The scale of the heart and intellect is reward, and its two pans are threats and promises. The scale of recognition and the secret core is approval, and its two pans are fleeing and seeking. Fleeing is to escape from this world and to cling to the after- world. Seeking is to leave aside the afterworld and seek the Patron.

We created you, then We formed you, then We said to the angels, “Prostrate yourselves before Adam.” The wise Lord, the renowned and tremendous all-compeller, the enactor, the knowing keeper of ser- vants, is reminding the children of Adam of His favors. He is teaching them about His good Godhood and His holding to the Covenant. He is saying, “I created you, and I sculpted your beautiful faces. I drew your tall statures and gave you two seeing eyes, two listening ears, and a speaking tongue. I am the Lord who makes being from nonbeing, who brings forth what is from what was not, and who makes things newly from the outset. The painter of faces is I, the adorner of beauties is I, the one who pairs everything with its companion is I, the maker of every being in a fitting way is I. I created heaven, earth, and the inanimate things to manifest power. I created the angels, satans, and jinn to manifest awe. I created Adam and the Adamites to manifest forgiveness and mercy. “For 700,000 years Gabriel, Michael, Seraphiel, the Cherubim, the Circlers, and the Row-keep- ers circumambulated the Kaabah of All-Compellingness saying 'The Glorified! The Holy!' They never gained access to or recognized My names of love, loving kindness, and friendship. They never had the gall to claim friendship with Me, but I claimed friendship with the dust-dwellers: We are your friends [41:31]. He loves them [5:54]. I derived several of My names from My friendship and loving kindness toward them: the Forgiving, the Loving, the Clement, the Ever-Merciful. To the angels I showed only severity and all-compellingness. I kept them behind the veils of awe. To the dust-dwellers I showed only clemency and mercy. I kept them on the carpet of expansiveness.” Among the angels, Gabriel was honored and foremost, and he was singled out for the special favors of proximity. His name was Servitor of the All-Merciful. He was standing constantly on the carpet of justice with the attribute of awe. He had never seen the carpet of bounty and expansive- ness. Before Adam the Chosen came, there was no separation or union, no rejection or acceptance. There was no talk of heart, sweetheart, and friendship. These wonders and storehouses all pertain to the register of passion.

O Adam, dwell thou and thy spouse in the Garden, and eat from wheresoever you will, but come not near this tree. Adam has four names: Adam, vicegerent, mortal, and man. He was called Adam because he was created from the surface [adīm] of the earth, drawn from every region. Thus He said, “[We created man] from an extraction of clay” [23:12]. In other words, he was extracted from every region- sweet and briny, soft and hard. In Adam's clay were salty and sweet, coarse and soft, so the natures of his children became diverse. Among them are both sweet-tempered and bad-tempered, open and closed, generous and stingy, easy-going and difficult, black and white. Elsewhere He said, “He created man from dried clay, like pottery” [55:14]. Pottery is dried clay that gives off sound and is full of noise. In other words, the Adamite is noisy, his head full of tumult and turmoil, attached to talking. Elsewhere He said, “from clinging clay” [37:11], from a clay that is sticky, clings to every- thing, and mixes with everyone. Elsewhere He said, “from fetid mud” [15:26], a clay that is dark and black. Thus He taught him his measure so that he would not transgress his stage. He was shown his own root so that, if he should see generosity, he would not see it from himself. He would know that eminence lies in nurture [tarbiya], not in soil [turba]. What arises from soil? Wrongdoing, ignorance, and harshness. Adam disobeyed his Lord [20:121]. What arises from nurture? The generosity of guidance, the acceptance of repentance, and caresses. Surely God chose Adam [3:33]. The fruit of nurture is what He says: “He loves them, and they love Him” [5:54]. MaḤmūd went to the house of Ayāz. He saw all the property, blessings, gold, silver, jewels, multicolored silks, and robes of honor that MaḤmūd had given to him and bestowed upon him. In a corner he saw an old cloak made of patches of cloth hanging from a nail. He said, “So, what is this?” Ayāz answered, “This one is me in all my helplessness and abasement. All that beauty, adorn- ment, and all that exaltedness and delight are you. When I look at this, I see my own incapacity and know my own worth. When I look at that, I see you and know that it belongs to you, so I am delighted and lift my head.

Then Satan whispered to them to show them their shameful parts that were hidden from them. This also is a mark of solicitude and a proof of generosity, for they sinned, but He turned it over to Satan's whispering. Then He increased the solicitude. He said, “to show them their shameful parts that were hidden from them.” He said: “He made their pudenda appear to them, but not to others.” They say that afterwards, Adam and Iblis met. Adam said, “You wretch! Do you know what you did to me and what dust you stirred up in my road?” Iblis said, “O Adam, I take it that I took you from the road. Tell me then, who took me from the road?” They also say that both of them turned away from the command, but there is a difference be- tween the two. Adam slipped because of appetite, and Iblis slipped because of pride. Being pride- ful is worse than satisfying appetite. When a sin arises from appetite, there is room for pardon. When a sin arises from pride, faith gets lost in it. The report has come, “Magnificence is My cloak and tremendousness My shawl-if anyone contends with Me in either, I will smash him.”

And when they tasted the tree, their shameful parts were shown to them. Anyone who follows in the tracks of the soul's appetite in opposition to the Real's command will be held back from the Real and not reach the appetite. Adam the chosen had not savored more than a taste from that prohibited tree when the whip of rebuke came down on his head and his state was changed. He did not completely satisfy the appetite, nor did God's approval remain with him. When he looked again, he did not see the crown on his head, nor the robe on his body. At first he had seen himself sitting on the throne of chosenness, leaning back on the cushion of vicegerency, adorned with the robes and trinkets of paradise. After this, he saw himself held back from all that, naked and hungry, in need of one leaf of a tree. God bless the chevaliers who set out early like kings and took their ease like the indigent! * Wonder not at my abasement-I am he with whose lifeblood time sported, then abased. The command came: “O Adam! You were not able to enjoy all those blessings without suffering and toil. Now go to the house of tribulation and adversity and work, plant seeds, take pains, and be patient.” Adam said, “All of this is trifling if one day I am again given access to this Threshold.” He lamented at the pain in his heart and placed his need and incapacity on the palms of remorse. He wept and said,

“Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves. If Thou dost not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers.” “O God, if we weep, weeping for You is sweet. If we lament over you, our lamenting is appropri- ate. O God, what comes from dust other than error? What is born from defect other than disloy- alty? And what comes from the generous other than loyalty? O God, we have come back with two empty hands. What would happen if You placed balm on the wounded? O God, You are the treasure of the poor, the traveling supplies of the distressed, the resource of the fleeing, the hand- holder of the helpless. You created, so You saw the faulty jewel, but You selected it and bought it with all its faults. 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.

Say: “My Lord has commanded justice. Set your faces in every place of prostration and supplicate Him, purifying the religion for Him. Just as He began you, so you shall return.” In this verse the Lord of heaven and earth, the Creator of the world and the world's folk, the bestower and forgiver, the lovingly kind toward the servants, brings together the foundations of service, the signposts of practice, and the realities of recognition. He makes the faithful aware of pleasing character traits and He instructs them in beautiful worship of Himself and beautiful living with the creatures. He honors them by letting them recognize the causes of His approval. This verse is one of the all-comprehensive words concerning which MuṣṬafā said, “I was sent out with the all-comprehensive words, and knowledge was made very concise for me.” In the Qur'an there is much of the same sort. Let me speak about one of them: “Surely God is with those who are godwary and those who are beautiful-doers” [16:128]. Consider how such a short verse has so many of the meanings. All of God's caresses, the generous giving and boun- teousness of the Real toward the servant, are included in Surely God is with. All service, such as the sorts of worship and the types of practice that the servant does for God, comes under godwary. All that is rightfully due to people from each other in the various sorts of practices comes under beautiful-doers. In the same way, all the pillars of the religion, the standpoints of the Shariah, and the gates of the Haqiqah are included in the words, “My Lord has commanded justice. Set your faces in every place of prostration and supplicate Him, purifying the religion for Him.” He is saying, “God has commanded me to justice, that is, in my practice with the Real, the creatures, and the soul: with the Real by putting commands and prohibitions to work and approving of His decree in every state; with the creatures by living with good character, observing equity toward them in the varieties of practice, and not asking equity for myself; and with the soul by opposing it, pulling it into the field of struggle and discipline, and shutting the door to appetites and ease.” The equal of this verse in the Qur'an is where He says, “God commands justice and beautiful do- ing” [16:90].

O children of Adam! Put on your adornment at every place of prostration. In the tongue of learning, this is the curtaining of the pudendum during the prayer. In the tongue of unveiling, the adornment of every servant is in the station of contemplating the heart's presence, clinging to the Presence, and the continuity of witnessing the Haqiqah. It has been said that the adornment of the worshiper's soul is the traces of prostration, and the adornment of the recognizer's heart is the lights of finding. The worshiper has the attribute of servanthood in the prostration, and the recognizer is on the carpet of proximity in the repose of witnessing.

Say: “Who has forbidden the adornment of God?” The adornment of the tongue is remembrance, and the adornment of the heart is reflection. Everything has an ornament. The ornament of the soul is beautiful practice along with the attribute of struggle. The ornament of the heart is continuity of union at the moment of contempla- tion. The ornament of the secret core is the realities of proximity in the field of face-to-face vision. What the Exalted Lord said-“Who has forbidden the adornment of God?”-alludes to the fact that these adornments are not kept back from the seekers and are not withheld from those whose hearts are present. The treasure-house of blessings is full of blessings-it needs seekers. The table of gentleness and mercy is set and ready-it needs eaters. The Pir of the Tariqah said in whispered prayer: “O seekers, hurry, for the hard cash is near! O night-travelers, sleep not, for the morning is near! O hurriers, be happy, for the abode is near! O thirsty ones, be patient, for the spring is near! O strangers, be joyful, for the master of hospitality is near! O seekers of the Friend, be glad, for response is near! “O Opener of my heart! What harm if You were to open my heart and place Your balm on my spirit? How can I search for gain when my hands are empty of capital? What if You threw me into good fortune with Your bounty?”

We shall strip away all the rancor that is in their breasts.... And it will be called out, “This is your Garden; you have been made to inherit it for what you were doing.” This is the attribute of the chevaliers of the Tariqah and the wayfarers of the road of the Haqiqah. The Exalted Lord first made their hearts pure of caprices and innovations so that they would step onto the avenue of the Sunnah and find the way to the plain texts of God's Book and MuṣṬafā's Sunnah. They let go of their own imagination and understanding in the signs of the attributes and dismissed the discernment of their own intelligence. They put forth their necks in compliance, accepted with their hearing, and set out on the road of surrender so as to escape from asserting His similarity and declaring His ineffectuality. Once more He made their hearts pure of this world and the defilement of this world so that the light of recognition shone in their hearts and the eyes of wisdom appeared in their hearts. He honored them with His gaze and removed friendship for the creatures from their hearts so that they were with Him entirely. They went forward in the reality of solitariness and came back from the secondary causes to the Causer. They saw One, they heard One, and they reached One, their tongue with remembrance, their hearts with reflection, their spirits with love; their tongues in men- tioning, their hearts in secret whispering, and their spirits in joy. As soon as my heart became entranced by Your beauty, it became the slave of Your majestic loveliness. Oh, exalted is he who sees Your face, Oh, magnificent is he who goes into Your sack. Know, however, that as long as the beginningless covenant does not seize your skirt, your heart will not accept this work. As long as the Real does not join with you, this path will not get along with you. As long as the Real does not gaze upon you, your heart will not want Him. And it will be called out, “This is your Garden; you have been made to inherit it for what you were doing.” He said “for what you were doing” to soothe the heart of the servant and to increase His caressing of him. Otherwise, the servant knows that his own neglectful deeds are not fitting for that Threshold and that those way stations and degrees are not the recompense for these acts. Nonetheless, through His bounty He makes the unworthy worthy and He adorns the displeasing. In this He shows the servant His good Godhood and loving kindness.

And upon the Ramparts are men who recognize everyone by their marks. What men are they that the Exalted Lord should call them men!? They are men over whom the wind of solicitude and breeze of kind favor has suddenly passed from the side of Proximity. When the north wind passes over the rose, the rose leaves its scent in the garden. When the wind of solicitude passes over them, it brings their hearts to life with the light of recogni- tion, it makes their spirits sweet-scented with the perfume of union with Him, and it brightens their secret cores with the polish of solicitude. It lets them enjoy the togetherness of aspiration and the beauty of conduct so that they may lift their aspirations entirely away from the creatures and busy themselves with love for the Real. Yearning for You has perplexed the yearner in Your street. Separated from the creatures, he is happy with rags. His eyes are like a circle of pearls from the burning in his liver, his sighs like a string of coral from the fire in his heart. Hence in this world the Exalted Lord lets them gaze down on the secret cores and states of the servants, and in the afterworld He will let them gaze down on the way stations and degrees of the faithful. He will make their station above that of the creatures so that they will know everyone, but no one will know them. They will recognize everyone, but no one will recognize them. This is why He says, “who recognize everyone by their marks.” Everyone has a mark, and their mark is their marklessness. Everyone has remained with an attribute in himself, and their attribute is selflessness. The hell-dwellers are held back from the Real by the shackle of opposition, the paradise-dwellers are at ease in paradise with their own shares, but He keeps them away from both and gives them an overview of all. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O God, how lovely are the days of Your friends with You, how beautiful their practice in hoping to have a vision of You, how sweet their conversation in the road of searching for You, how magnificent their time when in Your work!”

Surely your Lord is God, who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then sat upon the Throne. Lord is the name of the Lord whose name is light and whose message is light joined with love. He is the nurturer of the world's folk, the keeper of the creatures, the requiter, the lovingly kind. He is pure and peerless, the judge of how and why, not defiled by any unworthy thing. He is appar- ent to Himself in rightness, apparent to Himself in being, apparent to the heart in friendship. He is one and enough, taking care of what everyone has, able to keep the hearts straight, the Lord of everything, the keeper of every being, the nurturer of everything apt to go higher. First He said Lord as the portion of the common people, then He said God as the portion of the recognizers and the sincerely truthful. Lord puts the hearts of good men at ease, God plunders the spirits of the recognizers. Lord bestows blessings on the askers, God throws love into the hearts of the friends. Lord pours the blessings of vision on the faithful, God lights up the lamp of love in the recognizers with vision. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “Love and vision met. Love said to vision, 'You are like light, for you brighten the world.' “Vision said to love, 'You are like fire, for you burn the world.' Then vision said, 'When I disclose myself, I pull suffering from the heart.' “Love said, 'Well, when I settle down in the heart, I plunder it.' “Vision said, 'I am a gift for those who are tested.' “Love said, 'I throw tumult into the world.'” Vision is the share of those who recognize Him in the artisanries. They reach Him on the basis of the artisanries-the engendered, determined, and newly arrived things, namely the creation of the earth, the heavens, the sun, the moon, and the subjected stars. Love is the share of those who recognize Him through Him and who come from Him to the artisanries, not from the artisanries to Him. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “Indigent is he who recognizes Him through the artisanries! Wretched is he who loves Him for the sake of blessings! Foolish is he who searches for Him with his own effort! “He who recognizes Him through the artisanries worships Him in fear and want. He who loves Him for the sake of blessings turns away on the day of tribulation. He who seeks Him by himself fancies that the not found will be found. “The recognizers recognize Him through His light, but no one can give expression to the radi- ance of finding. Burning in the fire of love, they never turn away from joy.” Then sat upon the Throne. His Throne in heaven is well known. His Throne in earth is the heart of the friends. He said about the Throne in heaven, “Upon that day eight shall carry above them the Throne of your Lord” [69:17]. The angels will lift it up. He said about the Throne in earth, “We carried them on land and sea [17:70]. We Ourselves will carry it. We will not give it over to the angels.” The angels gaze on the throne of heaven, but the God of the universe gazes on the throne of earth. Concerning the throne of heaven He said, “The All-Merciful sat on the Throne” [20:5]. Concerning the throne of earth He said, “I am with those whose hearts are broken.” “The heart of the person of faith is between two fingers of the All-Merciful.”

Supplicate your Lord in pleading and secret. MuṣṬafā said, “Supplication is worship.” Supplication is calling or asking. If it is calling, it is the same as laudation, and if it is asking, it is fitting for the servant. Both are worship and the means to salvation. YaḤyā Muʿādh said, “Worshiping God is a storehouse, the key to the storehouse is supplication, and the teeth of the key are lawful morsels.” The precondition of supplication is pleading, weeping, and throwing oneself in lowliness on the Exalted Threshold. This is why He says, “in pleading and secret.” It has come in a report that Adam mourned and pleaded over that slip of his for one hundred years. Finally Gabriel said, “Lord God, You Yourself see Adam's pleading, You hear his weeping. Is there any way for You to ac- cept his apology and place a balm on his wound?” The command came, “O Gabriel! Leave Adam to Me, for if I had not known this pleading and weeping from him, I would not have decreed the slip for him. Indeed I decreed the slip for him because I knew that when he became helpless, he would loosen the tongue of supplication and pleading, and I love that the servant should lament and weep for Me. 'The sinner's sobs are more beloved to Me than the glorifier's murmur.'” The like of this verse is “Your Lord has said, 'Supplicate Me; I will respond to you' [40:60]. He says, “Call on Me so that I may respond to you; know Me, so that I may forgive you; ask from Me, so that I may give to you.” In another place He says, “He who responds to the distressed when he supplicates Him [27:62]. That hapless and helpless man, having lost the capacity to bear the trial-who will answer his call if not I? Who will hear his supplication if not I? Who will come to the aid of his helplessness if not I?” The distressed is someone who has no handhold and gazes on his own days given to the wind. He sees that his hands are empty of all the means of approach and acts of obedience. The supplica- tion of such a person is like an arrow that goes straight to the target. Among the preconditions for supplication, one is lawful morsels.

Surely God's mercy is near the beautiful-doers. MuṣṬafā said, “Beautiful doing is that you worship God as if you see Him, for if you do not see Him, surely He sees you.” This report alludes to the heart's encounter with the Real, the secret core's convergence with the Unseen, and the spirit's contemplation of God. The verse incites the servant to self-purification in deeds, curtailment of wishing, and loyalty to what was accepted on the day of the compact and covenant of Yes indeed [7:172]. Since you know that He sees you, keep your heart on Him and take it away from other than Him. Be a self-purifier in your deeds and truthful in your states. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “When an eye has seen Him, how will it busy itself with glancing at other than Him? When a spirit has found companionship with Him, how long will it make do with water and dust? When someone has become accustomed to the presence of contemplation, how will he put up with the abasement of the veil? How will the ruler of his own city spend his life in exile? 'As if you see Him' is an allusion that the Real is to be seen, 'for He sees you' is the seeing of the Real.” The Pir of the Tariqah said, “When the awe of seeing the Real is found, what fear will there be of the denier's blame? Strive in service worthy for the Worshiped One, not the portion of water and dust, for the awe of looking on the Real is a flood, and the approval of the creatures is debris.”

He it is who looses the winds as good news before the hands of His mercy so that, when they lift up a heavy cloud, We drive it to a dead land and thereby send down water, bringing forth thereby all the fruits. When the hearts inhale the breeze of proximity, they are enraptured in the dominion of majesty and effaced of everything delineated and customary. When the breeze of the Beginningless wafts from the side of proximity and the wind of gener- osity blows from solitariness, servanthood turns into freedom and all suffering turns into happiness. The fearful one reaches the shore of security in the ship of fear, the hopeful one reaches the shore of bestowal in the ship of want, the disobedient one reaches the shore of repentance in the ship of regret, and the tawḤīd-voicer reaches the shore of solitariness in the ship of tawḤīd We drive it to a dead land and thereby send down water, bringing forth thereby all the fruits. From heaven the rain comes, and thereby the dead earth comes to life. Plants, flowers, and blos- soms appear. From the storehouse of power the rain of mercy comes, and thereby withered hearts come to life. In one the seed of regret was planted, the water of success was given, and he became a renunciant. In another the seed of solicitude was planted, the water of kind favor was given, and he became a repenter. In another the seed of awe was planted, the water of reverence was given, and he became a recognizer. The Pir of the Tariqah said, " O King, the water of Your solicitude reached a stone, and the stone became pregnant. Fruit grew from the stone, and the fruit gained flavor and became food. O King, Your remembrance brought the heart to life and threw down the seed of love. It made the tree of happiness grow and the tree gave the fruit of freedom. When the earth is soft, the soil sweet, and the clay receptive, the seed will grow only as a goodly tree [14:24] and will produce nothing but the jasmine of the Covenant. " This is why God says,

As for the goodly land, its plants come forth by the leave of its Lord. As for that which is vile, they come forth only scantily. One of them said, “Its goodliness is through the continuity of security, the justice of the sultan, and the obedience of the obedient.” Abū ʿUthmān said, “This is the heart of the faithful person, upon whose limbs the lights of obedient acts become manifest. 'As for that which is vile, they come forth only scantily.' This is the heart of the unbeliever, upon whose limbs only acts of opposition become manifest.”

And Lot, when he said to his people, “What, do you bring an indecency with which none in the worlds has preceded you?” Each person's indecency is appropriate to his days and states. Look at a man's station in traversing the road. Where is he located? His indecency follows the measure of his mortal nature right there. The world's creatures are no more than three groups: the common people, the elect, and the elect of the elect. The indecency of the common people is explained by the tongue of the Shariah, and its penalty is either the whip or stoning. The indecency of the elect is to look at the pleasures and appetites of this world with the eye of the head, to see their enjoyment and adornment, and to give them access to themselves, even if they are permitted and far from ambiguity. For, in the case of the elect, the blight of the permitted bliss of this world is more than the blight of the forbidden in the case of the common people. In the tongue of the Master of the Shariah the penalty of this indecency is what he said: “Lower your eyes and hold back your hands.” The indecency of the elect of the elect is that they should gaze at other than the Real with the heart's awareness despite the fact that this declaration has come from the Real: “Say 'God,' then leave them” [6:91]. He is saying, “My servant, do not gaze at yourself-see everything as My act. Do not lay favors on Me with your acts-look at My success-giving. Flee from your own marks- see only My love.” What does someone seized by His love have to do with others? Keep the heart turned toward Him and let the others go. The world's tumult is all this talk of you and me- give up “me” and the whole world will be your garden. God says, “I wonder how anyone with faith in Me can depend on other than Me. Were they to gaze on the subtleties of My kindness, they would not worship other than Me.”

Had the folk of the towns had faith and been godwary, We would have opened up for them blessings from heaven and earth. Had the folk of the towns had faith; had they assented to the truth of My promise, and been god- wary, wary of opposing Me, I would have illuminated their hearts with the contemplation of Me, which is the blessing of heaven, and I would have adorned their bodily parts with serving Me, which is the blessing of earth. He called the heart's contemplation the “blessing of heaven” because the heart pertains to the celestial world, whose root is from light. He called the service of the bodily parts the “blessing of earth” because the bodily members pertain to the terrestrial world, whose root is from dust. We would have opened up for them blessings. By way of allusion He is saying, “What is taken into account is not manyness-what is taken into account is blessing.” He did not say, “We will multiply their blessings.” He said, “We will put blessing into the favors that they receive.” On the Day of the Moat, one thousand of the Messenger's companions were working. They all became hungry but there was no food. Jābir ibn ʿAbdallāh said, “O Messenger of God! We have a half-bushel of oats and one sheep. What do you command?” He said, “Make the oats into flour, prepare a dough, kill and clean the sheep, and place a pot on the fire.” MuṣṬafā went and placed his blessed hands on that dough. He moistened his finger with his mouth and put it on the top of the pot. Then they called the companions group by group and cooked bread with the dough. They ate from the pot until one thousand men had eaten, and there was still some left over. This was so that you would know that blessing gets the work done, not manyness.

Did they feel secure from God's deception? Naṣrābādī said, “How can the sinner feel secure from deception? And which sin is greater than the sin of him who witnesses something of his own acts? Is that anything other than pouncing on the Lordhood and contending with Unity?”

We found nothing of covenant in most of them; indeed, We found most of them ungodly. Junayd said, “The most beautiful of servants in state is he who halts with God in preserving the limits and being loyal to the covenants.”

And We promised Moses thirty nights, and We completed them with ten. So the appointed time of his Lord was completed in forty nights. And Moses said to his brother Aaron, “Take my place among my people.” How exalted is making promises in friendship! How great is sitting in the promised place of friendship! How sweet is breaking promises in the religion of friendship! Concerning the intimations of this verse the Pir of the Tariqah said, “The promises of lovers, even if broken, show intimacy.” Then he said, “You put me off, You procrastinate, You promise, but You don't come through.” It is not approved to put back the promised time and to add days before the promised moment except in the religion of friendship, for in friendship disloyalty is the same as loyalty, and disdain friendship. Do you not see what the Lord of the Worlds did with Moses in this exchange? He promised him thirty days. When those passed, He added ten more. He added them because Moses was happy with that. Moses counted the thirty days as capital and the ten days as profit. He said, “Indeed, I heard the hard cash of the Real's speech for a second time when He added that.” Come forth, by your life! Stay not away! Give hope of your encounter, then put us off. Promise and put off as you like, for we love you when you put off the passionate. If you fulfill the promise, we will be happy, but we will live with your promise, content for a time. In this journey, Moses waited thirty days without remembering food and drink or being aware of hunger, for he was carried by the Real in a journey of generosity, waiting for whispered prayer. The other time, when he was sent to Khiẓr on the first journey in search of knowledge, he did not have the capacity for a half day of hunger, so he said, “Bring us our food” [18:62]. This is because that was a journey of teaching courtesy and of hardship. At the beginning of the traveling he was carrying; he was not being carried. He was aware of his own suffering, for he was with himself. He saw the marks of hunger because he was in the road of creatures.

When Moses came to Our appointed time and his Lord spoke to him, he said, “Show me, that I may gaze upon Thee.” He said, “Thou shalt not see Me, but look at the mountain. If it stays firm in its place, thou shalt see Me.” Then, when his Lord disclosed Himself to the moun- tain, He made it crumble to dust, and Moses fell down thunderstruck. When he recovered he said, “Glory be to Thee! I repent to Thee!” Moses had two journeys: one was the journey of seeking, the other the journey of revelry. The journey of seeking was the night of the fire, as in His words, “He observed a fire on the side of the Mount” [28:29]. The journey of revelry was this one: When Moses came to Our appointed time. Moses came, having become selfless to self, lost to himself in his own secret core. He had drunk the wine of love from the cup of holiness, so the pain of this talk's yearning was pressing into him and the wave of Show me was billowing up from the ocean of his passion. He wandered around the neighborhoods of the Children of Israel and gathered the words of their messages and goals so that he could draw out his words when he arrived at the Presence. I consider it unlawful to talk with others- whenever I talk with You, I draw out my words. When he reached the presence of whispered prayer, he was drunk with the wine of yearning and burnt by listening to the Real's Speech. He forgot everything, and the hard cash of his state ap- peared like this: “Show me, that I may gaze upon Thee!” The angels threw the stones of blame at his desire: “O child of menstruating women! Do you hope to see the Exalted Lord? What does dust have to do with the Lord of lords?” How can a being made of dust and water talk to Eternity? How can someone who was not, then was, be worthy of seeking union with Him who always was and always will be? In drunkenness and selflessness Moses answered with the tongue of solitariness: “Accept my excuses, for I did not fall here by myself. First He wanted me-I did not want. I saw the Friend at my pillow when I woke up from sleep.

O Moses, surely I have chosen thee over the people through My messages and My speak- ing. So take what I have given thee, and be one of the thankful. “O Moses, I have held you back from one thing, and that is vision, but I have specified you for many virtues. I have chosen you for messengerhood and I have honored you with eminence of state. Give thanks for all this and recognize these blessings. And be one of the thankful, and do not expose yourself to the station of complaint.” In this meaning has been sung, If they turn away, they are the ones who came in tenderness. How loyal they were, so be patient with them if they break off.

And in the tablets We wrote for him of everything an admonition, and a detailing of every- thing. “So take hold of them with strength, and command thy people to take their most beautiful. I shall show you the abode of the ungodly.” It has been mentioned in the traditions that one of the admonitions that the Exalted Lord wrote in the tablets for Moses and gave to him was this: “O Moses, if you want to be respected at the threshold of My exaltation and be specified for My nearness and proximity, act beautifully toward orphans and do not abase the poor. O Moses, I am the caresser and well-wisher of orphans, and the lovingly kind and bestower of bounty on the poor. Caress those whom I caress, and do not drive away those whom I call.” MuṣṬafā said about the poor, “The poor who remain patient will be the sitting companions of God on the Day of Resurrection.” Concerning the orphans he said, “When an orphan weeps, the Throne of the All-Merciful trembles at his weeping, so God says, 'If someone makes him approv- ing, I will make that person approving.'” “O Moses, if you want Me to brag about you among the angels, be without harm and keep stones and thorns away from the road of the submitted.” [MuṣṬafā said,] “Faith has seventy-some branches, the highest of which is 'There is no god but God,' and the least of which is removal of harm from the road.” “O Moses, if you want Me to answer your supplications, deal with people beautifully, learn knowledge, and teach others knowledge, for I have honored the knowers by giving them knowl- edge. For them I make the dust sweet, I illuminate and expand their graves, and tomorrow I will muster them among the troops of the prophets.” MuṣṬafā said, “Do you know what Gabriel said to me? He said, 'O MuḤammad, do not count as lowly a servant whom God has given knowledge, for God did not count him as lowly when He gave him knowledge. Surely God will gather the knowers in one place and say to them, 'I have deposited My knowledge with you only because of a good that I desired for you. I forgive you for what has come forth from you.

I shall turn away from My signs those who are proud in the earth without the Real. Even were they to see all the signs, they would not have faith in them. Were they to see the way of rectitude, they would not take it as a way. Pride is of two sorts: one with the Real, the other without the Real. That which is with the Real is the pride of the poor toward the rich. They are high in aspiration and rich in the heart through the Real. They have turned their aspiration away from the Throne and everything beneath it, cut their hearts off from the creatures, and busied themselves with love for the Real. Their aspiration is greater than this world and better than the afterworld. Their yearning is for the vision of the Patron. WāsiṬī said, “Pride with the Real is pride toward the rich and the sinful and toward the unbelievers and the folk of innovation. It is been transmitted in the traditions, 'Meet the ungodly with dark faces.'” The pride that is without the Real is the pride of the rich and the world-rulers toward the poor. This is what is meant by His words, “who are proud in the earth without the Real.” Ibn ʿAṬāÌ said on this verse: “I shall keep back their hearts, their secret cores, and their spirits from roaming in the dominion of holiness.”5 In other words, “I will bind their hearts and secret cores from going. I will make their own being into their veil. I will turn them away from My road so that their secret cores will not be able to roam in the world of holiness and the Dominion. They will be held back from seeing the wonders of the Dominion and become intimate with their own souls and the creatures of this world. They will not taste the flavor of finding and they will remain unaware of the charismatic gifts of the folk of election. They will never see a day of good fortune for themselves, nor will the rose of union bloom for them.” The poor wretch who has never caught a scent of these words! How can he have anything of the ocean when he has no stream? Were they to see the way of rectitude, they would not take it as a way.

And the people of Moses, after him, took of their ornaments a calf, a body that lowed. Did they not see that it did not speak to them? Sahl ibn ʿAbdallāh said, “Whatever in this world turns the servant away from the Real and holds him back from obeying Him is his calf, and he is its worshiper.” The worshipers of the calf among the Children of Israel were delivered when they killed them- selves by command, for He said, “So kill your own souls!” [2:54]. In the same way, the servant will gain deliverance in the road of the Haqiqah when he is made pure of his own portions and the secondary causes, or rather, when he disowns everything other than the Real. Thus someone said, Disown everything in the realm of being- be that Heart-taker's “companion of the cave.” Did they not see that it did not speak to them? This denotes the rightful due of the Real. His de- scription is that of a speaker who addresses the creatures and speaks to the servant, but the kings of the earth disdain to address their servitors with their tongues because of their majestic rank. In contrast, the Real put into effect His custom with His faithful servants. To the enemies He says, “Slink into it, and do not talk to Me!” [23:108]. To the faithful the Prophet said, “There is not one of you who will not be spoken to by his Lord without any interpreter between them.” In this mean- ing they have sung, The Magnificence does not add to their ease when they speak to Us and We speak a little to them.

He threw down the Tablets.... He said, “My Lord, forgive me and my brother.” In this there is an allusion that the servant must ask forgiveness in all states and realize that it is His to chastise the innocent, for all of creation is owned by him, and the owner's determination perme- ates what He owns. The Children of Israel sinned, and Moses and his brother apologized and asked forgiveness. This is the path of the chevaliers and the road of the Sufis: They also place the sin upon themselves and apologize for sins not committed. When we are ill, we come to You, we visit you. They sin, so we come to You and apologize.

He threw down the Tablets.... He said, “My Lord, forgive me and my brother.” In this there is an allusion that the servant must ask forgiveness in all states and realize that it is His to chastise the innocent, for all of creation is owned by him, and the owner's determination perme- ates what He owns. The Children of Israel sinned, and Moses and his brother apologized and asked forgiveness. This is the path of the chevaliers and the road of the Sufis: They also place the sin upon themselves and apologize for sins not committed. When we are ill, we come to You, we visit you. They sin, so we come to You and apologize.

And Moses chose his people, seventy men, for Our appointed time, and when the earth- quake took them, he said … “It is naught but Thy trial. Thou misguidest thereby whomsoever Thou wilt and Thou guidest whomsoever Thou wilt. Thou art our Friend, so forgive us and have mercy upon us, and Thou art the best of forgivers!” There is a difference between the community of Moses and the community of MuḤammad. The community of Moses was chosen by Moses, for He says, “And Moses chose his people.” The community of MuḤammad was chosen by God, for He says, “We chose them, with a knowledge, above the worlds” [44:32]. Then He said about those chosen by Moses, “They said, 'Show us God openly,' and the thunderbolt took them because of their wrongdoing” [4:153]. Here He says, “The earthquake took them.” Concerning those He Himself chose He said, “Faces that day will be radi- ant, gazing upon their Lord” [75:22-23]. The want is the want of the Real, the choice the choice of the Real. God says, “And thy Lord creates what He wants and chooses. They have no choice” [28:68]. Moses was bold on the carpet of proximity in the station of whispered prayer. He had the attribute of realization in the state of brokenness and poverty because of anguish and bewilderment, and he showed this remorse: “It is naught but Thy trial.” Then he perceived himself and returned to the attribute of incapacity and brokenness, entering from the door of awe and veneration. He threw the decree entirely back to the Real: “Thou misguidest whom Thou wilt, and Thou guidest whom Thou wilt.” He was not content with this, so he loosed the tongue of laudation and connected it with pleading and weeping: “Thou art our Friend, so forgive us and have mercy upon us.” He displayed his need and lowliness to Him and asked for mercy and forgiveness. He said, “So forgive us and have mercy upon us, and Thou art the best of forgivers!” It has come in the traditions that on the day of the whispered prayer, Moses reached the edge of Mount Sinai. With every step he took, he lauded God, called upon Him, and displayed a need. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “There is no rejecting the needy, there is no deception behind the door of need, and there is no means of approach to the Friend like need.

And write for us in this world the beautiful, and in the next world. We have turned to Thee. In other words, “We have turned toward Thy religion and we have come home to Thee entirely, without leaving anything for ourselves.” O Lord, we have come back to You entirely. We are quit of our own power and strength. We are content with whatever You have decreed. Do not turn us over to ourselves, and lift up our we- ness from before us. This is the same as what MuṣṬafā said: “Entrust me not to myself for the blink of an eye, or even less than that.” He also said, “Shield me as a son is shielded!” Revelation came to David: “O David, what do My friends have to do with the sorrow of this world? This world's sorrow will take the sweetness of whispered prayer from their hearts. I love My friends to be spiritual, not to grieve for anything, to detach their hearts from this world, to throw all their work and business to Me, and to approve of My decree.” God's Messenger said, “Approval of the decree is God's greatest gate.” There was a worshiper among the Children of Israel who had spent long days in worship. It was shown to him in a dream that in paradise his close friend would be so-and-so. He set off in search of that person to see what his worship was. He saw that he had neither prayer at night nor fasting by daytime, only the obligatory acts. He said, “Tell me what you do.” He replied, “I have never done much worship outside of what you have seen. But I do have one trait. When I am in trial or illness, I do not want to be well. If I am in the sun, I do not want to be in the shade. Whatever God decrees, I approve of that, and I do not add my want to God's want.” The worshiper said, “That is what has conveyed you to this way station.”

Among the people of Moses is a community that guides by the truth and does justice thereby. This is the story of the friends and the description of the state of the chevaliers and the conduct of the wayfarers. The Lord of the Worlds has shown them the road of felicity, singled them out for the special favors of proximity and nearness, and honored them with the attraction of generosity. The relation of godwariness lives through them, the trodden path of truthfulness is built on the firm fixity of their feet, and the good fortune of the religion is joined with the blessings of their breaths. God's Messenger said, “Were the light of one of them to be divided among the folk of the earth, it would embrace them.” If the light of their hearts were given an open road and the glitter of its radiance were to fall on the world and the world's folk, all recalcitrant people would become tawḤīd-voicers and replace their sashes of unbelief with belts of passion for the religion. They are rare and precious, however. He does not show them to anyone, nor does He give them over to this world or the afterworld. He keeps them like fugitives in His own protection and nurtures them with the attribute of love under the domes of jealousy. Revelation came to Moses: “O speaking-companion of the empire! Be careful not to open up the oyster of your pain's pearl before those without eyes. Do not recite the verses of the form of passion for My majesty to the non-privy or those dismissed from the reality of hearing and listen- ing. O Moses! If you want to expose My mystery to someone, then do so to those who are the locus of the covenant of My secrets, who are busy night and day serving My threshold, the tent of their passion pitched in the contemplation of My majesty, having been branded with this mark of most-worthiness by the threshold of Lordhood: a community that guides by the truth and does justice thereby. This brand of most-worthiness is one of the divine secrets, a lordly subtlety that departed from the World of the Unseen and settled down only within the curtain of the stages of the clay of the poor. If you want to catch a whiff of it, go into the curtains of the soul until you reach the heart, then go into the curtains of the heart until you reach the spirit, then go into the curtains of the spirit until you reach union with the Beloved, for you will not see it placed anywhere save in the spirit of the friends.

And We cut them up into twelve tribes, communities.... And We revealed to Moses when his people asked him for water, " Strike the stone with thy staff, " and twelve springs gushed forth from it. All the people knew their drinking places. Concerning the realities of this verse Jaʿfar ibn MuḤammad said that He made twelve streams flow forth from the wellspring of recognition and He made each the drink of one group. He made drawing the water of religion's good fortune appear for each group in that watering place. This is the same thing He said briefly elsewhere by way of intimation and allusion: " If they go straight on the Tariqah, We will draw for them copious water " [72:16]. In other words, " We will appoint for them a constant watering. " There are twelve rivers, the first of which is familiarity and the last of which is friendship. The ten between the two are first the truthfulness of belief, second self-purification in deeds, third approval of the decree, fourth the eye of certainty, fifth the joy of ecstasy, sixth the lightning of unveiling, seventh the bewilderment of witnessing, eighth the dissolution of the marks giving wit- ness, ninth the observation of togetherness, and tenth the reality of solitariness. When the servant's spirit tastes these drinks and finds their sweetness, and when the divine attraction joins with that, he becomes the Wellspring of Life itself, and anyone who sips a drink from his hand will be prosper- ous forever. The Pir of the Tariqah said, " O God, I recognize the drinking place, but I'm not able to drink. Heart-thirsty, I weep in hope of a drop. The fountain cannot quench me-I'm seeking the ocean. I passed by a thousand springs and streams in hopes of finding the ocean. Have you ever seen someone drowning in the fire of passion? I'm like that. Have you ever seen someone thirsty in a lake? That's what I am. I'm exactly like someone lost in the desert. Help me! I'm at wit's end! I've lost my heart. "

And We cut them up into communities in the earth. Among them are the wholesome and among them other than that. And We tried them with the beautiful things and the ugly things. In terms of realization in accordance with the tasting of the Folk of Findings this is an allusion to the travelers in the community, the exiles of the Tariqah. They are constantly wandering around the world, from this region to that region, from this cave to that cave, to conceal their present moment from the people and struggle for their religion against the blights of others. MuṣṬafā alluded to this meaning: " There will come a time when those who are religious will not stay safe unless they become averse to people. You will see them like travelers fleeing from people, sometimes in the mountains, sometimes in the desert. " Rushing, running, wailing in the world, in mountain monasteries, in desert caves, Totally effaced in the ocean of thought, of themselves they recite for all, " No home, no possessions. " Bearing witness to this are the stories of the Companions of the Cave and that of the Prophet and Abū Bakr in the cave. God says, " The second of two, when the two were in the cave " [9:40]. Another meaning has also been given for their traveling and exile, namely that they were yearning. In most of their days and the generality of their states the yearners are without settled- ness and ease-perhaps they will reach someplace to see the mark of the friend or ask someone about the friend. In this meaning they have sung, Surely our traces designate us- after us, look at our traces. The Pir of the Tariqah said, " O God, the homeland of Your exiles is exile, so when will this busi- ness end? How can he who is being tested by You be worthy of relief? How can he whose home- land is exile ever reach home? O God, the yearner is slain by friendship, and the shroud of those slain by friendship is vision of You. " And We tried them with the beautiful things and the ugly things. " We tested them with plea- sure and disappointment. They are neither deceived by pleasure, nor do they turn away from Us because of disappointment. " They have in front of themselves an occupation that is more impor- tant than their own pleasure and disappointment. With people they are on loan, with themselves strangers. They are at ease from attachment, their hearts joined with the Patron, their secret cores having reached awareness of Him. They keep on saying with the tongue of poverty and the at- tribute of brokenness, " O Lord, we have come to the Threshold as servants. If You like, exalt us, and if You like, lay us low. "

When your Lord took from the children of Adam, from their loins, their offspring and made them bear witness concerning themselves. " Am I not your Lord? " They said, " Yes indeed. " In terms of understanding in the tongue of the Reality, this verse has another intimation and another tasting. It alludes to the beginning of the states of the friends and the binding of the compact and covenant of friendship with them on the first day in the era of the Beginningless, when the Real was present and the Reality was there. How blessed were Laylā and those nights when we were meeting with Laylā! What a fine day was the day of laying the foundation of friendship! What an exalted time was the time of making the compact of friendship! Those who desired on the first day will never forget their desire. Those who yearned at the time of union with the Friend know the crown of life and the kiblah of the days. How blessed was the time of Your covenant, without which my heart would have no place for ardor! The command came, " O Master, remind them of the days of God [14:5]. These servants of Ours have forgotten Our covenant and have busied themselves with others. Remind them of the day when their pure spirits made the covenant of friendship with Us, and We were anointing their yearning eyes with this collyrium: 'Am I not your Lord?' " O indigent man! Remember the day when the spirits and the very persons of the friends were drinking the wine of passion for Me from the cup of love in the assembly of intimacy. The proxi- mate angels of the Higher Plenum were saying, 'These indeed are a people with high aspiration! As for us, we have never tasted this wine, nor have we found a scent of it. But the roaring and shouting of these beggars has risen to Capella: " Is there any more? " [50:30].' " Of that wine not forbidden by my religion my lips will not stay dry till I'm back in nonexistence. One day that paragon of the world and master of the children of Adam was saying, " This is a moun- tain that loves me and that I love.

(Recite unto them the tale of him to whom We gave Our revelations, but he sloughed them off�) [7:175]. Ibn Mas'ud said: �This verse was revealed about Bal'am ibn Abrah, one of the Children of Israel�, while Ibn 'Abbas and other commentators of the Qur'an said this relates to Bal'am ibn Ba'ura. Said al-Walibi: �He was a man from the city of al-Jabbarin and his name was Bal'am. This man knew Allah's greatest name. When Moses, peace be upon him, went to this city, his cousins and people went to see Bal'am and said to him: 'Moses is a tough man and he has a huge army. He will definitely destroy us if he ever conquers us. Pray to Allah that he drives Moses and those with him away from us'. The man said: 'I will lose both this world and the next if I were to pray to Allah to drive away Moses and those with him'. But they kept insisting until he prayed against Moses and those with him. As a result, [Allah] stripped him of what he had. Hence Allah's saying (but he sloughed them off�)�. Said 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As and Zayd ibn Aslam: �This verse was revealed about Umayyah ibn Abi al-Salt al-Thaqafi who had studied the Scriptures and knew that Allah was about to send a messenger at around that time, hoping to be himself that messenger. When Allah, exalted is He, sent Muhammad, Allah bless him and give him peace, he envied him resentfully and disbelieved in him�. Ibn 'Abbas said, according to the report of 'Ikrimah: �This verse is about a man who was given three prayers which were answered. This man had a wife called al-Basus who loved him, and from her he had children. One day she said to him: 'Let one of those answered prayers of yours be for me'. He said: 'One is for you, what do you wish for?' She said: 'Ask Allah to make me the most beautiful woman among the Children of Israel'. [He did and] when she knew that there was no one like her, she shunned him and wanted something else. The man prayed to Allah to make her a barking dog. And so, two prayers were wasted. Then, her children came to him and said: 'We cannot stand this, our mother has become a barking dog and people are insulting us because of her. Pray that Allah restores her to her initial state'. The man prayed and she became as she was before. But all three answered prayers were now wasted. This is al-Basus whose ill-omen became a proverb. People say: He/she is more ill-omened than al-Basus�.

And to God belong the most beautiful names, so supplicate Him by them, and leave those who deviate concerning His names. God has names, and those names are His attributes. By those names He is renowned, praised, and recognized. They are names full of blessing, sweet to the hearts. They are a pure arrangement and pure words from the pure Lord, a worthy arrangement and beautiful words from the one Lord, the ornament of the tongue, the lamp of the spirit, and the everlasting laudation. He Himself says, " 'My light is My guidance, 'No god but God' is My word, and I am He': The servant who gains access gains it with My light, when he finds the way he finds it with My lamp-the lamp of the Sunnah, the lamp of recognition, the lamp of love. I light the lamp of the Sunnah in their hearts, I light the lamp of recognition in their secret cores, and I light the lamp of love in their spirits. " Happy is the servant who walks among these three lamps! Who is more exalted than he in whose heart the greatest light is shining and who sees the Friend face-to-face in his heart? Then He said that " No god but God " is My word and My attribute. " God " is My name, and I am the name that I am, for My name is requiter and lovingly kind, the God of all, the keeper of the world, the giver of turns to the world's folk. The Pir of the Tariqah has a few words appropriate to this place. He said, " O worthy of Your own laudation, O grateful for Your own bestowal, O You who show Your own trial as sweet! In myself I am incapable of lauding You, in my intellect I am incapable of recognizing Your favor, in my ability I am incapable of what is worthy of You. O generous one! I am captive to the pain for which You are the remedy. I am slave of that laudation of which You are worthy. What do I know of You? You know. You are what You Yourself have said, and what You Yourself have said, You are that. " This is the same as MuṣṬafā said: " I do not number Thy laudations-Thou art as Thou hast lauded Thyself.

(They ask thee of the (destined) Hour, when will it come to port�) [7:187]. Said ibn 'Abbas: �Jabal ibn Qushayr and Shamwal ibn Zayd, who belonged to the Jews, said: 'O Muhammad, tell us when the last Hour will be, if you are really a prophet, for we know when it is going to be?' And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�. Qatadah said: �The Quraysh said to Muhammad: 'There are between us ties of kinship, so tell us the timing of the last Hour?' And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse (They ask thee of the (destined) Hour)�. Abu Sa'id ibn Abu Bakr al-Warraq informed us> Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Hamdan> Abu Ya'la> 'Uqbah ibn Mukram> Yunus> 'Abd al-Ghaffar ibn al-Qasim> Aban ibn Laqit> Qarzah ibn Hassan who said: �I heard Abu Musa on a Friday on the pulpit of the main mosque of Basrah say: 'The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was asked about the timing of the last Hour while I was present, and so he said: 'None know its timing except Allah. He alone will manifest it at its proper time. However, I will inform you about its signs and what will happen ahead of it. There will be a lot of trials and harj ahead of the last Hour'. They asked: 'What does harj mean, O Messenger of Allah?' He said: 'This is an Abyssinian word which means killing, dryness of people's hearts and that one is cast among strangers, such that people hardly know each other, those who have good minds will disappear and only a group of weak people will remain who would neither know good nor forbid evil� '.

(Say: For myself I have no power to benefit, nor power to hurt�) [7:188]. Said al-Kalbi: �The people of Mecca said: �O Muhammad, does not your Lord inform you about lower prices before they go up, and thus you buy and make profit? And does He not inform you about the land which is about to suffer drought and, thus, you travel to a land which is more fertile?� And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�.

He it is who created you from one soul and made of it its spouse so that it may rest in her. Great and magnificent is the lovingly kind Lord, the beautiful in name, the keeper of the servants, the creator of the world's folk, the caretaker of all! He is pure and faultless in name and mark, pure of offspring and Himself unborn, pure of partner and helper, pure of spouse and of similar. When He created the creatures, He created them as pairs linked to each other. He made male and female together, He bound similar to similar and genus to genus, as He says, " and made of it its spouse, so that it may rest in her. " It is God who is one, who is peerless in attributes and separate from faults, the creator, the keeper, and the nurturer. When He wants to show power in creation, He brings forth a hundred thousand subtleties and wonders from one drop of feeble water. First some dust, then some water, then a clot, then tissue, then bones and skin, then an animal. When it becomes four months old, it comes to life in that firm settledness [77:21] in three-fold darknesses [39:6]. In this individual He creates three pools: one the brain, one the liver, and one the heart. From the brain the streams of the nerves open out to the whole body so that the strength of sensation and movement will go there. From the liver the veins open out to the whole body so that nourishment will go there. From the heart the arteries open out to the whole body so that the spirit will go there. He created the brain in three strata. In the first He placed understanding, in the second He placed intellect, and in the third memory. He created the eye in seven strata and placed brightness and sight therein. What is more wondrous is the pupil, its measure that of a single lentil, but within it appears the form of heaven and earth with all this vastness. More surprising is the forehead, which He created stiff and hard so that it would not grow hair and take away beauty. In the midst He created the skin of the eyebrow, so that a bit of hair would come up and not become too long.

(He it is Who did create you from a single soul�) [7:189] up to (� but are themselves created) [7:191]. Said Mujahid: �Initially, all the children of Adam and Eve died in their infancy. And so, Satan whispered to them: 'If a boy is born to you, call him 'Abd al-Harith [the slave of al-Harith]'. The name of Satan was, prior to that, al-Harith. Adam and Eve did as he asked them to do, hence the words of Allah, exalted is He: (But when He gave unto them aright, they ascribed to Him partners in respect of that which He had given them�)�.

(He it is Who did create you from a single soul�) [7:189] up to (� but are themselves created) [7:191]. Said Mujahid: �Initially, all the children of Adam and Eve died in their infancy. And so, Satan whispered to them: 'If a boy is born to you, call him 'Abd al-Harith [the slave of al-Harith]'. The name of Satan was, prior to that, al-Harith. Adam and Eve did as he asked them to do, hence the words of Allah, exalted is He: (But when He gave unto them aright, they ascribed to Him partners in respect of that which He had given them�)�.

Take to pardoning and command the honorable and turn away from the ignorant. The command came from the generous, lovingly kind Lord, the Lord God of all lords and mas- ters, the generous and gentle in name and mark, to MuḤammad, the Seal of the Prophets and the emulated of the world's folk: " O master, pass over the sins of the sinners, cover over their defects, and draw the pen of pardon across the register of the bad-doers. O master, take from Us a pleas- ing character, praiseworthy activity, truthful speaking, and peace with the people; be the friend of the good in companionship and attend to them in seclusion. O master, I am a clement Lord and I love the clement. I hear the unworthy from enemies and I see their insolence in private, but I keep the curtain lowered over them. I do not hurry to punishment, I offer them repentance and pardon, and I call them back to My Threshold, for if they desist, He will forgive them what is past [8:38]. " Among the traditions has come that God says, " You called upon Me, and I said 'Here I am!' You asked from Me, and I bestowed upon you. You stood up against Me, and I gave you respite. You left Me, and I took care of you. You disobeyed Me, and I curtained you. So, if you return to Me, I will accept you. If you turn away from Me, I will wait for you. " He is saying, " My servants, My creatures, you called out to Me, and I answered with 'Here I am.' You asked for blessings from Me, and I bestowed gifts. You came out foolishly, and I gave you respite. You put aside My command, and I did not take away My kind favor from you. You disobeyed, and I lowered the curtain over you. With all of this, if you come back, I will accept you, and if you turn away, I will await your coming back. I am the most munificent of the munificent and the most generous of the generous. " In a report has come, " When an old man repents, God says, 'Now?! When your strength has gone and your appetite has been cut off? Indeed, I am the most merciful of the merciful, indeed, I am the most merciful of the merciful.

And when the Qur'an is recited, listen to it and give ear. Perhaps you will be shown mercy. Listening [samāʿ] is the reality of giving ear to the Qur'an. Listening gives more life to a man's days than the spirit gives to the body. Listening is a spring that bubbles up from the midst of the heart, nurtured by the well of truthfulness. Truthfulness is to listening as the sun's body is to its rays. As long as the darknesses of mortal nature do not lift away from the heart, the reality of lis- tening's sun will not be permitted to disclose itself in the desert of a man's breast. Know that listening is of two sorts: The listening of the common people is one thing, the listening of the elect something else. The common people's share in listening is sound and its melodies, and the elect's share in listening is a subtlety in the midst of the sound and its meanings and allusions. The common people listen with the ear of the head, the organ of discernment, and the movement of the natures so as to be freed of sorrow and at ease from their preoccupations. The elect listen with a dead soul, a thirsty heart, and a burnt breath. They reap the fruit of the breeze of intimacy, endless reminder, and everlasting happiness. It is said that the reality of listening is remembering the eternal call that came forth on the Day of the Compact from the Court of All-Compellingness and the Side of Unity: " Am I not your Lord? " [7:172]. It became connected to the hearing of the servants and its tasting reached their spirits. This is a call whose repository is in that world and whose lodging place [11:6] is in the spirit. What bears witness is the mark, what it expresses is the title-page. What is supposition in reports is face-to-face vision in finding. The servant's seven bodily members listen to the Friend- the call of the Friend does not belong to the now, for it is everlasting.

And remember thy Lord in thyself. The rememberers are three men: One remembers with the tongue while the heart is unaware. Another remembers with both tongue and heart, but his work is in danger, as has been said, " The self-purifiers are in grave danger. " Still another is silent with the tongue but his heart is drowned in Him. The Pir of the Tariqah said, " O God, how can I remember, for I myself am all remembrance? I have given the harvest of my marks to the wind. How can I remember Him whom I have not for- gotten? O remembrance of the spirits, remembered by the hearts, and mentioned by the tongues! Remember me with Your bounty and make me happy with gentle remembrance! "

Surely those who are with thy Lord do not have too much pride to serve Him. Surely those who are with thy Lord alludes to the center point of togetherness and do not have too much pride to serve Him reports of the attribute of dispersion. Their with-ness affirms their nobility and preserves them in the ruling properties of servanthood. Thus the servant goes forth be- tween togetherness and dispersion. Togetherness shows the Haqiqah, and dispersion explicates the Shariah. For every one of you We have appointed an avenue and a method [5:48] alludes to this.

(They ask thee (O Muhammad) of the spoils of war. Say: The spoils of war belong to Allah and the messenger�) [8:1]. Abu Sa�id al-Nasruyiyy informed us> Abu Bakr al-Qati�i> �Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal> his father> Abu Mu�awiyah> Abu Ishaq al-Shaybani> Muhammad ibn �Ubayd Allah al-Thaqafi> Sa�d ibn Abi Waqqas who said: �On the day of Badr my brother �Umayr was killed and I killed Sa�id ibn al-�As and took his sword which was named al-Kifah. I went to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and he told me to go and put the sword with the captured booty which was still undivided. I went back in a state which only Allah knew as a result of the killing of my brother and the loss of my spoil. I did not go very far when Surah al-Anfal was revealed. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, called me and said: �Go and take back your sword!� �. �Ikrimah reported that Ibn �Abbas said: �On the day of Badr, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: �Whoever does such-and-such will get such-and-such�. And so the younger men went and the old remained under the banners. When it was time to divide the booty, those younger men came to ask for their share, but the old said: �Do not exclude us, for we were under the banners, and if you had been defeated, we would have been a shield for you�. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (They ask thee (O Muhammad) of the spoils of war. Say: The spoils of war belong to Allah and the messenger�), and the booty was divided on them in equal shares�. Abu Bakr ibn al-Harith informed us> �Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ja�far> Abu Yahya> Sahl ibn �Uthman> Yahya ibn Abi Za�idah> Ibn Abi al-Zinad> �Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Harith> Sulayman ibn Musa ibn al-Ashdaq> Makhul> Abu Salam al-Bahili> Abu Umamah al-Bahili> �Ubadah ibn al-Samit who said: �When the enemy was defeated on the day of Badr, a group of men followed them to exterminate them, while one group surrounded the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, [to protect him] and another group seized the booty and spoils. When Allah banished the enemy and those who went after came back, they said: �The booty belongs to us, we have chased the enemy and it is through us that Allah has defeated and banished them�.

The faithful are only those whose hearts quake when God is remembered. The faithful are those who fear God. In this verse He makes fear a precondition of faith, just as He says elsewhere: “Fear Me if you have faith” [3:175]. Fear is the protection of faith, the fortress of the religion, and the interceder for sins. When a heart does not have fear, that heart is in ruins, a source of trouble and deprived of God's gaze. In this verse He says that the faithful are those whose hearts fear and tremble at the remembrance of God. In another place He says, “Those who have faith and whose hearts are serene in the remem- brance of God” [13:28]. This alludes to the fact that the faithful are those whose hearts are at ease and rest in the remembrance of God. The former is the mark of the beginners, and the latter is the description of the advanced. At the beginning of his traveling, the servant always weeps, wails, and moans. He weeps so much in dread of separation that the call “Fear not!” [41:30] reaches his secret core. He comes away from the dread of separation to the repose of union. In this station he is at ease and delighted, his heart at rest. This is why He says, “whose hearts are serene in the remembrance of God.” It has also been said that whose hearts quake is the description of the desirer, and whose hearts are serene is the attribute of the desired. Whose hearts quake is the watchword of the folk of the Shariah, and whose hearts are serene is the blanket of the folk of the Haqiqah. Whose hearts quake is the station of the travelers, and whose hearts are serene is the mark of the snatched away. The travelers are in the road of the Shariah in the station of service hoping for blessings, and the snatched away are caressed on the carpet of the Haqiqah, given access to proximity and nearness by the Patron of Blessings.

Those who perform the prayer and expend from what We have provided them, it is they who are the faithful in truth. They have degrees with their Lord and forgiveness and a generous provision. In the previous verse, He counted out some of the inward deeds, such as godwariness, fear, and truth. Then, in this verse, He joins them with the outward deeds, such as prayer and alms tax. The former are marks of the Haqiqah, and the latter stipulations of the Shariah. Thus you know that these two are joined together. Without the Shariah the Haqiqah is of no use, and without the Haq- iqah the Shariah is not correct. When the two are combined, then it is they who are the faithful in truth. The faithful in reality are they, for they are sound in both the Shariah and the Haqiqah. They have undertaken the Shariah, so they have degrees in the Garden and forgiveness; and they have truthfulness in the Haqiqah, so they have a generous provision. This is the provision of the secret cores through the unveilings and joinings which belong to them alone. It has also been said that the traits counted out in this verse are the realities of servanthood in the encounters [with God] and the unveilings of the Haqiqah in the finding [of Him]. These are reverence for remembrance, quaking at the time of listening, being overcome by increase at the time of recitation, the reality of trust in God, and undertaking the stipulations of servanthood in full loyalty. When these descriptions are perfected, they become realizers through faith. Hence it is said, “It is they who are the faithful in truth.” In other words, in reality the most beautiful has already gone forth to them from God, so for them it has become blessedness, nearness, and the most beautiful with their Lord.

Those who perform the prayer and expend from what We have provided them, it is they who are the faithful in truth. They have degrees with their Lord and forgiveness and a generous provision. In the previous verse, He counted out some of the inward deeds, such as godwariness, fear, and truth. Then, in this verse, He joins them with the outward deeds, such as prayer and alms tax. The former are marks of the Haqiqah, and the latter stipulations of the Shariah. Thus you know that these two are joined together. Without the Shariah the Haqiqah is of no use, and without the Haq- iqah the Shariah is not correct. When the two are combined, then it is they who are the faithful in truth. The faithful in reality are they, for they are sound in both the Shariah and the Haqiqah. They have undertaken the Shariah, so they have degrees in the Garden and forgiveness; and they have truthfulness in the Haqiqah, so they have a generous provision. This is the provision of the secret cores through the unveilings and joinings which belong to them alone. It has also been said that the traits counted out in this verse are the realities of servanthood in the encounters [with God] and the unveilings of the Haqiqah in the finding [of Him]. These are reverence for remembrance, quaking at the time of listening, being overcome by increase at the time of recitation, the reality of trust in God, and undertaking the stipulations of servanthood in full loyalty. When these descriptions are perfected, they become realizers through faith. Hence it is said, “It is they who are the faithful in truth.” In other words, in reality the most beautiful has already gone forth to them from God, so for them it has become blessedness, nearness, and the most beautiful with their Lord.

And when God promised you one of the two parties would be yours, and you wished that the one not armed would be yours. By way of allusion He is saying, “So long as the servant does not suffer he will not reach the treasure.” The Pir of the Tariqah 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 life is in death and that what is desired by all lies in unreached desires?” Life is the life of the heart, and death the death of the soul. Until you die in yourself, you will not come to life through the Real. “Die, O friend, if you want to live!” [DS 52]. That chevalier said it beautifully: “Passion does not accept living souls, falcons do not hunt dead mice.” [DS 202] O God, when someone's life is You, how can he die? When someone's occupation is You, how can his occupation come to an end? O Found and Findable, nothing other than recognizing You is happiness, and nothing other than finding You is life. He who lives without You is imprisoned like a corpse, and he who finds companionship with You is neither of this world nor of that world.

When you sought the aid of your Lord, He responded to you. Seeking aid is of three sorts: One is from the creatures against the Real; it is the mark of being estranged and despairing of response. Another is from the Real against the creatures; it is the road of being a Muslim and the precondition of being a servant. Another is from the Real against the Real; it is the means of approach to friendship, and the response is an add-on. Someone who complains of the Real to the people increases in pain. Someone who complains of the creatures to the Real finds the remedy. Someone who complains of the Real to the Real sees the Real. The Pir of the Tariqah Shiblī was saying the following words with the attribute of bewilder- ment in his encounters with Him: “O God, if I seek You, You drive me away, and if I leave You, You seek me. There is no rest with You, and no escape from You. I seek aid in You from You!” He is saying: “O God, if I want You, You drive me away. If I go, You call. What should I do in this bewilderment? With You I have no rest, and without You my work is disordered-no hope of being cut off, no hope of arrival. Help me against You! For these spirits are all mad for You and these hearts are all bewildered by You.” Perhaps You will put things in order, smooth out my road to You, and give me a remedy for pain with Your balm and beautiful doing. O God, today this burning of mine is mixed with pain. I have no capacity to wait it out, no place to flee. The secret of the recognizer's present moment is a sharp blade-there is no place for repose, no way to avoidance.

Thou didst not throw when thou threwest, but God threw; and that He may try the faithful with a beautiful trial. When thou threwest is dispersion, but God threw is togetherness. Dispersion is the attribute of servanthood, and togetherness is the description of Lordhood. Dispersion without togetherness is of no use, and togetherness without dispersion is not correct. Sheer dispersion without togetherness is the belief of the free-willers, sheer togetherness with- out dispersion is the religion of the predestinarians, and dispersion along with togetherness is the road of the Sunnis and is correct. The free-willers are those who give themselves ability and choice and do not step outside of themselves. The predestinarians are those who lose their own hands and feet to the harshness of all-compellingness; they do not see the secondary causes and give them- selves no free choice. The Sunnis are those who say to them, “In your practice be at the threshold of Thee alone we worship; in your heart ask, weep, and supplicate at the threshold of Thee alone we ask for help [1:5].” Thou didst not throw when thou threwest, but God threw. This is an allusion to the reality of solitariness and the path of unification. He is saying: “Leave aside all other objects of desire. What does he who is seized by My love have to do with other than Me? O MuḤammad, lay no favor on Me because of your activity, but look at My success-giving! Be not delighted at your own remembrance-look at My instruction! Flee from your own marks and see only My love!” The path of unification is oneness and estrangement from self. Giving marks of “me” and “us” is duality, and duality is proof of estrangement. With duality there are today and tomorrow, but the tawḤīd-voicer is apart from today and tomorrow. As long as the tawḤīd-voicer has not found the shadow of the Sun of existence, he has not been released from self. As long as he has not been released from self, he has not found the Real. When thou threwest is the attribute of the desirer who is sitting on the road of variegation and gazing on himself from the Real. But God threw is the description of the desired; having left him- self behind and found stability, he gazes on the Real from the Real.

((O Quraysh!) If ye sought a judgment, now hath the judgment come unto you�) [8:19]. Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Farisi informed us> Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn al-Fadl al-Tajir> Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Hafiz> Muhammad ibn Yahya> Ya'qub ibn Ibrahim ibn Sa'd> his father> Salih> Ibn Shihab> 'Abd Allah ibn Tha'labah ibn Su'ayr who said: �The person who sought judgment was Abu Jahl. He said when the two armies met: 'O Allah, destroy this day whoever amongst us has severed ties of kinship and brought that which we had never known!' This was the judgement that he sought. Allah, exalted is He, revealed regarding this ((O Quraysh!) If ye sought a judgment, now hath the judgment come unto you�) up to His words (Allah is with the believers)�. This was narrated by al-Hakim Abu 'Abd Allah in his Sahih from al-Qati'i from the son of Ibn Hanbal from Ahmad ibn Hanbal from Ya'qub. Said al-Suddi and al-Kalbi: �Before they set off to fight the Prophet, Allah bless him and give peace, in Uhud, the idolaters grabbed the covers of the Ka'bah and prayed: 'O Allah, give victory to the greatest of the two armies, the most guided of the two camps, the noblest of the two parties and the best of the two religions', and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�. 'Ikrimah said: �The idolaters said: 'O Allah, we do not recognize that which Muhammad has brought, so judge between us with the truth', and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse (If ye sought a judgment�)�.

O you who have faith, respond to God and the Messenger when he invites you to that which will give you life, and know that God comes between a man and his heart, and unto Him you will be mustered. In the tongue of the folk of allusion, response is of two sorts: one is the response of tawḤīd, and the other the response of realization. TawḤīd is that the faithful say “one,” and realization is that the rec- ognizers be one. TawḤīd is the attribute of the travelers, and realization is the state of those snatched away. The first is the attribute of the Bosom Friend, the second the attribute of the Beloved. The Bosom Friend was a traveler and stood before the Exalted Threshold in the station of service: “Surely I have turned my face toward Him who originated the heavens and the earth, un- swerving” [6:79]. The Beloved was snatched away, sitting in reverence at the top of good fortune. The Beginningless Presence addressed him, “Peace be upon thee, O Prophet, and God's mercy and His blessing.” The traveling of the wayfarers lies in the outward response of following the Messenger. The attraction of the snatched away lies in the secret core's response of contemplating the Knower of Unseen Things. This is why that master of the Tariqah said, “Respond to God in your secret core and His Mes- senger through your outwardness when he invites you to that which will give you life. The life of the souls is through following the Messenger, and the life of the hearts is through contemplating the unseen things.” May I be a ransom for the men dwelling in the Unseen, their secret cores roaming in all that is there! The reality of life will not be turned over to anyone among the folk of creation without the response of tawḤīd and the signet of realization. Hence this call of exaltedness came from the prophetic presence: “I have been commanded to fight the people until they say 'No god but God.'” When He invites you to that which will give you life. In reality the folk of life and the living are those who are pure of backsliding, far from suspicion, famous for friendship, released from the ruling power of the soul, their hearts joined to the Patron, their secret cores adorned with awareness of the Real, alive in the breeze of intimacy, having found the beginningless reminder and reached the Friend The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O God, nothing other than recognizing You is happiness, and nothing other than finding You is life.

(O ye who believe! Betray not Allah and His messenger�) [8:27]. This verse was revealed about Abu Lubabah ibn �Abd al-Mundhir al-Ansari. What happened is that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, besieged the Jews of Banu Qurayzah for 21 nights when they requested peace from the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, on the same terms that their brothers from Banu�l-Nadir had secured before, i.e. that they join their brothers in Adhri�at and Jericho in Syria. But he refused to grant it to them and insisted that they submit to the judgment of Sa�d ibn Mu�adh. They refused to do so and said: �Send us Abu Lubabah, instead�. Abu Lubabah was loyal to them, for his property, wife and children were with them. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, sent him to them, they said to him: �O Abu Lubabah, what do you think we should do? Should we accept the judgment of Sa�d ibn Mu�adh?� Abu Lubabah made a gesture to his throat, i.e. that they should not do it, for they will be slaughtered. Abu Lubabah said: �I straightaway realised that I had betrayed Allah and His Messenger�. And then this verse was revealed about him. When the verse was revealed, Abu Lubabah tied himself to one of the columns of the mosques and said: �By Allah, I will not taste food or drink until Allah relents on me or I die�. He remained in this state for seven days, neither eating nor drinking, until Allah, exalted is He, relented on him. When it was said to him: �O Abu Lubabah! You have been pardoned�, he said: �By Allah, I will not untie myself; I want the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, to untie me�. The Prophet went and untied him with his own hands. Abu Lubabah then said: �The completion of my repentance requires that I migrate from the abode of my people where I had committed the sin and that I let go of my property�. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said to him: �It is enough that you give a third of it to charity�.

O you who have faith, if you are wary of God, He will appoint for you a criterion, acquit you of your ugly deeds, and forgive you. And God is the possessor of a tremendous bounty. He is saying to the faithful, “If you go by the road of godwariness and take godwariness as your refuge in every state, He will give you a criterion of knowledge and inspiration through which you will separate truth from falsehood, and the straightness of the road from the losing of the road. This is complete knowledge for those of you who are knowers, and sound inspiration for those of you who are recognizers.” The criterion of the knower is the indications of the Shariah and the clear proofs reached by expenditure of effort and the acquisition of servanthood. The criterion of the recognizer is a light from the Unseen and a clear mirror for the divine bestowal and lordly inspiration. In this verse people have spoken of another intimation and beautiful subtlety: He is saying, “O you who have planted the root of the tree of faith! If you nurture it with godwariness, it will give forth three fruits: One is the criterion, as He says: 'He will appoint for you a criterion.' An- other is acquittal: 'acquit you of your ugly deeds.' Third is forgiveness: 'and forgive you.'” The criterion is bestowal of recognition, the acquittal lightening of burdens, the forgiveness bestowal of eminence. The bestowal of recognition is appropriate, the lightening of burdens beautiful, and the bestowal of eminence complete.

(And when they said: O Allah! If this be indeed the truth from Thee�) [8:32-33]. The Commentators of the Qur�an said: �This was revealed about al-Nadr ibn al-Harith who said: �[O Allah!] If what Muhammad (s)ays is true, then rain down stones on us� �. Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Ja�far informed us> Muhammad ibn �Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hakam> Muhammad ibn Ya�qub al-Shaybani> Ahmad ibn al-Nadr ibn �Abd al-Wahhab> �Ubayd Allah ibn Mu�adh> his father> Shu�bah> �Abd al-Hamid, the companion of al-Ziyadi who heard Anas ibn Malik saying: �Abu Jahl said: (If this be indeed the truth from Thee, then rain down stones on us or bring on us some painful doom!) and so this was revealed (But Allah would not punish them while thou wast with them)�. This was narrated by Bukhari from Ahmad ibn al-Nadr and by Muslim from �Abd Allah ibn Mu�adh.

(And when they said: O Allah! If this be indeed the truth from Thee�) [8:32-33]. The Commentators of the Qur�an said: �This was revealed about al-Nadr ibn al-Harith who said: �[O Allah!] If what Muhammad (s)ays is true, then rain down stones on us� �. Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Ja�far informed us> Muhammad ibn �Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hakam> Muhammad ibn Ya�qub al-Shaybani> Ahmad ibn al-Nadr ibn �Abd al-Wahhab> �Ubayd Allah ibn Mu�adh> his father> Shu�bah> �Abd al-Hamid, the companion of al-Ziyadi who heard Anas ibn Malik saying: �Abu Jahl said: (If this be indeed the truth from Thee, then rain down stones on us or bring on us some painful doom!) and so this was revealed (But Allah would not punish them while thou wast with them)�. This was narrated by Bukhari from Ahmad ibn al-Nadr and by Muslim from �Abd Allah ibn Mu�adh.

(And their worship at the (holy) House is naught but whistling and hand-clapping�) [8:35]. Abu Isma'il ibn 'Amr al-Naysaburi informed us> Hamzah ibn Shabib al-Ma'mari> 'Ubayd Allah ibn Ibrahim ibn Balawayh> Abu'l-Muthanna Mu'adh ibn al-Muthanna> 'Amr>> his father> Qurrah> 'Atiyyah> Ibn 'Umar who said: �They [people in the pre-Islamic period] used to go round the Ka'bah clapping - and he described how they clapped - and whistling - and he described how they whistled - and they also put their cheeks on the ground. Then this verse was revealed�.

(Lo! those who disbelieve spend their wealth in order that they may debar (men) from the way of Allah�) [8:36]. Said Muqatil and al-Kalbi: �This was revealed, on the Day of Badr, about those who customarily fed the pilgrims in the season of Hajj. They were twelve men: Abu Jahl ibn Hisham, 'Utbah and Shaybah the sons of Rabi'ah, Nubayh and Munabbih the sons of Hajjaj, Abu'l-Bukhturi ibn Hisham, al-Nadr ibn al-Harith, Hakim ibn Hizam, Ubayy ibn Khalaf, Zam'ah ibn al-Aswad, al-Harith ibn 'Amir ibn Nawfal, al-'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib. All these men were from Quraysh and each one of them gave ten containers of food daily�. Sa'id ibn Jubayr and Ibn Abza said: �This verse was revealed about Abu Sufyan ibn Harb who had hired, on the day of Uhud, two thousand Abyssinian men to fight against the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, without counting those Arabs who answered his call to fight with him. About them, Ka'b ibn Malik says: We came to sea waves in the middle of which Were Abyssinians, some of whom were veiled and some with their heads uncovered. There were three thousand of them whereas we were a group of nobles: three hundred of us or four hundred at most. Al-Hakam ibn 'Utaybah said: �Abu Sufyan spent 40 Uqiyyah of gold on the idolaters at the Battle of Uhud, and so this verse was revealed about him�. Reporting from his sources, Muhammad ibn Ishaq said: �When the Quraysh returned to Mecca after their defeat at Badr and Abu Sufyan returned unharmed with their caravan, a group of men from the Quraysh whose fathers, sons and brothers were killed at this battle, including 'Abd Allah ibn Abi Rabi'ah, 'Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl, Safwan ibn Umayyah, went to see Abu Sufyan and those who had a share in that caravan and said to them: 'O men of Quraysh, Muhammad has harmed you and killed the best among you, so help us with this property which escaped unscathed that haply we may take revenge on him for what was inflicted on us'. They did and Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�.

And know that, whatever booty you take, a fifth is for God, and for His Messenger and for kinsfolk, orphans, the indigent, and the son of the road, if you have faith in God…. Booty is the property of unbelievers that Muslims capture in the time of battle and struggle. It is said that struggle is of two sorts: the outer struggle and the inner struggle. The outer struggle is against the unbelievers with the sword, and the inner struggle is against the soul with severity. Those who struggle with the sword are three men: the wage-earning striver, the forgiven wounded, and the martyred slain. In the same way, the strugglers against the soul are three men: One strives, and he is among the pious; one attacks, and he is among the Pegs; one is released, and he is among the Substitutes. He who struggles against the unbelievers becomes rich by possessing the booty. He who struggles against the soul becomes rich in the heart. When someone is rich in property, the prop- erty is either permitted and a tribulation, or forbidden and a curse. When someone is rich in the heart, his aspiration is greater than this world and his desire greater than the afterworld. MuṣṬafā called struggle against the soul more magnificent and greater. He said: " We have returned from the lesser struggle to the greater struggle. " This is because you can avoid the enemy, but you cannot avoid the soul. When you get along with an enemy, you will be secure from his evil. If you get along with the soul, you will see your own destruction. One of the misfortunes of the soul is what MuṣṬafā said: " God gazes not on your forms or your deeds, but He gazes on your hearts. " He said that He gazes on the heart, but He does not gaze on the soul. It is well known that gazing is the result of love, and not gazing the result of hatred. If the Real did not consider the soul an enemy, He would gaze on it just as He gazes on the heart. This makes it mandatory to consider the soul an enemy. One must conform with the Real and not gaze on the soul with affection and love. In the battlefield of struggle, one must act against it severely with the sword of discipline.

Wert thou to see when the angels take those who disbelieve, beating their faces and their backs: " Taste the chastisement of the burning! " Death is of four sorts: the death of degradation and the curse, the death of remorse and affliction, the death of the gift and generosity, and the death of honor and contemplation. The death of the curse is the death of the unbelievers, the death of remorse is the death of the disobedient, the death of generosity is the death of the faithful, and the death of contemplation is the death of the prophets. About the death of the curse He says, " Wert thou to see when the angels take those who disbe- lieve. " In another place He says, " Wert thou to see when the wrongdoers are in the throes of death... [6:93]. O master! If only you were to see the unbelievers in the agonies of death and the blows and strikes of the chastising angels, before whose harshness, awesomeness, and fearsomeness heaven and earth tremble-the unbelievers caught amidst smoke, fire, unpleasant smells, and the striking of the angels, their hearts overcome by severance from possessions. If they complain, the pain increases, and if they weep, the call no good news [25:22] comes to them. The dust of unworthiness sits on their face, the fire of severance falls into their spirit, hell is filled with their moaning, and the angels disown them. Beware of the severity of severance! Beware of the wound of separation! " As for the death of remorse, that is the death of the disobedient, who passed their days in heedlessness and fell short in the acts of obedience and worship. Suddenly they fall into the grasp of the angel of death and are caught by death's agonies. On one side they see the angel of mercy, but they are ashamed because they did little good. On the other side they see the angel of chastise- ment, and they fear because they did bad and ugly things. The hapless, disobedient servant stays in the middle, his eyes toward the Unseen to see what will come. Will generosity or degradation come from there? Will he see bounty or justice? Then the angels present his obedience and dis- obedience to him, his obedience being little, his disrespect great.

(O Prophet! Allah is Sufficient for thee and those who follow thee of the believers) [8:64]. Abu Bakr ibn al-Harith informed us> Abu'l-Shaykh al-Hafiz> Ahmad ibn 'Amr ibn 'Abd al-Khaliq> Safwan ibn al-Mughlis> Ishaq ibn Bishr> Khalaf ibn Khalifah>> Anas ibn Hashim al-Rummani> Sa'id ibn Jubayr> Ibn 'Abbas who said: �First, there were thirty-nine people who had embraced Islam and then 'Umar embraced Islam and they became forty. Gabriel, peace be upon him, brought down the words of Allah, exalted is He: (O Prophet! Allah is Sufficient for thee and those who follow thee of the believers)�.

(It is not for any prophet to have captives until he hath made slaughter in the land�) [8:67-69]. Said Mujahid: �It happened that some of that which was revealed from heaven agreed with many of 'Umar's opinions. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, consulted the Muslims about the prisoners of Badr, they said: 'O Messenger of Allah, they are your cousins, so free them in exchange for a ransom'. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab said: 'No, O Messenger of Allah, you should kill them'. Then this verse was revealed (It is not for any prophet to have captives until he hath made slaughter in the land)�. Said Ibn 'Umar: �The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, consulted Abu Bakr regarding the prisoners of Badr, and the latter said: 'They are your people and clan, let them go!' But when he consulted 'Umar, the latter said: 'Kill them'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, freed them in exchange for a ransom. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (It is not for any prophet to have captives until he hath made slaughter in the land) up to his words (Now enjoy what ye have won, as lawful and good�) [8:69]. When the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, met 'Umar, he said to him: 'We almost incurred a misfortune as a result of opposing your view!' � Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Husayn al-Hiri informed us> Hajib ibn Ahmad> Muhammad ibn Hammad> Abu Mu'awiyah> al-A'mash> 'Amr ibn Murrah> Abu 'Ubaydah> 'Abd Allah who said: �When the prisoners were brought on the Day of Badr, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'What do you think we should do with these prisoners?' Abu Bakr said: 'O Messenger of Allah, these are your people and kin, spare them and wait that haply Allah, glorious and majestic is He, may relent on them'. 'Umar, on the other hand said: 'They have given you the lie and expelled you, bring them forward and chop their heads off'. 'Abd Allah ibn Rawahah said: 'Look for a valley with abundant wood and burn them there', upon which al-'Abbas commented: 'You have severed your ties of kinship!' The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, did not answer them and then went in.

(It is not for any prophet to have captives until he hath made slaughter in the land�) [8:67-69]. Said Mujahid: �It happened that some of that which was revealed from heaven agreed with many of 'Umar's opinions. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, consulted the Muslims about the prisoners of Badr, they said: 'O Messenger of Allah, they are your cousins, so free them in exchange for a ransom'. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab said: 'No, O Messenger of Allah, you should kill them'. Then this verse was revealed (It is not for any prophet to have captives until he hath made slaughter in the land)�. Said Ibn 'Umar: �The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, consulted Abu Bakr regarding the prisoners of Badr, and the latter said: 'They are your people and clan, let them go!' But when he consulted 'Umar, the latter said: 'Kill them'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, freed them in exchange for a ransom. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (It is not for any prophet to have captives until he hath made slaughter in the land) up to his words (Now enjoy what ye have won, as lawful and good�) [8:69]. When the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, met 'Umar, he said to him: 'We almost incurred a misfortune as a result of opposing your view!' � Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Husayn al-Hiri informed us> Hajib ibn Ahmad> Muhammad ibn Hammad> Abu Mu'awiyah> al-A'mash> 'Amr ibn Murrah> Abu 'Ubaydah> 'Abd Allah who said: �When the prisoners were brought on the Day of Badr, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'What do you think we should do with these prisoners?' Abu Bakr said: 'O Messenger of Allah, these are your people and kin, spare them and wait that haply Allah, glorious and majestic is He, may relent on them'. 'Umar, on the other hand said: 'They have given you the lie and expelled you, bring them forward and chop their heads off'. 'Abd Allah ibn Rawahah said: 'Look for a valley with abundant wood and burn them there', upon which al-'Abbas commented: 'You have severed your ties of kinship!' The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, did not answer them and then went in.

(It is not for any prophet to have captives until he hath made slaughter in the land�) [8:67-69]. Said Mujahid: �It happened that some of that which was revealed from heaven agreed with many of 'Umar's opinions. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, consulted the Muslims about the prisoners of Badr, they said: 'O Messenger of Allah, they are your cousins, so free them in exchange for a ransom'. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab said: 'No, O Messenger of Allah, you should kill them'. Then this verse was revealed (It is not for any prophet to have captives until he hath made slaughter in the land)�. Said Ibn 'Umar: �The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, consulted Abu Bakr regarding the prisoners of Badr, and the latter said: 'They are your people and clan, let them go!' But when he consulted 'Umar, the latter said: 'Kill them'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, freed them in exchange for a ransom. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (It is not for any prophet to have captives until he hath made slaughter in the land) up to his words (Now enjoy what ye have won, as lawful and good�) [8:69]. When the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, met 'Umar, he said to him: 'We almost incurred a misfortune as a result of opposing your view!' � Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Husayn al-Hiri informed us> Hajib ibn Ahmad> Muhammad ibn Hammad> Abu Mu'awiyah> al-A'mash> 'Amr ibn Murrah> Abu 'Ubaydah> 'Abd Allah who said: �When the prisoners were brought on the Day of Badr, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'What do you think we should do with these prisoners?' Abu Bakr said: 'O Messenger of Allah, these are your people and kin, spare them and wait that haply Allah, glorious and majestic is He, may relent on them'. 'Umar, on the other hand said: 'They have given you the lie and expelled you, bring them forward and chop their heads off'. 'Abd Allah ibn Rawahah said: 'Look for a valley with abundant wood and burn them there', upon which al-'Abbas commented: 'You have severed your ties of kinship!' The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, did not answer them and then went in.

(O Prophet! Say unto those captives who are in your hands�) [8:70]. Said al-Kalbi: �This was revealed about al-�Abbas ibn �Abd al-Muttalib, �Aqil ibn Abi Talib and Nawfal ibn al-Harith. Al-�Abbas was imprisoned at Badr while he had with him twenty Uqiyyah of gold which he had taken with him to Badr to feed the idolaters. He was one of ten men who had taken it upon themselves to feed the entire army of the unbelievers. His turn to finance the army of the unbelievers had not come yet when he fell prisoner, and so it was taken with him, and the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, then took the gold from him. He said: �I spoke with the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, to take the twenty Uqiyyah of gold which he took from me as my ransom. He refused and said: �We will not accept as your ransom something with which you had left to use against us�. The ransom of my nephew �Aqil ibn Abi Talib cost me twenty measures of silver, and so I said to him: �By Allah, you have left me begging Quraysh for the rest of my life�. He said: �And where is the gold you gave to Umm Fadl before you headed toward Badr? You said to her: If anything were to happen to me, this is for you and for �Abd Allah, al-Fadl and Qutham�. I said: Who informed you about this? He replied: Allah informed me about it. I said: I bear witness that you are truthful. I gave her the gold and none but Allah knew about it. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that you are the Messenger of Allah�. Al-�Abbas said: �And Allah gave me much better than he took from me, as He said. I had twenty slaves all of whom were tending abundant riches instead of the twenty Uqiyyah of gold, and I still hope to gain forgiveness from my Lord�

Surely those who have faith, who have emigrated, and struggled with their possessions and their souls in God's path, and those who have given refuge and help, they are friends of one another. O chevalier! The pearl of union with Him is not something that falls into the hand of someone with low aspiration. It is a gem that comes to hand in the box of the self-purification of the purifiers, a jasmine that appears in the gardens of the realities of the passionate. Each of those who dove for this pearl became on his own the sun of desire, the lodging place of the covenant of good fortune, and was accepted by the Divine Presence. Their attribute is what the Exalted Lord says at the end of the surah: They " have faith, who have emigrated, and struggled with their possessions and their souls in God's path, and those who have given refuge and help. " Their decree is this: " They are friends of one another. "

Those-they are the faithful in truth. Theirs is forgiveness and a generous provision. Their created nature is this: Those-they are the faithful in truth. Their reward is this: Theirs is forgiveness and a generous provision. The generous provision is that the sun of union shines forth from the east. It shines, and all of their hopes become hard cash, their increase becomes infinite, the story of water and clay is concealed, and the beginningless Friend is seen face-to-face. Both eyes and heart see through the Friend. When the light of self-disclosure appears in someone's heart, it's no great wonder that like Moses he finds comfort in the mountain.

(And if they break their pledges after their treaty (hath been made with you) and assail your religion, then fight the heads of disbelief�) [9:12]. Said Ibn 'Abbas: �This verse was revealed about Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, al-Harith ibn Hisham, Suhayl ibn 'Amr, 'Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl and all the chiefs of Quraysh who broke their pledges, and these are the ones who planned to expel the Messenger of Allah�.

(It is not for the idolaters to tend Allah�s sanctuaries�) [9:17]. The commentators of the Qur�an said: �When al-�Abbas [ibn �Abd al-Muttalib] was taken prisoner on the Day of Badr, the Muslims went over to him and insulted him for his unbelief as well as for severing his ties of kinship, and �Ali [ibn Abi Talib] addressed him in a harsh way. Al-�Abbas answered them: �How is it that you mention our evil deeds but you do not mention our good deeds?� �Ali retorted: �Do you have any good deeds?� He replied: �Yes, we tend to the Sacred Mosque, serve as gatekeepers of the Ka�bah, provide water for the pilgrims, and relieve the afflicted�. Allah, glorious and majestic is He, revealed as an answer to al-�Abbas (It is not for the idolaters to tend Allah�s sanctuaries)�.

(Count ye the slaking of a pilgrim's thirst and tendance of the Inviolable Place of Worship as (equal to the worth of) him who believeth in Allah) [9:19]. Abu Ishaq al-Tha'alibi, may Allah have mercy on him, informed us> 'Abd Allah ibn Hamid al-Wazzan> Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ja'far> ibn 'Abd Allah al-Munadi> Abu Dawud Sulayman ibn al-Ash'ath> Abu Tubah al-Rabi' ibn Nafi' al-Halabi> Mu'awiyah ibn Salam> Zayd ibn Salam> Abu Salam> al-Nu'man ibn Bashir who said: �I was sitting close to the pulpit of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, when a man said: 'I do not care if I ever do any other good works after I quench the thirst of the pilgrims', another man said: 'I do not care if I ever do any other work after tending to the Sacred Mosque', and a third man said: 'Jihad in the way of Allah is much better than what you have mentioned'. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab rebuked them, saying: 'Do not raise your voices so close to the pulpit of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, (this happened to be a Friday). But what I will do is that, after performing my prayer, I will go in and ask the verdict of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, concerning that about which you have differed'. He did, and then Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Count ye the slaking of a pilgrim's thirst and tendance of the Inviolable Place of Worship) up to His words (Allah guideth not wrongdoing folk�)�. This was narrated by Muslim from al-Hasan ibn 'Ali al-Halwani from Abu Tubah. Said Ibn 'Abbas, according to the report of al-Walibi: �When he was taken prisoner on the Day of Badr, al-'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib said: 'If you have precedence over us through Islam, migration and Jihad, we also used to tend to the Sacred Mosque, quench the thirst of the pilgrims and relieve the afflicted'. Allah, exalted is He, revealed therefore (Count ye the slaking of a pilgrim's thirst and tendance of the Inviolable Place of Worship�)�. Al-Hasan, al-Sha'bi and al-Qurazi said: �This verse was revealed about 'Ali, al-'Abbas and Talhah ibn Shaybah who boasted to each other. Talhah said: 'I am the master of the House, its key is in my hand.

(O ye who believe! Choose not your fathers nor your brethren for friends if they take pleasure in disbelief rather than faith) [9:23-24]. Said al-Kalbi: �When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was commanded to migrate to Medina, some men went to their fathers, brothers or wives and said: 'We have been commanded to migrate to Medina'. Thus, some people liked the command and hastened to execute it, while the wives, dependents and children of others hung on to some others, saying: 'We beseech you by Allah not to leave us to no one, causing our waste and peril'. The hearts of these softened for them and, as a result, they refrained from migrating. These words of Allah, exalted is He, were then revealed to rebuke them (O ye who believe! Choose not your fathers nor your brethren for friends if they take pleasure in disbelief rather than faith�)�. As for those who stayed back in Mecca and did not migrate, Allah, exalted is He, revealed (then wait till Allah bringeth His command to pass�) [9:24], meaning fighting and the conquest of Mecca.

(O ye who believe! Choose not your fathers nor your brethren for friends if they take pleasure in disbelief rather than faith) [9:23-24]. Said al-Kalbi: �When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was commanded to migrate to Medina, some men went to their fathers, brothers or wives and said: 'We have been commanded to migrate to Medina'. Thus, some people liked the command and hastened to execute it, while the wives, dependents and children of others hung on to some others, saying: 'We beseech you by Allah not to leave us to no one, causing our waste and peril'. The hearts of these softened for them and, as a result, they refrained from migrating. These words of Allah, exalted is He, were then revealed to rebuke them (O ye who believe! Choose not your fathers nor your brethren for friends if they take pleasure in disbelief rather than faith�)�. As for those who stayed back in Mecca and did not migrate, Allah, exalted is He, revealed (then wait till Allah bringeth His command to pass�) [9:24], meaning fighting and the conquest of Mecca.

God has already helped you in many homesteads, and on the Day of Hunain, when you admired your own multitude. Self-admiration is the ghoul of the road. It is the blight of the religion, the cause of the disappear- ance of blessings, the key to separation, and the basis of heedlessness. Self-admiration is that you consider your own obedience important, you consider yourself the source of your service, and you look upon your service with the eye of approval. By the decree of the reports and the fatwa of prophethood, the obedience of such a person will never go any further than his own head. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O God, I am trying to avoid two claims, and from each I ask the help of Your bounty: fancying that I have something of my own, and fancying that I have a right- ful due against You. “O God, I have risen up from where I was, but I have not yet reached where I want to go. “O God, anyone who has not yet been killed by selflessness is a corpse. When someone's por- tion of friendship is talk, he has been defrauded. When someone's religion is not the road of spirit and heart, what business has he with the Friend?” MuṣṬafā said, “If you did not sin, I would be afraid that you would have something worse than sin: self-admiration! self-admiration!” He also said, “What a bad servant! A servant who imagines, becomes conceited, and forgets the Great, the Transcendent. What a bad servant! A servant who dominates, transgresses, and for- gets the All-Compelling, the Highest. What a bad servant! A servant who is negligent, inattentive, and forgets the tomb and disintegration. What a bad servant! A servant who is worried, oversteps, and forgets the beginning and the end.”

(O ye who believe! Lo! many of the (Jewish) rabbis and the (Christian) monks devour the wealth of mankind wantonly) [9:34]. This was revealed about the scholars and doctors of the people of the Book. They used to accept bribes from the communality of people; these are the gains they used to obtain from the common people. (They who hoard up gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah�) [9:34]. Abu Ishaq al-Muqri� informed us> �Abd Allah ibn Hamid> Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim> Muhammad ibn Nusayr> �Amr ibn Zurarah> Hushaym> Husayn> Zayd ibn Wahb who said: �I passed by al-Rabadhah where I came across Abu Dharr. I asked him: �What brought you here?� He said: �I was in Syria and I had a disagreement with Mu�awiyah regarding the verse (They who hoard up gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah�). Mu�awiyah was of the opinion that it was revealed about the people of the Book, while I said to him that it was revealed about them as well as about us. We had an altercation after which he wrote to �Uthman to complain about me. �Uthman wrote to me asking me to go to Medina. When I went to Medina, a lot of people came to see me, as if they had never seen me before. I mentioned this to �Uthman and he said: �If you wish you can move somewhere else and stay close�. This is what has brought me to this place. Had they appointed an Abyssinian slave as my leader, I would have heard and obeyed him� �. This was narrated by Bukhari from Qutaybah from Jarir from Husayn; he also narrated it from �Ali from Hushaym. The Commentators of the Qur�an also disagree about the occasion of this verse. Some are of the opinion that it was specifically revealed about the people of the Book. Al-Suddi thought it was revealed about the people of the Qiblah while al-Dahhak was of the opinion that it was about both the people of the Book and the Muslims. �Ata� also reported that Ibn �Abbas said regarding the words of Allah (They who hoard up gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah�): �He means of the believers�. Abu�l-Hasan Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Najjar informed us> Sulayman ibn Ayyub al-Tabarani> Muhammad ibn Dawud ibn Sadaqah> �Abd Allah ibn Mu�afa> Sharik> Muhammad ibn �Abd Allah al-Muradi> �Amr ibn Murrah> Salim ibn Abi al-Ja�d> Thawban who said: �When the verse (They who hoard up gold and silver�) was revealed, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: �May gold and silver perish!� He was asked: �O Messenger of Allah, which of the riches should we hoard?� He said: �A heart which is grateful, a tongue which remembers Allah and a righteous wife� �.

(O ye who believe! What aileth you that when it is said unto you: Go forth in the way of Allah�) [9:38]. This verse was revealed to prompt the believers to take part in the Battle of Tabuk. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, returned from al-Ta'if and the Battle of Hunayn, he gave orders to attack the Byzantines. This happened at a time when people were living in straitened circumstances, the land was suffering from drought; it was very hot and it was time to reap the dates which were by then ripe. People found it very hard to conquer the Byzantines; they preferred to stay at home and enjoy the shade. The idea of going out to fight was very hard to accept. When Allah knew people's slackness, He revealed this verse.

(Go forth, light-armed and heavy-armed�) [9:41]. This was revealed about those who excused themselves from taking part in fighting because of their farms, work and preoccupations. But Allah, exalted is He, refused to excuse them unless they went forth to fight, despite of what had ensued from them before. Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya informed us> Abu �Amr ibn Matar> Ibrahim ibn �Ali> Yahya ibn Yahya> Sufyan ibn �Uyaynah> Ibn Jad�an [�Ali ibn Zayd]> Anas who said: �Abu Talhah recited (Go forth, light-armed and heavy-armed) and then said: �I see that Allah has not excused anyone�, and he went to Syria to take part in Jihad and remained there until he died�. Said al-Suddi: �One day, al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad, who was a huge, fat man, went to see the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, to complain to him [about his size] and to dispense him from taking part in fighting. (Go forth, light-armed and heavy-armed) was revealed about him. But when this verse was revealed, people found it very hard on them, and so Allah, exalted is He, abrogated it and revealed instead (Not unto the weak nor unto the sick�) [9:91]�.

(Had it been a near adventure and an easy journey they had followed thee�) [9:42-47]. Allah then revealed about those hypocrites who stayed behind and did not take part in the Battle of Tabuk (Had it been a near adventure and an easy journey they had followed thee�). He also revealed (Had they gone forth among you they had added to you naught save trouble�). This is because when the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, set forth, he camped his troops at al-Wada� �s mountain trail while �Abd Allah ibn Ubayy camped his troops at a clear trodden path below the mountain trail of al-Wada�. His troops were no less than the troops which were with the Prophet. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, marched again, �Abd Allah ibn Ubayy, the hypocrites and the doubters stayed behind. To consol His Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Had they gone forth among you they had added to you naught save trouble�).

(Had it been a near adventure and an easy journey they had followed thee�) [9:42-47]. Allah then revealed about those hypocrites who stayed behind and did not take part in the Battle of Tabuk (Had it been a near adventure and an easy journey they had followed thee�). He also revealed (Had they gone forth among you they had added to you naught save trouble�). This is because when the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, set forth, he camped his troops at al-Wada� �s mountain trail while �Abd Allah ibn Ubayy camped his troops at a clear trodden path below the mountain trail of al-Wada�. His troops were no less than the troops which were with the Prophet. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, marched again, �Abd Allah ibn Ubayy, the hypocrites and the doubters stayed behind. To consol His Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Had they gone forth among you they had added to you naught save trouble�).

(Had it been a near adventure and an easy journey they had followed thee�) [9:42-47]. Allah then revealed about those hypocrites who stayed behind and did not take part in the Battle of Tabuk (Had it been a near adventure and an easy journey they had followed thee�). He also revealed (Had they gone forth among you they had added to you naught save trouble�). This is because when the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, set forth, he camped his troops at al-Wada� �s mountain trail while �Abd Allah ibn Ubayy camped his troops at a clear trodden path below the mountain trail of al-Wada�. His troops were no less than the troops which were with the Prophet. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, marched again, �Abd Allah ibn Ubayy, the hypocrites and the doubters stayed behind. To consol His Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Had they gone forth among you they had added to you naught save trouble�).

(Had it been a near adventure and an easy journey they had followed thee�) [9:42-47]. Allah then revealed about those hypocrites who stayed behind and did not take part in the Battle of Tabuk (Had it been a near adventure and an easy journey they had followed thee�). He also revealed (Had they gone forth among you they had added to you naught save trouble�). This is because when the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, set forth, he camped his troops at al-Wada� �s mountain trail while �Abd Allah ibn Ubayy camped his troops at a clear trodden path below the mountain trail of al-Wada�. His troops were no less than the troops which were with the Prophet. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, marched again, �Abd Allah ibn Ubayy, the hypocrites and the doubters stayed behind. To consol His Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Had they gone forth among you they had added to you naught save trouble�).

(Had it been a near adventure and an easy journey they had followed thee�) [9:42-47]. Allah then revealed about those hypocrites who stayed behind and did not take part in the Battle of Tabuk (Had it been a near adventure and an easy journey they had followed thee�). He also revealed (Had they gone forth among you they had added to you naught save trouble�). This is because when the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, set forth, he camped his troops at al-Wada� �s mountain trail while �Abd Allah ibn Ubayy camped his troops at a clear trodden path below the mountain trail of al-Wada�. His troops were no less than the troops which were with the Prophet. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, marched again, �Abd Allah ibn Ubayy, the hypocrites and the doubters stayed behind. To consol His Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Had they gone forth among you they had added to you naught save trouble�).

(Had it been a near adventure and an easy journey they had followed thee�) [9:42-47]. Allah then revealed about those hypocrites who stayed behind and did not take part in the Battle of Tabuk (Had it been a near adventure and an easy journey they had followed thee�). He also revealed (Had they gone forth among you they had added to you naught save trouble�). This is because when the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, set forth, he camped his troops at al-Wada� �s mountain trail while �Abd Allah ibn Ubayy camped his troops at a clear trodden path below the mountain trail of al-Wada�. His troops were no less than the troops which were with the Prophet. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, marched again, �Abd Allah ibn Ubayy, the hypocrites and the doubters stayed behind. To consol His Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Had they gone forth among you they had added to you naught save trouble�).

(Of them is he who saith: Grant me leave (to stay at home) and tempt me not�) [9:49]. This was revealed about Jadd ibn Qays the hypocrite. This is because when the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was preparing for the Battle of Tabuk, he said to him: �O Abu Wahb, would you not like to have scores of Byzantine women and men as concubines and servants?� He said: �O Messenger of Allah, my people know that I am very fond of women and, if I see the women of the Byzantines, I fear I will not be able to hold back. So do not tempt me by them, and allow me not to join and, instead, I will assist you with my wealth�. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, turned away from him and said: �I allow you�, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse. When this verse was revealed, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, asked Banu Salamah, the tribe of al-Jadd: �Who is your master, O Banu Salamah?� They said: �Al-Jadd ibn Qays except that he is a miser and a coward�. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, responded: �Is there any sickness worse than miserliness? Rather, your master is the fair, curly-haired youth: Bishr ibn al-Bara' ibn Ma'rur�. Hasan ibn Thabit composed about him the following lines: And the Messenger of Allah said and truth catches up With him about whom he said: who do you consider as your master. We said: Jadd ibn Qays even though We consider him a miser and a troublesome one. He said: what is worse than that With which you reproach Jadd and which make a hand needy. And he appointed Bishr ibn al-Bara' as chief for his magnanimity And it is befitting that Bishr who answers others' call be appointed as chief. When a delegation comes to him, he spends his wealth And says: take it for tomorrow it will return. The verses after this one verse and up to Allah's words (The alms are only for the poor and the needy) [9:60] are about the hypocrites.

(And of them is he who defameth thee in the matter of the alms�) [9:58]. Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Tha�labi informed us> �Abd Allah ibn Hamid> Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Hafiz> Muhammad ibn Yahya> �Abd al-Razzaq> Ma�mar> al-Zuhri> Abu Salamah ibn �Abd al-Rahman> Abu Sa�id al-Khudri who said: �While the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was dividing alms, Ibn Dhu Khuwaysirah al-Tamimi (Hurqus ibn Zuhayr, the origin of the Kharijites) came to him and said: �Be fair with us, O Messenger of Allah!� The Prophet replied to him: �Woe unto you, who is going to be fair if I am not?� And then the verse (And of them is he who defameth thee in the matter of the alms�) was revealed�. This was narrated by Bukhari from �Abd Allah ibn Muhammad from Hisham from Ma�mar. Al-Kalbi said: �This was revealed about those whose hearts are to be reconciled, i.e. the hypocrites. One of them, whose name is al-Jawaz, said to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace: �You did not divide [the alms] fairly!� And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (And of them is he who defameth thee in the matter of the alms)�.

The freewill offerings are for the poor, and the indigent.... and the son of the road.... O you whose heart has never for one day walked in poverty and who, in your whole life, have never for one hour sat like Jacob in poverty's house of sorrows! O you who have never for one day placed your own attributes with the description of poverty in the mangonel of struggle and never for an instant sacrificed your spirit in the cave of exile and the state of indigence by following the beloved Prophet and the sincerely truthful Abū Bakr. You suppose that without tasting the drink of poverty and wearing the clothes of discipline today you will dwell tomorrow in the domiciles of the High Chambers with the poor among the Companions and the men of the road of poverty. Your supposition is erroneous and your self-governance wrong. They were a thousand times more passionate about that poverty of theirs than you are about being a chief. ʿAbd al-RaḤmān ibn ʿAwf was one of the paragons among the Companions, but the beauty of poverty had hidden its face from him. One day he came in to the presence of MuṣṬafā, and Saʿd ibn Muʿādh, a poor Companion, was present. Words came forth from ʿAbd al-RaḤmān that made the poor man sad, and he became ill. Then ʿAbd al-RaḤmān made one-half of his wealth a sacrifice for the suf- fering of his heart, but he would not accept. God's Messenger said, " O Saʿd, why will you not accept? " He said, " O Messenger of God! The pearl of poverty is too exalted to be sold even for the whole of this world. " For a hundred years the sun must rise in the east and set in the west before the beginningless decree gives a recognizer the eyes to see the beauty of poverty and recognize the exaltedness of poverty. He must have a pain that makes him familiar with seeking. But this seeking is not like the seeking of other things. This pain is not like other pains, which arise from the vapor of forbidden morsels and appear at the top of the stomach. The pain of the religion and the vision of this seeking arise from the level of the liver of the free man, and the exaltedness of the poverty in the hearts of seekers appears in the measure of their pain.

(And of them are those who vex the Prophet and say: He is only a hearer�) [9:61-62]. This was revealed about a group of hypocrites who used to harm the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, by saying about him things that should not be said. One of them said: �Do not do this, for we fear that what we say might reach him and he will punish us�. Al-Julas ibn Suwayd said: �We will say whatever we wish to say and when we go to him he will believe whatever we tell him, for Muhammad is nothing but a hearer�, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse. Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Yasar and others said: �This verse was revealed about one hypocrite whose name is Nabtal ibn al-Harith. This man was dark-skinned, red-eyed, burned in the cheeks and deformed. It is this man about whom the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: �Whoever wants to look at the devil, let him look at Nabtal ibn al-Harith�. This man was a tale-bearer; he related the words of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, to the hypocrites. And when he was told to stop doing this, he said: �Indeed, Muhammad is but a hearer, he believes everything that people tell him. We say whatever we like and then we go to him and swear that we never said it and he believes us�. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�. Al-Suddi said: �A group of hypocrites, including Julas ibn Suwayd ibn al-Samit and Wadi�ah ibn Thabit, gathered and wanted to speak ill of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace. They had with them a boy from the Helpers by the name of �Amir ibn Qays. These hypocrites mocked the Prophet and then spoke and said �By Allah, if what Muhammad (s)ays is true, then we are worse than asses�. The boy got angry and said: �By Allah, what Muhammad (s)ays is true and you are worse than asses�. The boy then went to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and informed him about what they said. The Prophet summoned them and when he asked them they swore that �Amir was a liar. �Amir also swore that they were liars. �Amir then prayed: �O Allah, do not make us disperse until you show who is lying and who s telling the truth�. And so this verse was revealed about them (And of them are those who vex the Prophet and say: He is only a hearer) and He also revealed (They swear by Allah to you (Muslims) to please you�) [9:62]�.

(And of them are those who vex the Prophet and say: He is only a hearer�) [9:61-62]. This was revealed about a group of hypocrites who used to harm the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, by saying about him things that should not be said. One of them said: �Do not do this, for we fear that what we say might reach him and he will punish us�. Al-Julas ibn Suwayd said: �We will say whatever we wish to say and when we go to him he will believe whatever we tell him, for Muhammad is nothing but a hearer�, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse. Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Yasar and others said: �This verse was revealed about one hypocrite whose name is Nabtal ibn al-Harith. This man was dark-skinned, red-eyed, burned in the cheeks and deformed. It is this man about whom the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: �Whoever wants to look at the devil, let him look at Nabtal ibn al-Harith�. This man was a tale-bearer; he related the words of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, to the hypocrites. And when he was told to stop doing this, he said: �Indeed, Muhammad is but a hearer, he believes everything that people tell him. We say whatever we like and then we go to him and swear that we never said it and he believes us�. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�. Al-Suddi said: �A group of hypocrites, including Julas ibn Suwayd ibn al-Samit and Wadi�ah ibn Thabit, gathered and wanted to speak ill of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace. They had with them a boy from the Helpers by the name of �Amir ibn Qays. These hypocrites mocked the Prophet and then spoke and said �By Allah, if what Muhammad (s)ays is true, then we are worse than asses�. The boy got angry and said: �By Allah, what Muhammad (s)ays is true and you are worse than asses�. The boy then went to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and informed him about what they said. The Prophet summoned them and when he asked them they swore that �Amir was a liar. �Amir also swore that they were liars. �Amir then prayed: �O Allah, do not make us disperse until you show who is lying and who s telling the truth�. And so this verse was revealed about them (And of them are those who vex the Prophet and say: He is only a hearer) and He also revealed (They swear by Allah to you (Muslims) to please you�) [9:62]�.

(The hypocrites fear lest a Surah should be revealed concerning them, proclaiming what is in their hearts�) [9:64]. Al-Suddi said: �One hypocrite said: �By Allah, I wish to be flogged one hundred lashes rather than have something revealed about us that exposes us�. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed this verse�. And Mujahid said: �They [the hypocrites] used to say things amongst themselves and then exclaim: �Haply, Allah will not reveal our secret!� �.

(And if thou ask them (O Muhammad) they will say: We did but talk and jest�) [9:65]. Said Qatadah: �As the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was heading for the Battle of Tabuk, a hypocrite, who was ahead of him, said: 'Does this man really hope to conquer the castles and fortresses of Syria, far be it! Far be it'. Allah, exalted is He, informed His Prophet about what they said, and so the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, ordered the troops to stop marching. He went to those hypocrites and informed them of what they said. They said to him in reply: 'O Messenger of Allah, we were just engaging in idle talk and jesting'. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed this verse�. Zayd ibn Aslam and Muhammad ibn Ka'b said: �One of the hypocrites said at the Battle of Tabuk: 'I have never seen anyone whose belly is more hungry, whose tongue lies more or who is more cowardly in fighting than these reciters of ours', meaning the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and his Companions. 'Awf ibn Malik said to him: 'You lie; rather, you are a hypocrite! I will inform the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, of what you have just said'. But 'Awf found that the Qur'an had already informed him. The man went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, when he had already mounted his camel and set off, and said to him: 'O Messenger of Allah! We were but talking idly and jesting; we were talking the way riders do to make our travelling easy' �. Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah al-Jawzaqi informed us> Bishr ibn Ahmad ibn Bishr> Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Musa al-Halwani> Muhammad ibn Maymun al-Khayyat> Isma'il ibn Dawud al-Mihrajani> Malik ibn Anas> Nafi'> Ibn 'Umar who said: �I saw 'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy walking in front of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, while being hit by stones [as a result of the galloping of horses], and saying: 'O Messenger of Allah, we were only talking idly and jesting', and the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, responded: '(Was it at Allah and His revelations and His messenger that ye did scoff ?)' �.

(They swear by Allah that they said nothing (wrong)�) [9:74]. Said al-Dahhak: �The hypocrites set off with the Messenger of Allah for Tabuk. But whenever they met alone with each other, they insulted the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and his Companions and discredited the religion. Then Hudhayfah reported what they said to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said to them: 'O hypocrites, what is this that I hear you have said?' They swore to him that they said nothing wrong, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this to give them the lie�. Said Qatadah: �It was mentioned to us that a man from Juhaynah had a fight with another man from Ghifar and the latter had the upper hand. When he saw this, 'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy cried: 'O Banu Aws, help your brother for, by Allah, the like of us and the like of Muhammad is as it was said: fatten your dog and he will eat you. By Allah, once we enter Medina, the mighty among us will drive out the lowly'. A Muslim man heard this and informed the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. When he sent for 'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy, the latter swore by Allah that he did not say it. Allah, exalted is He, revealed this to give him the lie�. (And they purposed that which they could not attain�) [9:74]. Al-Dahhak said: �They were planning to push the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, off his mount on the night of the steep road. These were men who agreed to kill the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, while they were with him. They waited for an opportunity to take him by surprise. Their chance came when the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, was taking a steep road. Some of them came forward while others stayed behind. It was night time. They said to each other: 'Once he starts going down this steep road, we will push him off his mount into the ravine'. His guide that night was 'Ammar ibn Yasir and his navigator was Hudhayfah. When Hudhayfah heard the sound of camels' hoofs, he looked behind and saw veiled men. He shouted: 'Go away, go away, O enemies of Allah!' They stopped and the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, proceeded to his destination. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (And they purposed that which they could not attain�)�.

(And of them is he who made a covenant with Allah�) [9:75]. Abu'l-Hasan Muhammad ibn al-Fadl informed us> Abu 'Amr Muhammad ibn Ja'far ibn Matar> Abu 'Imran Musa ibn Sahl al-Jawni> Hisham ibn 'Ammar> Muhammad ibn Shu'ayb> Mu'adh ibn Rifa'ah al-Salami> Abu 'Abd al-Malik 'Ali ibn Yazid> al-Qasim ibn 'Abd al-Rahman> Abu Umamah al-Bahili said: �One day Tha'labah ibn Hatib al-Ansari went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, pray that Allah provides me with wealth'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'Woe to you! A little for which you give thanks is better than plenty which you cannot bear'. Another time, he said to him: 'Do you not like to be like the Prophet of Allah. By Him in whose Hand is my soul, if I wanted mountains would flow with gold and silver for me'. Tha'labah said: 'By Him Who sent you with the truth, if you pray that Allah provides me with wealth, I will give each one his due'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, then prayed: 'O Allah, give Tha'labah wealth!' Tha'labah then acquired some sheep and they multiplied like worms until Medina became too small to contain all his sheep. He left Medina and settled in one of its valleys. At that point, he only prayed Zuhr and 'Asr in congregation but not the other prescribed prayers. Then his sheep multiplied even more and he stopped praying in congregation altogether except for the Friday prayer. His sheep kept multiplying like worms until he finally stopped praying even the Friday prayer. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, asked about him and when they told him that his sheep had multiplied so much that he had to leave Medina and stopped praying in congregation, he said: 'Woe unto Tha'labah', he said it thrice. Then Allah, glorious and majestic is He, revealed (Take alms of their wealth, wherewith thou mayst purify them) [9:103] and He also revealed the obligation of Zakah. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, sent two men, one from Juhaynah and one from Banu Salim, to collect Zakat, and wrote for them instructions how to collect it.

(Those who point at such of the believers as give the alms willingly�) [9:79]. Sa'id ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Ja'far informed us> Abu 'Ali al-Faqih> Abu 'Ali Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Maliki> Abu Musa Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna> Abu'l-Nu'man al-Hakam ibn 'Abd Allah al-'Ijli> Shu'bah> Salman> Abu Wa'il> Abu Mas'ud who said: �When the verses of alms were revealed, we used to ask to carry people stuff in exchange for a wage so that we could earn and pay alms from what we had earned. A man came and gave a lot for alms, some people commented: 'He is just showing off'. Another man came and gave a measure (sa') for alms, and they commented: 'Allah can do without the measure of this man', and so Allah revealed (Those who point at such of the believers as give the alms willingly and such as can find naught to give but their endeavours�)�. This is narrated by Bukhari from Abu Qudamah 'Ubayd Allah ibn Sa'id>> Abu Nu'man. Qatadah and others said: �The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, encouraged people to give alms. 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf took with him four thousand silver coins and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, all my wealth consists of eight thousand silver coins, I have kept half of it for my dependents and brought the other half for you to spend it in the way of Allah'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'may Allah bless you for that which you have given and for that which you have withheld'. Allah did indeed bless the wealth of 'Abd al-Rahman to the extent that when he died he was survived by two wives who inherited one eighth of his fortune. This one eighth was estimated at 160 thousand silver coins. On the same day, 'Asim ibn 'Adiyy ibn al-'Ajlan gave to charity one hundred wasq of dates while Abu 'Aqil al-Ansari gave one sa' of dates. Abu 'Aqil said: 'O Messenger of Allah, I spent the night drawing water with a rope until I earned two measures (sa') of dates; I kept one for my family and brought the other'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, commanded him to spread it among the received alms. The hypocrites defamed 'Abd al-Rahman and 'Asim, saying ''Abd al-Rahman and 'Asim gave alms only to show off. Allah and His Messenger can indeed do without the measure (sa') of Abu 'Aqil; he only wished to appear righteous'. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�.

(And never (O Muhammad) pray for one of them who dieth, nor stand by his grave...) [9:84]. Isma'il ibn 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Ahmad al-Wa'iz informed us through dictation> 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Nasr> Yusuf ibn 'Asim al-Razi> al-'Abbas ibn al-Walid al-Narsi> Yahya ibn Sa'id al-Qattan> 'Ubayd Allah ibn 'Umar> Nafi'> Ibn 'Umar who said: �When 'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy died, his son went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: 'Give me your gown to use as a shroud for my father, perform the prayer of the dead on him and seek forgiveness for him'. The Prophet gave him his gown and then said: 'Inform me [when you are ready to bury him] so that I may perform the prayer of the dead on him'. When he was informed and He was about to perform the prayer, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab pulled him and said: 'Did Allah not forbid praying on the hypocrites?' The Prophet said: 'I have been given the choice to seek forgiveness for them or not to seek it', and so he performed the prayer of the dead on him. Then this verse was revealed (And never (O Muhammad) pray for one of them who dieth, nor stand by his grave) upon which he stopped praying on them�. This was narrated by Bukhari from Musaddid and by Muslim from Abu Qudamah 'Ubayd Allah ibn Sa'id, and both Musaddid and 'Ubayd Allah ibn Sa'id related it from Yahya ibn Sa'id. Isma'il ibn Ibrahim al-Nasrabadhi informed us> Abu Bakr ibn Malik al-Qati'i> 'Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal> Ahmad ibn Hanbal> Ya'qub>> ibn Ibrahim ibn Sa'd> his father> Muhammad ibn Ishaq> al-Zuhri> 'Ubayd Allah ibn 'Abd Allah ibn 'Utbah ibn Mas'ud> Ibn 'Abbas who said: �I heard 'Umar ibn al-Khattab saying: 'When 'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy died, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was called to pray on him. When he stood up in front of the body to perform the prayer, I moved around until I stood close to his chest and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, will you pray on the enemy of Allah 'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy who said such-and-such on such a day and such-and-such on such a day', and he counted all the things he had said, all while the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, kept smiling.

(Nor unto those whom, when they came to thee (asking) that thou shouldst mount them, thou didst tell: I cannot find whereon to mount you) [9:92]. This verse was revealed about the weepers who were seven in number: Ma�qil ibn Yasar, Sakhr ibn Khunays, �Abd Allah ibn Ka�b al-Ansari, �Utbah ibn Zayd al-Ansari, Salim ibn �Umayr, Tha�labah ibn �Anamah and �Abd Allah ibn Mughaffal. These men went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: �O Prophet of Allah, Allah, glorious and majestic is He, has recommended that we go out [to fight for His sake], so carry us with you � even though we wear mended slippers and sewed sandals � so that we fight with you�. He said to them: �I do not have any mounts on which to carry you�, upon which they withdrew crying. Mujahid said: �This verse was revealed about the sons of Muqarrin: Ma�qil, Suwayd and al-Nu�man�.

(The wandering Arabs are more hard in disbelief and hypocrisy�) [9:97]. This verse was revealed about some Bedouins from the tribes of Asad and Ghatafan as well as about some other Bedouins who settled in Medina.

And the preceders, the first among the emigrants and the helpers and those who followed them in beautiful doing-God approves of them, and they approve of Him.

(And among those around you of the wandering Arabs there are hypocrites, and among the townspeople of Medina (there are some who) persist in hypocrisy�) [9:101]. Al-Kalbi said: �This verse was revealed about the tribes of Juhaynah, Muzaynah, Ashja�, Aslam and Ghifar. As for the townspeople of al-Medina mentioned in the verse, this refers to �Abd Allah ibn Ubayy, Jadd ibn Qays, Mu�attib ibn Qushayr, al-Julas ibn Suwayd and Abu �Amir al-Rahib�.

And others who acknowledged their sins; they mixed a wholesome deed with another that is ugly. Perhaps God will turn toward them. Surely God is forgiving, ever-merciful.

(And (there are) others who have acknowledged their faults�) [9:102-103]. Ibn al-Walibi reported that Ibn 'Abbas said: �This verse was revealed about some people who failed to join the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, at the Battle of Tabuk and then regretted it, saying: 'We are enjoying shelter and shade with the women while the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and his Companions are engaging in Jihad. By Allah, we shall tie ourselves to the columns [of the mosque] and remain tied until the Messenger himself unties and pardons us'. And they tied themselves to the columns of the mosque. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, returned from the battle, he passed by them and asked about who they were. He was told: 'These are the people who failed to join you. They vowed to remain in their position until you untie them yourself'. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'And I swear that I will not set them free until I am commanded to do so nor will I pardon them unless it is Allah Who pardons them first. They have failed to join me and shunned fighting alongside the Muslims'. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse. When it was revealed, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, sent for them, freed them and pardoned them. When they were freed, they said: 'O Messenger of Allah, these are our riches which caused us to fail to join you, spend them on charity on our behalves to purify us and ask forgiveness for us'. He said: 'I was not commanded to take anything from your riches'. Allah, glorious and majestic is He, then revealed (Take alms of their wealth, wherewith thou mayst purify them and mayst make them grow�) [9:103]�. Said Ibn 'Abbas: �They were ten men�.

And others who are made to hope for God's command; either He will chastise them or He will turn toward them. And God is knowing, wise. In these verses the Generous Lord, the lovingly kind, the able, the pure-knowing knower, the one and unique in name and mark, divides MuḤammad's community into three groups according to the degrees of their faith, the disparity of their acts, and the difference of their character traits. This is the same classification that He provided in detail elsewhere: " Among them are wrongdoers to themselves, among them are moderate, and among them are preceders in good deeds " [35:32]. There He mentioned them together and here apart, but the classification and the ranking in terms of virtue are the same. First are the preceders, the first, and they are the preceders. Second are others who have acknowledged their sins, and they are the moderate. Third are others made to hope for God's command, and they are the wrongdoers. He begins with the preceders. In the beginningless they have the precedence of solicitude and the bounty of guidance from God. They are the first chieftains and the forebears of this commu- nity, the best of creation, the lamps of guidance, the signposts of the religion, the treasurers of the Real, the pillars of the submission, the masters of this world, the interceders of the next world, the chosen of mortal man, the boast of Adam's children. They are the Companions of MuṣṬafā and the chosen of God, the leaders of the submission and the Sunnah, the first in the religion and recogni- tion. They were the first to hear the Real's message and they were the first to accept the message- bringer and to welcome the Real. One group are the Emigrants. They left behind their homes and families and lost their means and homeland for God's sake. Another group are the Helpers, who accepted MuṣṬafā with heart and spirit and gave his companions refuge. As a bird nurtures its chick, they nurtured the submission. They made their bodies and spirits shields for the religion of the submission. They took this world as lowly and they placed their love in the religion. Another group are the Followers who came later: and those who followed them in beautiful doing.

(And as for those who chose a place of worship out of opposition and disbelief, and in order to cause dissent among the believers, and as an outpost for those who warred against Allah and His messenger aforetime, they will surely swear: We purposed naught save good. Allah beareth witness that they verily are liars. Never stand (to pray) there�) [9:107-108]. The commentators of the Qur'an said: �The Banu 'Amr ibn 'Awf built a mosque at Quba' and sent for the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, to come to them. He went there and prayed in that mosque. Their brothers from the Banu Ghunm ibn 'Awf envied them resentfully and said: 'Let us built a mosque and send for the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, to pray in it as he prayed in the mosque of our brothers, and let Abu 'Amir al-Rahib (the monk) also pray in it when he comes back from Syria'. This Abu 'Amir had embraced Christianity and became a monk in the pre-Islamic period. But when the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, moved to Medina, Abu 'Amir rejected the religion of Islam and showed enmity toward it. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, called him then Abu 'Amir al-Fasiq (the corrupt) [instead of Abu 'Amir al-Rahib (the monk)]. Abu 'Amir left to Syria and then sent a letter to the hypocrites in which he wrote: 'Prepare yourselves and make ready whatever you can of force and weapons. Built a mosque for me, for I am going to the Caesar to request him to send with me Byzantine soldiers so that I drive out Muhammad and his Companions'. And so, they built for him a mosque by the Quba' mosque. Those who built this mosque were 12 men: Khidham ibn Khalid (this mosque of opposition was an extension of his house), Tha'labah ibn Hatib, Mu'attib ibn Qushayr, Abu Habibah ibn al-Az'ar, 'Abbad ibn Hunayf, Jariyah ibn 'Amir, his two sons Majma' and Zayd, Nabtal ibn Harith, Bahzaj ibn 'Uthman, Bijad ibn 'Uthman and Wadi'ah ibn Thabit. When they finished building this mosque, they went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: 'We have built a mosque for the sick and the needy and also for use in rainy and wintry nights, and we would like you to come and pray in it'.

(And as for those who chose a place of worship out of opposition and disbelief, and in order to cause dissent among the believers, and as an outpost for those who warred against Allah and His messenger aforetime, they will surely swear: We purposed naught save good. Allah beareth witness that they verily are liars. Never stand (to pray) there�) [9:107-108]. The commentators of the Qur'an said: �The Banu 'Amr ibn 'Awf built a mosque at Quba' and sent for the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, to come to them. He went there and prayed in that mosque. Their brothers from the Banu Ghunm ibn 'Awf envied them resentfully and said: 'Let us built a mosque and send for the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, to pray in it as he prayed in the mosque of our brothers, and let Abu 'Amir al-Rahib (the monk) also pray in it when he comes back from Syria'. This Abu 'Amir had embraced Christianity and became a monk in the pre-Islamic period. But when the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, moved to Medina, Abu 'Amir rejected the religion of Islam and showed enmity toward it. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, called him then Abu 'Amir al-Fasiq (the corrupt) [instead of Abu 'Amir al-Rahib (the monk)]. Abu 'Amir left to Syria and then sent a letter to the hypocrites in which he wrote: 'Prepare yourselves and make ready whatever you can of force and weapons. Built a mosque for me, for I am going to the Caesar to request him to send with me Byzantine soldiers so that I drive out Muhammad and his Companions'. And so, they built for him a mosque by the Quba' mosque. Those who built this mosque were 12 men: Khidham ibn Khalid (this mosque of opposition was an extension of his house), Tha'labah ibn Hatib, Mu'attib ibn Qushayr, Abu Habibah ibn al-Az'ar, 'Abbad ibn Hunayf, Jariyah ibn 'Amir, his two sons Majma' and Zayd, Nabtal ibn Harith, Bahzaj ibn 'Uthman, Bijad ibn 'Uthman and Wadi'ah ibn Thabit. When they finished building this mosque, they went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: 'We have built a mosque for the sick and the needy and also for use in rainy and wintry nights, and we would like you to come and pray in it'.

Surely God has bought from the faithful their souls and their possessions so that they may have the Garden.... So rejoice in your sale you have made to Him. In the tasting of the recognizers and the path of the elect, this verse is a place for the joy of the friends and a playing field for the secret cores of the sincerely truthful. It is felicitation for the faithful, a fitting felicitation and an appropriate bestowal of eminence. It is a felicitation that is the heart's intimacy and the spirit's message, the ornament of the session and the capital of the indigent, the adornment of tongues and the life of hearts. It is a generous felicitation, from a gen- erous Lord-generous in Essence, generous in attributes, generous in love, generous in caressing, generous in bestowal. The servant himself is bestowed by His bounty, and then He buys back what He Himself be- stowed. He makes the transaction, but He bestows all the profit on the servant and accepts the loss for Himself. This is beautiful doing and generosity, loving kindness and gentleness. In the Torah of Moses God said, " The Garden is My Garden and the possessions My posses- sions. Buy My Garden with My possessions! If you profit, that is yours, and if you lose, that is Mine. O children of Adam, I did not create you to profit from you. I created you only so that you would profit from Me. " In the Beginningless, before the servant's existence, the Lord of the Worlds bought him. He was the seller and the buyer. He Himself sold and He Himself bought. In the Shariah of MuṣṬafā, it is not permitted for the buyer and seller to be the same, unless it be a father, for whom it is permitted on condition of tenderness, negation of suspicion, perfect loving kindness, and fatherly love. What then do you say about someone who is more clement and merciful toward the servant than a father, a God whose loving kindness has no bounds and whose love is greater? Given that it is permitted for a father, it is more appropriate and more complete in the case of the loving Creator. Moreover, the Exalted Lord knew that the servants are bad-tempered, breakers of the Cov- enant, and disloyal to it.

The repenters, the worshipers, the praisers, the journeyers, the bowers, the prostra- tors, the commanders to the honorable and prohibiters of the improper, the keepers of God's bounds-give good news to the faithful! These are the attributes of the faithful, the conduct of the familiar, and the custom of the friends, who are the hindmost in this world and the foremost in that world. They are the witnesses among the prophets and the interceders for the people, the masters of this world, the lovers of the religion and the beloved of the Real. In this verse their grades are mentioned in a pleasing arrangement. He praises them and bears witness to them, beginning with the lowest of them. First He mentions the lower ones, those who repent and turn back from sin, so that they will not stay ashamed and stricken in heart, but will have new hope. He is saying: " The repenters, those who have turned back from sin, who apologize and are regretful; the worshipers, those who worship, observe the commands, and do service; the praisers, those who praise, extol, and laud; the journeyers, those who go on the hajj, keep the fast, and seek for knowl- edge; the bowers, those who are humble, who serve others, who obey the commands of a pir they have reached; the prostrators, those who say the prayer, who plead, and who put their faces in the dust for the sake of My majesty; the commanders to the honorable, those who command the people to the religion, who call out and invite to obedience, who give good counsel and advise each other; and prohibiters of the improper, the just sultans, those who call to remembrance and who bring the people away from evil and who receive them with spirit and heart. Give good news to the faithful! Give good news to the faithful that whatever shortcoming they may have, My unneediness is equal to it. Whatever may be displeasing from them, My loving kindness is on top of that. Whatever the servant may hope, My bounty is greater than that. Give good news to the faithful that when I chose them, I saw the faults. I did not approve before I had examined the hidden things. With My own unneediness I bought the servants as they are.

(It is not for the Prophet, and those who believe, to pray for the forgiveness of idolaters�) [9:113-114]. Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah al-Shirazi informed us> Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Khamirawayh al-Harawi> Abu'l-Hasan 'Ali ibn Muhammad al-Khuza'i> Abu'l-Yaman> Shu'ayb> al-Zuhri> Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab> his father who said: �When Abu Talib was about to die, the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, entered in on him while Abu Jahl and 'Abd Allah ibn Abi Umayyah were present. He said: 'O uncle, say with me, there is no god but Allah, so that I can plead with Allah in your favour'. Abu Jahl and Ibn Abi Umayyah said: 'O Abu Talib, will you shun the religion of 'Abd al-Muttalib?' And they kept talking to him such that the last thing he uttered was: 'I follow the religion of 'Abd al-Muttalib'. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, then said: 'I will pray for your forgiveness as long as I am not forbidden from doing it'. This verse was then revealed (It is not for the Prophet, and those who believe, to pray for the forgiveness of idolaters even though they may be near of kin (to them) after it hath become clear that they are people of hell-fire)�. This was narrated by Bukhari from Ishaq ibn Ibrahim> 'Abd al-Razzaq> Ma'mar, and also by Muslim from Harmalah> Ibn Wahb> Yunus; both Ma'mar and Yunus related it from al-Zuhri. Abu Sa'id ibn Abi 'Amr al-Naysaburi informed us> al-Hasan ibn 'Ali ibn Mu'ammil> 'Amr ibn 'Abd Allah al-Basri> Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab> Ja'far ibn 'Awn> Musa ibn 'Ubaydah> Muhammad ibn Ka'b al-Qurazi who said: �I heard that when Abu Talib fell ill to the illness that led to his death, the Quraysh said to him: 'O Abu Talib, send for your nephew to send you something to cure you from the Garden he mentions'. The emissary went to find the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. He found him sitting with Abu Bakr. He said to him: 'O Muhammad, your uncle says to you that he is old and weak and he wants you to send him some of the food and drink of the Garden you mention so that he regains health'. Abu Bakr replied: 'Allah, exalted is He, has made it forbidden for the unbelievers'.

(It is not for the Prophet, and those who believe, to pray for the forgiveness of idolaters�) [9:113-114]. Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah al-Shirazi informed us> Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Khamirawayh al-Harawi> Abu'l-Hasan 'Ali ibn Muhammad al-Khuza'i> Abu'l-Yaman> Shu'ayb> al-Zuhri> Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab> his father who said: �When Abu Talib was about to die, the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, entered in on him while Abu Jahl and 'Abd Allah ibn Abi Umayyah were present. He said: 'O uncle, say with me, there is no god but Allah, so that I can plead with Allah in your favour'. Abu Jahl and Ibn Abi Umayyah said: 'O Abu Talib, will you shun the religion of 'Abd al-Muttalib?' And they kept talking to him such that the last thing he uttered was: 'I follow the religion of 'Abd al-Muttalib'. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, then said: 'I will pray for your forgiveness as long as I am not forbidden from doing it'. This verse was then revealed (It is not for the Prophet, and those who believe, to pray for the forgiveness of idolaters even though they may be near of kin (to them) after it hath become clear that they are people of hell-fire)�. This was narrated by Bukhari from Ishaq ibn Ibrahim> 'Abd al-Razzaq> Ma'mar, and also by Muslim from Harmalah> Ibn Wahb> Yunus; both Ma'mar and Yunus related it from al-Zuhri. Abu Sa'id ibn Abi 'Amr al-Naysaburi informed us> al-Hasan ibn 'Ali ibn Mu'ammil> 'Amr ibn 'Abd Allah al-Basri> Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab> Ja'far ibn 'Awn> Musa ibn 'Ubaydah> Muhammad ibn Ka'b al-Qurazi who said: �I heard that when Abu Talib fell ill to the illness that led to his death, the Quraysh said to him: 'O Abu Talib, send for your nephew to send you something to cure you from the Garden he mentions'. The emissary went to find the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. He found him sitting with Abu Bakr. He said to him: 'O Muhammad, your uncle says to you that he is old and weak and he wants you to send him some of the food and drink of the Garden you mention so that he regains health'. Abu Bakr replied: 'Allah, exalted is He, has made it forbidden for the unbelievers'.

O you who have faith, be wary of God and be among the truthful! This is a command, a bestowal of eminence, and a felicitation: a command of God, a bestowal of eminence through good news, and a beautiful felicitation; a lovingly kind command, a heart- holding bestowal of eminence, a magnificent felicitation. He is commanding to bring the servants near to Himself, bestowing eminence so that the travelers will give their hearts to His love, giving felicitation so that they will seek His companionship. The servants who get the work done are those who have His love in their hearts. Those who reap the Real's fruit are those who have living hearts. Those who remember Him are those who receive eminence from the Real. They pass their days in the world with the world's folk like strangers. O you who have faith! This is a call of generosity and an infinite caress. The ears for the Real's call are the seven members of the body. When He discloses Himself, the sorrows of the two worlds are forgotten. He put the call of generosity in front so that hearing it, the servant would find it easy to carry the burden of the decree. What is the decree? " Be wary of God and be among the truthful! " He commands to godwariness, and He commands truthfulness in godwariness. Godwariness is the basis of the submission, truthfulness the perfection of faith. Godwariness is the beginning of familiarity, truthfulness the mark of love. Godwariness is the capital of the wor- shipers, truthfulness the mark of the light of recognition. Godwariness belongs to the travelers in the world of the Shariah, truthfulness belongs to the pain-stricken in the world of the Tariqah. When someone comes to possess the good fortune of godwariness and he is shown the beauty of truthful- ness, his mark is that he strikes fire into the hut of his own existence, launches the ship of createdness in the ocean of nonbeing, makes his children into orphans, bids farewell to his near ones and family, and cleanses his inwardness of habits and customs. His outwardness comes to be adorned with the light of the Shariah, his secret core filled with love for the Real, his heart emptied of love for this world, his secret core of desire for the afterworld-he has no joining with this world or the folk of this world, and no ease with the afterworld. Remembering the two worlds is no doubt to be pregnant. If you claim to be a man, do not be pregnant. You were good-do not be bad for the sake of talk. You were a man-do not be a woman for color and scent. [DS 326, 325]

(And the believers should not all go out to fight�) [9:122]. Al-Kalbi reported that Ibn �Abbas said: �When Allah, exalted is He, revealed the defects of the hypocrites due to their failure to join Jihad, the believers said: �By Allah, we will never fail to join any military conquest or expedition undertaken by the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace�. So when the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, ordered the march of military expeditions to fight the enemy, all the Muslims went out to fight and left the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, alone in Medina. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed this verse�.

Now there has come to you a Messenger from among yourselves; what troubles you is difficult for him; eagerly desirous is he for you, clement and ever-merciful toward the faithful. He is in contact with you through mortal nature, but he is different from you in election. " O MuḤammad, keep on saying, 'I am a mortal like you' [18:110]. I will keep on saying, 'Did He not find thee an orphan and shelter thee?' [93:6]. You are the orphan pearl, the like of whom is no other. How can a mortal reach the forefront of the Real's acceptance such that He puts up with his disdain? By thy life! [15:72]. How can a mortal be worthy for the grasp of the attributes to explain the polish of his heart's mirror by virtue of solicitude? Did We not expand for thee thy breast? [94:1]. How can a mortal be such that the auditor of the beginningless and endless register turns over the acceptance and rejection of the creatures to his threshold? Whatever the Messenger gives you, take; whatever he prohibits you, forgo [59:7]. O Muhammad! You are something dif- ferent, and your work is different! " You are a tongue other than the speech of every mouth, you are a soul other than the gentleness of anyone else. You are a thought other than in anyone's mind. How can they reach you? You are indeed another world. It has been said that in friendship are both separation and union. In the era of the Beginningless, when love was apportioned, the wail of separation's pain rose up from the house of Abū Jahl, and the glitter of union's sun shone from the chamber of MuḤammad the Arab. From that separation was created a hell in the heart of the estranged, and from this union was affirmed a paradise in the breast of the friends. After the sun of union shone on that paragon, the world's folk were bewildered in his work. The wish for his beauty and for following him rose up in the prophets. Moses the Speaking Com- panion said, " Lord God, make me one of his community! " Jesus the Spirit of God said, " Lord God, make me the door-keeper of his threshold! " [Abraham] the Bosom Friend said, " Lord God, make my mention flow on the tongue of his community! " More wonderful than all this is that the paragon himself became bewildered in the steps of his own path.