📘 (Blessed is He Who, if He will, will assign thee better than (all) that�) [25:10]. Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Muqri' informed us> Ahmad ibn Abi al-Furat> 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ya'qub Bukhari> Muhammad ibn Humayd ibn Farqad> Ishaq ibn Bishr> Juwaybir> al-Dahhak> Ibn 'Abbas who said: �When the idolaters ridiculed the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, for his poverty, saying [as reported by Allah's words in 25:7] (What aileth this messenger (of Allah) that he eateth food and walketh in the markets?), the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, felt sad. Gabriel, peace be upon him, came from his Lord to console him, saying: 'Peace be with you, O Messenger of Allah. The Lord of might greets you with the greeting of peace and says to you (We never sent before thee any messengers but lo! They ate food and walked in the markets�) [25:20]', i.e. they seek their livelihood in this world�. He said: �As Gabriel, peace be upon him, and the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, were talking, Gabriel, peace be upon him, started melting until he shrunk to the size of a lentil. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, asked: 'What happened that made you shrink to the size of a lentil?' He said: 'O Muhammad, a gate of heaven which has never been opened before has opened just now, and I fear that your people will be chastised for ridiculing you regarding your poverty'. The Prophet and Gabriel, peace be upon them, started crying. Then Gabriel returned to his initial state and said: 'Good news for you, O Muhammad! Here is Ridwan, the keeper of the Garden who brings you contentment from your Lord'. Ridwan came along holding a bundle of shining light, greeted them with the greeting of peace, and then said: 'O Muhammad, the Lord of might greets you with the greeting of peace and says to you: here are the keys to the stores of this world which are like the wing of gnat compared with what you have with Me in the Afterlife, which will remain undiminished'. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, looked at Gabriel, peace be upon him, as if seeking his counsel, upon which Gabriel struck the ground with his hand and said: 'Humble yourself to Allah!' And so he said: 'O Ridwan, I have no need for them; poverty is much beloved to me.

📘 We shall advance on what deeds they have done and make them scattered dust. One of the pirs of the Tariqah recited this verse and said, “Of all the Qur'an's verses, this is the sweetest. When He throws these tainted deeds of ours to the wind of unneediness, He will act to- ward us with bounty alone. What He does with His bounty will be fitting for His generosity. What is fitting for His generosity is better than what is fitting for our deeds.” Then he said, “He has things rightfully due against us, like obedience and worship, but we in our makeup are destitute, and He has decreed our destitution. When the decreer decrees that someone be destitute, the plaintiff can have nothing against him. 'If he has suffered hardship, that has comfort in view.' “Whenever someone is destitute, it is incumbent to give him respite so that he may acquire some capital. But, we will never acquire capital until that world, when He will pour down the treasure of His bounty on our heads. We are not wealthy through our own being-we are wealthy through His attributes. Nothing comes from us or our deeds. When an affair is opened up for us, it opens up from His bounty. “When He accepts us, He does not accept us because of the form of our practice. He accepts us because of the readiness that He gazed upon in His beginningless knowledge. Whatever there may be in the world follows upon that readiness. Wait until tomorrow when He makes that readiness apparent and opens the doors of the treasuries. He will give the treasury of mercy to the disobedi- ent and the treasury of bounty to the destitute so that they may discharge what is rightfully due to Him from His treasury, for the servants cannot discharge His rightful due from what belongs to them.” The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O God, whatever I counted as a mark curtained me and whatever I considered a basis was foolish. O God, lift up this curtain from me totally, remove from me the defect of my being, and do not leave me in the hand of striving! O God, let none of our deeds circle around us! Lift us up from our loss! O Beautiful-Doer, straighten out what You made without us! Entrust us not to what You can put up with!”

📘 (On the day when the wrong-doer gnaweth his hands�) [25:27]. �Ata� al-Khurasani reported that Ibn �Abbas said: �Ubayy ibn Khalaf used to go to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, keep his company and listen to his speech without believing in him. �Uqbah ibn Abi Mu�ayt, then, rebuked him for doing so, and so this verse was revealed about it�. Said al-Sha�bi: � �Uqbah [ibn Abi Mu�ayt] was a friend of Umayyah ibn Khalaf. When �Uqbah embraced Islam, Umayyah said to him: �I do not want to ever see you if you follow Muhammad�. �Uqbah disbelieved again and renounced Islam to please his friend, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�. Other commentators of the Qur�an said: �Ubayy ibn Khalaf and �Uqbah ibn Abi Mu�ayt were allies. It was the habit of �Uqbah, upon returning from a travel, to invite the nobles of his people to eat with him. �Uqbah also used to keep the company of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. He returned one day from one of his travels, made some food and invited people and the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, to eat. When the food was placed before the invitees, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said to him: �I will not eat your food until you bear witness that there is no deity except Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah�. �Uqbah said: �I bear witness that there is no deity except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah�, upon which the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, ate from his food. Ubayy was absent on that occasion. But when he was informed of what had happened, he said to �Uqbah: �You have renounced the religion of your forefathers?� �Uqbah said: �By Allah, I did not. I had a man in my house who refused to eat my food unless I bore witness to him and I was ashamed to let him leave my house without him eating, and so I bore witness to him and he ate my food�. Ubayy said to him: �I will never be happy with you until you go to him, spit on his face and step on his neck�.

📘 Dost thou not see thy Lord, how He stretched out the shadow? Had He willed, He would have made it still. Then We made the sun an indicator of it. In terms of outwardness, this verse explains a miracle of MuṣṬafā, but in the meaning understood by the folk of the realities, it alludes to the special favors and redoublings of generosity he received. The explanation of the miracle is that during one of his journeys, God's Messenger dismounted under a tree at the time of the afternoon nap. All the companions were with him, but the tree's shadow was small. To make manifest a miracle for MuḤammad, the Exalted Lord pulled out that shadow by His power such that the whole army of Islam had a place in the tree's shadow. In that state the Exalted Lord sent down this verse, and this miracle became manifest. As for the explanation of his being singled out for proximity and nearness, it is that Dost thou not see thy Lord is addressed to those who have presence and declares the eminence of the proxi- mate. In the station of whispered prayer Moses wanted to see the Real: “Show me, that I may gaze upon Thee!”[7:143]. The exalted majesty of the Unity pulled the bodkin of severity across the eyes of his holiness: “Thou shalt not see Me” [7:143]. To MuṣṬafā He said, “Dost thou not see thy Lord?”: “Do you not see Me and gaze upon Me? What do you want with another?” O chevalier! Do not suppose that when someone reaches the contemplation of the exaltedness of the Possessor of Majesty, his passion and yearning will become less by one iota. In the liver of a fish there is a heat that will not settle down by one iota even if you gather together all the oceans of the world. A heart that is a heart is at work today and it will also be at work tomorrow. Today it is in yearning itself and tomorrow it will be in tasting itself. One of the secrets of Dost thou not see thy Lord? is that mortal man, though he is singled out for the special favors of proximity, would never reach the point where he requests the vision of the exaltedness of the Possessor of Majesty if mutual seeing had not come at the request of Beauty.

📘 Then We contracted it to Us with an easy contracting. This is addressed to those from whom He made the traces and intermediaries fall away.

📘 And He it is who has sent the winds, bearing good news before His mercy. And We sent down from heaven pure water. This is an allusion to the wind of kind favor from the direction of solicitude, which blows over the hearts of the faithful to sweep away completely the rubbish of opposition and the varieties of opacity. Then the hearts will be worthy of receiving the generous arrivals from the Real. When the scent of the repose of those winds reaches the breast of the servants, they seek for increase in those influxes and search out the fragrance of those arrivals and that solicitude. In loving kindness and gentleness, the Exalted Lord opens four doors for them: The door of beautiful doing, the door of blessings, the door of obedience, and the door of love. By virtue of mortal nature the servant enters the road of his own ingratitude, for Surely man is ungrateful to his Lord [100:6], so he closes the door of beautiful doing to himself. The Real sends the messenger of generosity with the key of disregard and pardon: “I will curtain your ugly-doing with My mercy, for I am the kind Master and you are the weak servant.” That is His words, “He it is who accepts repentance from His servants and pardons the ugly deeds” [42:25]. In the same way, the Exalted Lord opens the door of blessings for the servant. The servant comes forward with ingratitude, for Surely man is a clear ingrate [43:15], so he closes that door to himself with shortcoming in giving thanks. The Real sends the messenger of bounty with the key of favor and says, “Though you have fallen short in giving thanks, I do not fall short in My kind-ness.” That is His words, “In the bounty of God, and His mercy [in that let them rejoice]” [10:58]. The third door that God opens for the servant is the door of obedience. The servant closes that door to himself with disobedience. The Real sends the messenger of forgiveness with the key of repentance: “When you commit a sin, I will forgive you, and I do not care.” That is His words, “Surely God forgives the sins altogether” [39:53]. The fourth is the door of love, which God opens for the servant with His own bounty.

📘 And He it is who has sent the winds, bearing good news before His mercy. And We sent down from heaven pure water. This is an allusion to the wind of kind favor from the direction of solicitude, which blows over the hearts of the faithful to sweep away completely the rubbish of opposition and the varieties of opacity. Then the hearts will be worthy of receiving the generous arrivals from the Real. When the scent of the repose of those winds reaches the breast of the servants, they seek for increase in those influxes and search out the fragrance of those arrivals and that solicitude. In loving kindness and gentleness, the Exalted Lord opens four doors for them: The door of beautiful doing, the door of blessings, the door of obedience, and the door of love. By virtue of mortal nature the servant enters the road of his own ingratitude, for Surely man is ungrateful to his Lord [100:6], so he closes the door of beautiful doing to himself. The Real sends the messenger of generosity with the key of disregard and pardon: “I will curtain your ugly-doing with My mercy, for I am the kind Master and you are the weak servant.” That is His words, “He it is who accepts repentance from His servants and pardons the ugly deeds” [42:25]. In the same way, the Exalted Lord opens the door of blessings for the servant. The servant comes forward with ingratitude, for Surely man is a clear ingrate [43:15], so he closes that door to himself with shortcoming in giving thanks. The Real sends the messenger of bounty with the key of favor and says, “Though you have fallen short in giving thanks, I do not fall short in My kind-ness.” That is His words, “In the bounty of God, and His mercy [in that let them rejoice]” [10:58]. The third door that God opens for the servant is the door of obedience. The servant closes that door to himself with disobedience. The Real sends the messenger of forgiveness with the key of repentance: “When you commit a sin, I will forgive you, and I do not care.” That is His words, “Surely God forgives the sins altogether” [39:53]. The fourth is the door of love, which God opens for the servant with His own bounty.

📘 He it is who mixed the two oceans, this one sweet, delicious; that one salty, bitter. Hū [He] is one solitary letter that alludes to the solitary Lord. It is neither a name nor an attribute, but an allusion to a Lord who has no name and no attribute. The one letter is the h. The ū is the resting place of the breath. Do you not see that when you make its dual, you say humā, not hūmā? This is so that you will know that it is indeed one letter pointing to the One Lord. Whenever you say any of the names and attributes, you say them from the tip of the tongue, in contrast to hū, which comes forth from the midst of the spirit and goes by way of the core of the breast and the depth of the heart. The tongue and lips have nothing to do with it. When this word comes from the depths of the breasts of the men of the religion's road and the lords of the eye of certainty-those who have limpid hearts, high aspirations, and empty breasts- what they mean and understand is nothing but the Real. Unless someone becomes a chevalier of this sort, the reality of the He-ness will not be unveiled to him. A great man was walking on a road, and a dervish was coming toward him. He said, “Where are you coming from?” He said, “He.” He said, “Where are you going?” He said, “He.” He said, “What is your goal?” He said, “He.” No matter what he asked, he replied “He.” This is like what someone said: “So much is your image in my eyes that whatever I see I fancy is you.” And He it is who mixed the two oceans, this one sweet, delicious; that one salty, bitter. The salty ocean has no sweetness, and the sweet no saltiness. The two are one in substantiality, but God in His power made them differ in attribute. In the same way He created hearts, some of which are quarries of certainty and recognition and others of which are loci of doubt and ingratitude. Sweet, delicious is an allusion to the hearts of the friends, which are bright with the light of guidance and adorned with the ornament of faith and within which is shining the radiance of tawḤīd's sun.

📘 The servants of the All-Merciful are those who walk in the earth in lowliness. It has been narrated from Abū Baraza al-Aslamī that God's Messenger said, “I saw a people from my community, not yet created, who will come into being after this day and whom I love and who love me. They counsel each other, act with kindness to each other, and walk gently among the people with the light of God, in hiddenness and godwariness. They are secure from the people, and the people are secure from them because of their patience and forbearance. Their hearts are serene in the remembrance of God, their mosques flourishing with their prayers. They have mercy on their young and revere their old. They share what they own among themselves; their rich visit their poor and their strong visit their weak. They visit their ill, and they follow in funeral processions.” One of the group said, “They are being benevolent to their close friends.” God's Messenger turned to him and said, “Not at all. They have no close friends. They are serving their own souls. That is nobler with God than those who are openhanded to people, because of the lowliness of this world in the Lord's view.” Then God's Messenger recited, “The servants of the All-Merciful are those who walk in the earth in lowliness.” The Persian of this report is this: MuṣṬafā said, “I saw,” that is, in his unveilings and visionary encounters, or in a dream, “a people of my own community whose persons and semblances had not yet entered into the bonds of created nature. The compass of power had not yet turned on the circle of their existence, for today is not the time of their manifestation. That will come in other days and another time, when the desire moves and the apportionings join with their designated times. This is a people whom I love and who love me. Each of them would love to see me along with his family and possessions. They are chevaliers who always want good for each other. Whatever they have, whether possessions or position, they do not hold back from one another. They put aside their own rightful dues and shares and put forward the rightful dues of their brothers. They are leaders to the Real who travel with the light of God.

📘 (And those who cry not unto any other god along with Allah�) [25:68-70]. Abu Ishaq al-Tha�alibi informed us> al-Hasan ibn Ahmad al-Makhladi> al-Mu�ammil ibn al-Hasan ibn �Isa> al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Sabbah al-Za�farani> Hajjaj> Ibn Jurayj> Ya�la ibn Muslim> Sa�id ibn Jubayr> Ibn �Abbas who said: �Some idolaters who had committed many murders and fornicated numerous times went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: �What you say and call for is good, if only you could inform us whether there is any expiation for the things we have committed�. As a response, this verse was revealed (And those who cry not unto any other god along with Allah) up to His words (Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful) [25:70]�. This was narrated by Muslim> Ibrahim ibn Dinar> Hajjaj. Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Yahya al-Muzakki informed us> his father> Muhammad ibn Ishaq al-Thaqafi> Ibrahim al-Hanzali and Muhammad ibn al-Sabbah> Jarir> Mansur and al-A�mash> Abu Wa�il> �Amr ibn Shurahbil> Abu Maysarah> �Abd Allah ibn Mas�ud who said: �I asked the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace: �What is the greatest sin?� He said: �It is to ascribe an equal to Allah when it is Him Who has created you�. I asked: �What comes after that?� he said: �It is to kill your child for fear that he might compete with you over food�. I asked: �What comes after that?� he said: �It is to commit adultery with the wife of your neighbour�. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed these verses to confirm his answers (And those who cry not unto any other god along with Allah, nor take the life which Allah hath forbidden save in (course of) justice, nor commit adultery�)�. This was narrated by Bukhari> Musaddid> Yahya and also by Muslim> �Uthman ibn Abi Shaybah> Jarir. Abu Bakr ibn al-Harith informed us> �Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ja�far> Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim> Isma�il ibn Ishaq> al-Haruth ibn al-Zubayr> Abu Rashid, the client of al-Lahibiyyin> Sa�id ibn Salim al-Qaddah> Ibn Jurayh> �Ata�> Ibn �Abbas who said: �Wahshiyy went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: �I came to you seeking sanctuary; so grant me sanctuary in order that I can hear the speech of Allah�.

📘 (And those who cry not unto any other god along with Allah�) [25:68-70]. Abu Ishaq al-Tha�alibi informed us> al-Hasan ibn Ahmad al-Makhladi> al-Mu�ammil ibn al-Hasan ibn �Isa> al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Sabbah al-Za�farani> Hajjaj> Ibn Jurayj> Ya�la ibn Muslim> Sa�id ibn Jubayr> Ibn �Abbas who said: �Some idolaters who had committed many murders and fornicated numerous times went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: �What you say and call for is good, if only you could inform us whether there is any expiation for the things we have committed�. As a response, this verse was revealed (And those who cry not unto any other god along with Allah) up to His words (Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful) [25:70]�. This was narrated by Muslim> Ibrahim ibn Dinar> Hajjaj. Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Yahya al-Muzakki informed us> his father> Muhammad ibn Ishaq al-Thaqafi> Ibrahim al-Hanzali and Muhammad ibn al-Sabbah> Jarir> Mansur and al-A�mash> Abu Wa�il> �Amr ibn Shurahbil> Abu Maysarah> �Abd Allah ibn Mas�ud who said: �I asked the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace: �What is the greatest sin?� He said: �It is to ascribe an equal to Allah when it is Him Who has created you�. I asked: �What comes after that?� he said: �It is to kill your child for fear that he might compete with you over food�. I asked: �What comes after that?� he said: �It is to commit adultery with the wife of your neighbour�. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed these verses to confirm his answers (And those who cry not unto any other god along with Allah, nor take the life which Allah hath forbidden save in (course of) justice, nor commit adultery�)�. This was narrated by Bukhari> Musaddid> Yahya and also by Muslim> �Uthman ibn Abi Shaybah> Jarir. Abu Bakr ibn al-Harith informed us> �Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ja�far> Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim> Isma�il ibn Ishaq> al-Haruth ibn al-Zubayr> Abu Rashid, the client of al-Lahibiyyin> Sa�id ibn Salim al-Qaddah> Ibn Jurayh> �Ata�> Ibn �Abbas who said: �Wahshiyy went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: �I came to you seeking sanctuary; so grant me sanctuary in order that I can hear the speech of Allah�.

📘 (And those who cry not unto any other god along with Allah�) [25:68-70]. Abu Ishaq al-Tha�alibi informed us> al-Hasan ibn Ahmad al-Makhladi> al-Mu�ammil ibn al-Hasan ibn �Isa> al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Sabbah al-Za�farani> Hajjaj> Ibn Jurayj> Ya�la ibn Muslim> Sa�id ibn Jubayr> Ibn �Abbas who said: �Some idolaters who had committed many murders and fornicated numerous times went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: �What you say and call for is good, if only you could inform us whether there is any expiation for the things we have committed�. As a response, this verse was revealed (And those who cry not unto any other god along with Allah) up to His words (Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful) [25:70]�. This was narrated by Muslim> Ibrahim ibn Dinar> Hajjaj. Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Yahya al-Muzakki informed us> his father> Muhammad ibn Ishaq al-Thaqafi> Ibrahim al-Hanzali and Muhammad ibn al-Sabbah> Jarir> Mansur and al-A�mash> Abu Wa�il> �Amr ibn Shurahbil> Abu Maysarah> �Abd Allah ibn Mas�ud who said: �I asked the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace: �What is the greatest sin?� He said: �It is to ascribe an equal to Allah when it is Him Who has created you�. I asked: �What comes after that?� he said: �It is to kill your child for fear that he might compete with you over food�. I asked: �What comes after that?� he said: �It is to commit adultery with the wife of your neighbour�. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed these verses to confirm his answers (And those who cry not unto any other god along with Allah, nor take the life which Allah hath forbidden save in (course of) justice, nor commit adultery�)�. This was narrated by Bukhari> Musaddid> Yahya and also by Muslim> �Uthman ibn Abi Shaybah> Jarir. Abu Bakr ibn al-Harith informed us> �Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ja�far> Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim> Isma�il ibn Ishaq> al-Haruth ibn al-Zubayr> Abu Rashid, the client of al-Lahibiyyin> Sa�id ibn Salim al-Qaddah> Ibn Jurayh> �Ata�> Ibn �Abbas who said: �Wahshiyy went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: �I came to you seeking sanctuary; so grant me sanctuary in order that I can hear the speech of Allah�.