📘 ṣād The word ṣād is the key to His name Self-Sufficient [ṣamad]. The Self-Sufficient is He who is hallowed beyond encompassment by the knowledge of the created thing and incomparable with comprehension by the recognitions. He is saying, “I am the Self-Sufficient and have no need for anyone. I am the One and have no associate. I am the Compeller, and no one has the color of union with Me. I am the Owner of the kingdom, and no matter what I do, no one has the gall to protest or a way to fight.” Abu'l-Ḥasan Kharaqānī said, “He cut up the hearts of the sincerely truthful and turned their livers to water through waiting, but He gave Himself to no one.” Whence do water and dust become privy to talk of union with that which has no beginning and no end? What access do the attributes of the newly arrived things have to eternity? How can that which was not, then was, then was not, perceive the majestic presence of the Possessor of Majesty? That chevalier said it beautifully: “They opened a door to the garden of union with You so that people would fall into coveting You. They plundered so many of the spirits of the great ones, but not one put his foot at the top of Your street.” It has been said that the Real is the Self-Sufficient, and the meaning of the name is that the servants should lift up their needs to Him, consign their occupations to Him, and entrust themselves to Him; and He, in His unneediness, will look upon the needs of everyone and be sufficient for their every occupation. When the tawḤīd-voicing, faithful servant has this belief, He will take as his shelter nothing but His threshold and will not disgrace himself at the door of any poor and paltry thing. “A created thing seeking aid from a created thing is like a prisoner seeking aid from a prisoner.” It has come in the traditions that tomorrow a man of this community will be brought forward, and many sashes of unbelief will be removed from his waist-I mean sashes of the heart, not outward sashes, for anyone who attaches his heart to a creature has bound a sash around his heart. O chevalier! There is no mount quicker than the mount of MuḤammad the Arab, and no playing field vaster than his playing field.

📘 He said, “My Lord, forgive me and give me a kingdom such as no one after me will have.” Solomon did not seek the outward kingdom. Rather, he desired only to be king over his own soul, for the king in truth is he who is king over his own soul. Whoever is king over his own soul will not follow his caprice. Solomon said, “Lord God, just as You put the world's creatures under my hand, so also put this soul under my hand so that I will not be obedient to it and will not go after its caprice. Obeying the soul and obeying the Real are opposites, and opposites do not come together.” That chevalier said it beautifully: “With two kiblahs you can't walk straight on the road of tawḤīd- either the Friend's approval, or your own caprice.” [DS 488] MuṣṬafā always used to say, “O God, do not entrust us to our souls for the blink of an eye, or less than that.” All sorts of trial reached Joseph the Truthful from the well, the prison, and so on, but he never began to lament as he did from the commanding soul, when it was said, “Surely the soul commands to ugliness, except as my Lord has mercy” [12:53]. When Joseph said, “Receive me as a submitter” [12:101], he said so in fear of the commanding soul, not in fear of Satan. For, although Satan is the adversary, he wants disobedience from the person of faith, not unbelief. It is the soul that wants unbelief, so it strives for it and calls him to all sorts of caprice and innovation, trying to pull him into unbelief. In the Qur'an, the Lord of the Worlds mentions two things without saying what they are. He mentions the soul, but He does not say what it is. He mentions this world, but He does not say what it is. The ulama of the religion explain this world with these words: “What blocks you from your Patron-that is your 'this world.'” Whatever holds you back from God is this world. If you do not have tonight's bread but you admire yourself, your self-admiration is this world. If you possess the kingdom of the East and the West and are occupied with God, that is not this world, but rather the afterworld.

📘 When thy Lord said to the angels, “I am creating a mortal of clay.” From here to this surah's end is the story of Adam and Iblis. A great deal has been said about the two, which I summarize here: In terms of outwardness, a slip appeared from Adam and an act of disobedience from Iblis. It was said to Adam, “Do not eat the wheat,” and he ate it. It was said to Iblis, “Prostrate yourself,” and he did not do so. The capital of rejection and of acceptance, however, did not arise from their acts. It arose from the flow of the Pen and the decrees of Eternity. The Pen wrote felicity for Adam as a consequence of the eternal will. A support was found for that in his makeup, and his sin was consigned to that by way of excuse: He forgot, and We found in him no resoluteness [20:115]. In the case of Iblis, the Pen had written rejection and expulsion by the decree of the eternal will, so an ambuscade was made from his own makeup and his sin was consigned to himself: He refused and claimed to be great; he was one of the unbelievers [2:34]. A collar was made for the sake of cursing and, by the decree of beginningless rejection, it was fastened to the neck of his days. Thus, whenever a gem appeared from the crucible of his deeds, it turned out to be a discard from the hand of the assayer of knowledge. His deeds were discards and his worship became the cause of the curse. His obedience became the motivation for being driven out, and concerning the reality of his work, this expression was given: “No one stands up to the decree and no one contends with the Beginningless.” Which lover of Yours do I not copy and which night for You do I not weep? Though the Adamite does not please You, he has given You permission to shed his blood. In the world of acceptance Adam was like Iblis in the world of rejection. Wherever there are greetings and felicitations, they are turned toward Adam, and wherever there are cursing and ex- pulsion, they are turned toward Iblis. The forelock of that cursed one is fastened to the hem of the resurrection not because of any bestowal of eminence.

📘 I am better than he: Thou hast created me of fire and Thou hast created him of clay. Iblis came forth with chieftainship and said that he was better than he. He reasoned but he went by the road of error in his reasoning. O accursed one! How do you say that fire is better than dust? Do you not know that fire is the cause of separation and dust the cause of union? Fire is the means of cutting off and dust the means of joining. Adam was of dust, so he joined, such that it was said about him, “Then his Lord chose him” [20:122]. Iblis was of fire, so he cut off, such that it was said to him, “Upon thee shall be My curse until the Day of Doom” [38:78]. When dust becomes wet, it accepts imprints. When fire shoots up, it burns all the imprints. Thus the imprint of Iblis's recognition was burnt away, and the imprint of recognition flamed up in the heart of Adam and the Adamites. Those-He wrote faith in their hearts [58:22]. A dervish, who was pain-stricken, disorderly, and having lost his head and feet, went to see Abū Yazīd BasṬāmī. He came like a traveler, and because of his ecstasy said, “O Bāyazīd, what would it matter if there was none of this impudent dust?” Abū Yazīd let go of himself and shouted at the dervish: “Were there no dust, the breast would have no burning! Were there no dust, the religion would have no sorrow and joy! Were there no dust, the fire of passion would not flame up! Were there no dust, who would smell the scent of beginningless love? Were there no dust, who would be the familiar of the Endless? “O dervish, Iblis's curse is a trace of the perfection of the majesty of dust. Seraphiel's trumpet was prepared for the sake of the yearning of dust. The questioning by Nakīr and Munkar is pas- sion's deputy in the breast of dust. Riẓwān with all the serving boys and servants is but dust under the feet of dust. Beginningless welcome is a gift and robe for dust. The request from the Unseen was prepared in the name of dust. The lordly attributes are the hairdresser of the beauty of dust. The divine love is the food of the secret cores of dust. The attributes of Eternity are the supplies and provisions for the road of dust. The pure, incomparable Essence is witnessed by the hearts of dust.” Before you asked I asked for you, all the world I adorned for you. Thousands in the city are in love with Me- live in joy, I rose up for you.