📘 Praise belongs to God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, who appointed the angels as messengers having wings, two, three, and four. He adds to creation as He wills.�The praise belongs to God; that which belongs to Me is the praise by which I praise Myself, not your praise. The praise that is worthy of Me is the praise that comes from Me, not that which comes from you. What would come from water and dust worthy of My exalted majesty and ever- lasting beauty? How can the description of newly arrived things find access to the Eternal? How can that which undergoes annihilation reach the subsistent Real? How can that which was not, then came to be, praise Him who always was and always will be? O Adamite, your praise is defective because of your request for pardon and forgiveness. How can the defective be suited for the Pres- ence of Exalted Majesty? A majesty that is incomparable with defect and hallowed beyond infir- mity must have the praise of the Haqiqah, and that is nothing other than praise by Me, who am the Lord. For I am the Real, and My attributes are the Haqiqah. My servant, now I bring forth praise that is worthy of Myself. You also, bring forth praise of Me worthy of yourself, in the measure of your possibility. Then I will take your metaphor and through My generosity make it accord with the Haqiqah. I will make its ruling property the ruling property of the Haqiqah. If you say 'Amen' and your words conform with My saying 'Amen,' I will forgive you your sins. So when you praise Me and your praise of Me conforms with My praise of Me, how can any imagination carry and how can any mind contain the caress and robe of honor that I will bestow upon you?�Listen while I confirm these words with their like: The Exalted Lord says, �God bears wit- ness that there is no god but He� [3:18]. Before you bore witness, He Himself bore witness, for your bearing witness is defective because of the request to attain the promise of paradise and to safeguard against the threat of hell. Moreover, your bearing witness is temporal, but His attributes are beginningless and everlasting.

📘 Not equal are the two oceans, this one sweet, satisfying, delicious to drink, that one salty, bitter.This verse alludes to two states: turning toward God and turning away from God. Those who turn toward God are occupied with obeying Him and recognizing Him. Those who turn away from Him are shut off from worshiping Him and protest against His apportioning and decree. The former is the cause of union, and the latter the cause of deprivation and separation.These are two different oceans, one delicious and the other bitter, standing between the servant and God. One is the ocean of destruction, the other the ocean of salvation. This is their likeness: Five ships are traveling in the ocean of destruction: avarice, eye-service, persistence in acts of disobedience, heedlessness, and despair. Whoever sits in the ship of avarice will reach the shore of love for this world. Whoever sits in the ship of eye-service will reach the shore of hypocrisy. Whoever sits in the ship of persistence in acts of disobedience will reach the shore of wretchedness.Whoever sits in the ship of heedlessness will reach the shore of remorse. Whoever sits in the ship of despair will reach the shore of unbelief.As for the ocean of salvation, five ships are traveling on it: fear, hope, renunciation, recogni- tion, and tawḤīd. Whoever sits in the ship of fear will reach the shore of security. Whoever sits in the ship of hope will reach the shore of bestowal. Whoever sits in the ship of renunciation will reach the shore of proximity. Whoever sits in the ship of recognition will reach the shore of inti- macy. Whoever sits in the ship of tawḤīd will reach the shore of contemplation.The Pir of the Tariqah gave an eloquent admonition to his companions and friends. He said, �Dear friends, it is time to seek salvation from this ocean of destruction and rise up from this pit of lassitude. Do not sell subsistent bliss for this evanescent house!�A soul without service is estranged. Do not nurture the estranged! A heart without wakeful- ness is a ghoul. Do not be the companion of a ghoul! A soul without awareness is wind. Do not live in the wind! Do not be satisfied with name and description in place of meaning and reality! Do not feel secure from hidden deception! Always be careful about the outcome of the work at the last breath!�That poet spoke sweet words in fine verses:O heart, if you want the afterworld, keep your claws back from this world!Trade in gambling away life and choosing religion's road!Put your foot on this world and sew up the eye of name and reputation,seize hold of the afterworld and close down the road of pride and honor.

📘 O people, you are the poor toward God, and God is the Unneedy, the Praiseworthy.Know that poverty is of two sorts: the poverty of created nature and the poverty of attributes. The poverty of created nature is general, belonging to every newly arrived thing that has come into existence from nonexistence. The meaning of poverty is need. Every created thing needs the Creator-first for creation and second for nurture. Thus you know that God has no needs or requirements, and everything else has needs and requirements. This is why the Exalted Lord says, �God is the Unneedy, and you are the poor� [47:38].As for the poverty of attributes, that is what the Lord of the Worlds said: �the poor emigrants� [59:8]. He specified the Messenger's Companions for this poverty and praised them for it, as He said: �For the poor, who are constrained in the path of God� [2:273]. He named them poor to disguise the wealth of their state and so that no one would know of their wealth. This is as they say: �Call me Arsalan so that no one will know who I am.�The Pir of the Tariqah said, �Friendship is built on disguise. The name 'king' for Solomon is the disguise of poverty. 'Disobedience' for Adam is the disguise of being chosen. The blessings that clothed Abraham disguised bosom friendship. This is because the stipulation of love is jeal-ousy. Friends do not show their state to just anyone.�Someone without an iota of being, who never gazes on the two worlds and who always keeps God's gaze before his eyes is called poor, for he lacks everything and is wealthy through the Real. One must have wealth in the breast, not in the storehouse. The poor man is he who sees no hand- hold in the two worlds other than the Real and does not gaze upon himself. He has recited the prayer of the dead over his own essence and attributes-as that chevalier said:�Endless passion has nothing to do with a heart that stays firm in its own attributes.When someone steps into the field of passion for the beautiful,night and day will recite for him the prayer of the dead.� [DS 209-10]

📘 Whatever mercy God opens up to the people, none shall hold it back.In terms of understanding in the tongue of the Tariqah, this verse alludes to the opening of the folk of faith and recognition. Opening is a name for what comes from the Unseen unsought and unasked for. It is of two sorts: One is the influxes of provision and delightful life, unsought and unearned. The other is God-given knowledge, unlearned, conforming to the Shariah, never before heard, but familiar to the heart.The Pir of the Tariqah said, �Alas for this unlearnt knowledge! Sometimes I'm drowned in it, sometimes burnt by it.�In respect of this knowledge the speaker is the ocean, sometimes in flow, sometimes in ebb. When he stands in the station of expansiveness, he fills the world with limpidness. When he stands in the station of awe, he fills the world with human nature.Among the sorts of opening are beautiful dreams, the supplications of good people, and the acceptance of hearts. According to a report, �When God loves a servant, the folk of the heavens and the earth love him, and acceptance is placed for him in the earth.�

📘 Then We gave the inheritance of the Book to the ones We chose from among Our ser- vants. Among them are wrongdoers to themselves, among them are moderate, and among them are preceders in good deeds by God's leave. That is the great bounty.In this verse the Lord of the world, the lovingly kind enactor, the caresser of the servants, gives eminence to the community of AḤmad with seven generosities-a complete eminence, a great honor, and an infinite caress. None of the children of Adam received these seven generosities to- gether except this community. Three of the seven are at the beginning of the verse: First We gave the inheritance, second, We chose, and third Our servants.We gave the inheritance: He called them inheritors. We chose: He called them the chosen. Our servants: He called them servants. �They are My inheritors, My chosen, and My accepted servants.�Since He called them inheritors, in reality He will not take back the inheritance. Since He called them chosen and His knowledge makes no mistakes, He will not reject them. Since He called them accepted, He will not put them together with faults.�We gave the inheritance: The light of guidance, the good fortune of the religion, the exalted- ness of knowledge, the adornment of recognition, the splendor of faith, the blessing of the Sunnah, the fruit of wisdom-to whom did We give all these? To the ones We chose: We gave these to those whom We chose. Since We chose them, We saw the faults. In Our unneediness We chose the servants as they are.�O MuḤammad! On the day We chose your community, We saw those long-lived angels with all that obedience. On the day We placed honey in that frail bee, We saw those mighty falcons. On the day We gave silk to that frail little worm, We saw those awesome serpents. On the day We gave musk to the musk-deer, We saw those mighty lions. On the day We gave ambergris to the whale, We saw those tremendous elephants. On the day We placed pearls in the oyster, We saw those fierce crocodiles. On the day We gave sweet songs to the nightingale, We saw those decorated peacocks. On the day We praised and lauded MuḤammad's community and wrote out the inscription of chosenness, We saw those long-lived angels and obedient proximate ones at the threshold of service.

📘 Gardens of Eden that they will enter.When He mentioned their sorts, He arranged them in levels. Now that He mentions the Garden, He mentions them together. He says, �Gardens of Eden that they will enter,� pointing out that their entrance into the Garden is not because of worthiness, but because of bounty, and in bounty there is no differentiation.

📘 And they shall say, �Praise belongs to God, who has put away sorrow from us.�O chevalier! The worth of the antidote is known by the snake-bitten, the worth of burning fire is known by the moth, the worth of Joseph's shirt is known by grieving Jacob. When someone is de- luded by his own safety and is given the antidote, how will he know its worth? If you want some- one to know the worth and gravity of the antidote, you need him whose spirit has reached his lips. A poor man is needed, broken-hearted, suffering pain, and burdened with grief to know the worth of this caress and the exaltedness of this address: �Praise belongs to God, who has put away sorrow from us.� Wait until tomorrow when that wounded-hearted poor man is placed on the throne of joy in the palisade of holiness while the serving boys and servants act like his slaves to spread the carpet before the seat of his good fortune. The night of tribulation will have come to an end, the sun of felicity will have risen from the horizon of generous giving, and the Exalted Pres- ence will set forth for him the gentle favors of generosity. With the tongue of joy and coquetry he will say, �Praise belongs to God, who has put away sorrow from us.�O indigent man! This world is the world of metaphor. It is clear what realities can be unveiled in the world of metaphor. It is obvious what can be painted on a gnat's wing. This world is a pris- on. What marks of prisoners can be given but sorrow, grief, and longing? For these grief-stricken ones the day of the bazaar and the time of access will be tomorrow, when the concealed gentle- nesses and treasuries stored in the Unseen will come out from the covering of jealousy unscathed by hands and untouched by minds. A vast capacity will be given to the poor ones so that they may drink the wine of vision cup by cup, or rather, ocean by ocean. They will be shouting out, �Is there any more?� [50:30]. And praise belongs to God alone.