📘 Alif Lām Mīm! Do people suppose they will be left to say, �We believe,� without being put to the test?He said:That is, without their being beset by affliction (balāʾ). Truly affliction is a doorway between the people of gnosis (ahl al-maʿrifa) and God, Mighty and Majestic is He. It has been related that the angels say, �O Lord! Your disbelieving servant has had [the goods of] this world made available to him in abundance, while affliction has been kept away from him.� Then He says to the angels, �Reveal his [the unbelieving servant�s] punishment to them [the other angels?].� When they see it they say, �What he gets from the world is not a blessing for him.� Then they say, �O Lord! You keep the world away from Your believing servant and expose him to affliction!� And He says to the angels, �Reveal to the others his [the believing servant�s] reward.� When they see his reward they say, �Whatever he suffers in this world will not harm him.� He [Tustarī] said:Let your prayer (ṣalāt) be forbearance (ṣabr) in the face of suffering (baʾsāʾ), your fasting (ṣawm) be to observe silence (ṣamt), and your charity (ṣadaqa) be to refrain from doing harm [to anybody] (kaff al-adhā). Furthermore, forbearance in [times of] well-being (ʿāfiya) is more difficult than forbearance in [times of] affliction (balāʾ). This saying is also related from him:Seeking safety (salāma) is not exposing yourself to affliction.His words:

📘 �So seek your provision from God�He said:Seek provision (rizq) through trust (tawakkul) not through earning (kasb), for seeking provisionthrough earning is the way of the generality (ʿawāmm). It was related of Jesus son of Mary that he said, �Truly I say to you, neither do you want the world, nor the Hereafter.� They said, �Please explain that to us, O prophet of God, for we previouslythought that we only wanted one of them.� He said, �If you obey the Lord of the world, in whose hands are the keys to its coffers, He will give it to you. Likewise, if you obey the Lord of the Hereafter He will give it to you. However, neither do you want the latter nor the former.� His words, Exalted is He:

📘 Alif Lām Mīm! Do people suppose they will be left to say, �We believe,� without being put to the test?He said:That is, without their being beset by affliction (balāʾ). Truly affliction is a doorway between the people of gnosis (ahl al-maʿrifa) and God, Mighty and Majestic is He. It has been related that the angels say, �O Lord! Your disbelieving servant has had [the goods of] this world made available to him in abundance, while affliction has been kept away from him.� Then He says to the angels, �Reveal his [the unbelieving servant�s] punishment to them [the other angels?].� When they see it they say, �What he gets from the world is not a blessing for him.� Then they say, �O Lord! You keep the world away from Your believing servant and expose him to affliction!� And He says to the angels, �Reveal to the others his [the believing servant�s] reward.� When they see his reward they say, �Whatever he suffers in this world will not harm him.� He [Tustarī] said:Let your prayer (ṣalāt) be forbearance (ṣabr) in the face of suffering (baʾsāʾ), your fasting (ṣawm) be to observe silence (ṣamt), and your charity (ṣadaqa) be to refrain from doing harm [to anybody] (kaff al-adhā). Furthermore, forbearance in [times of] well-being (ʿāfiya) is more difficult than forbearance in [times of] affliction (balāʾ). This saying is also related from him:Seeking safety (salāma) is not exposing yourself to affliction.His words:

📘 He chastises whomever He wishes�by [abandoning him] to follow innovation, and has mercy on whomever He wishes by [assisting him] in adherence to the Sunna.His words, Exalted is He:

📘 And such similitudes We strike for [the sake of] mankind, but none understands them except those who know.He said:The similitudes which God strikes for man are available for everyone [to see], since the evidences of [His] omnipotence (qudra) are [in themselves] proof of the [existence of] the Omnipotent. However, it is only His elect (khāṣṣa) who fully understand them. Thus, knowledge is rare and understanding granted by God (fiqh ʿan Allāh) even rarer. Whoever becomes acquainted with the knowledge ⸢of Him through the knowledge [acquired by]⸣ his natural self (bi-ʿilm nafsihi al-ṭabīʿiyya), will experience Him in a delusory manner. But regarding the one who becomes acquainted with [God] through the knowledge of God, God knows what He willed from him for Himself (fa�Llāhu ʿarafa murādahu minhu li-nafsihi). The creature has no knowledge of God beyond that. This allusion (ishāra) [to similitudes in the verse] was made due to the fact that their hearts are truly far away from knowledge [of God]. Take note of ⸢his words, �If you knew God with a true knowledge of Him (ḥaqq maʿrifatihi) then the mountain would cease to exist by [the power of] your supplication�⸣. His words:

📘 �Truly prayer guards against lewd acts and indecency�This verse refers to the adornment (tazyīn) that [is derived from] shunning all lewd acts and indecency, and this [is attained] through one thing, namely, sincerity (ikhlāṣ) within the prayer (ṣalāt). Every prayer that does not restrain shameful and unjust deeds, and is devoid of the adornment of shunning of these deeds, is defective, and it is incumbent upon the person [in this case] to purify it [his prayer].His words, Exalted is He:

📘 �My earth is [indeed] vast, so worship Me and Me [alone].He said:This means: If transgressions and innovations are the practice in a particular land, then leave it for a land of obedient servants. Indeed the Prophet said: �He who flees for [the sake of] his religion at a time when the community is in a state of corruption, will receive the reward of seventy martyrs in the cause of God, Mighty and Majestic is He.�His words, Exalted is He: