﴿ إِنَّ هَٰذَا لَهُوَ ٱلْبَلَٰٓؤُا۟ ٱلْمُبِينُ ﴾

“for, behold, all this was indeed a trial, clear in itself.”

Truly this was indeed a clear test.He said:That is, a trial of mercy (balāʾ al-raḥma). Do you not see how God sent him [Abraham] in a state of contentment (riḍā)? He said:We have heard that the following is written in the Psalms, �I did not decree anything for a believer which he either liked or detested without its being good for him.� And it is related that God, Exalted is He, revealed the following to Abraham , �There is no one [whose provision in this world] I have increased, but that I have decreased by the same proportion [his provision] in the Hereafter, and that goes for you also, My true friend.� Abū Yaʿqūb al-Sūsī relates, �A faqīr came to us while we were in Arrajān and Sahl b. ʿAbd Allāh happenedto be there also on that day. He [the faqīr] said, �You are the people of [God�s] special care (ahl al-ʿināya). Indeed, a severe trial and affliction (miḥna) has descended upon me.� Sahl said to him, �In the registry of afflictions, it descended only after you exposed yourself to this matter. So what is it?� He replied, �Something of this world opened itself up to me, so I took possession of it to the exclusion of my family and thus lost my faith and my [spiritual] state (ḥāl).� Sahl said, �What do you say concerning this, O Abū Yaʿqūb?� I replied, �The affliction was more intense [for him] regarding [the loss of] his state than regarding [the loss of] his faith.� Sahl responded, �A person like you would say that O Abū Yaʿqūb.�� Sahl was asked about the [spiritual] state (ḥāl). He replied:The state of remembrance (dhikr) [at the level of] knowledge (ʿilm) is tranquil repose [in God] (sukūn), and the state of remembrance [at the level of] the intellect (ʿaql) is profound peace (ṭumaʾnīna). The state of mindfulness of God (taqwā) [at the level of] Islam [consists of observing]the limits [of the law] (ḥudūd), and the state of mindfulness of God [at the level of] faith (īmān) is profound peace (ṭumaʾnīna). If the servant has a state, and an affliction visits him, and he then asks for relief through a state lower than the one he is in, that counts as a defilement (ḥadath) from him.He was asked, �Why is that?�, and he said, �It is like someone who is hungry asking for satiation, because the rank of the hungry is higher.� His words: