﴿ أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ ٱلْقُرْءَانَ أَمْ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبٍ أَقْفَالُهَآ ﴾

“Will they not, then, ponder over this Qur’an? - or are there locks upon their hearts?”

�or is it that they have locks on their hearts?He said:God, Exalted is He, created the hearts, and secured them with locks. Then He made the realitiesof faith (ḥaqāʾiq al-īmān) the keys to hearts. With those keys, the only hearts He opened to realisation (taḥqīq) were those of His friends (awliyāʾ), messengers (rusul) Â, and the veracious (ṣiddīqūn). The rest of people leave this world without the locks on their hearts being opened. The renunciants (zuhhād), devout worshippers (ʿubbād), and scholars (ʿulamāʾ) will leave this world with locked hearts because they sought the keys to them with the intellect (ʿaql), and thus strayed from the path. If only they had sought them by having recourse to God-given success (tawfīq) and grace (faḍl), they would have attained them [the keys]. The key is to know that God is taking care of you (qāʾim ʿalayka), and watching over (raqīb) your bodily members, and to know that works are not complete without sincerity (ikhlāṣ) accompanied by heedfulness (murāqāba) [of God].His words: