13:1 Alif Lām Mīm Rāʾ

This is one of the secrets of love, one of the treasures of recognition. In the midst of their spirits, the friends have a deposit, but they do not know what they have. The wonder is that they keep on seeing an ocean and they weep in hope for a drop. This is like the Pir of the Tariqah said: “O God, Your stream is flowing—how long will I be thirsty? What sort of thirst is this that I see one cup after another?

“Who has ever had a state rarer than this?

I’m thirsty and clear water is flowing before me.

“Exalted of the two worlds! How much will You be hidden, how much apparent? My heart is bewildered, the spirit distracted. How long this curtaining and self-disclosing? When at last will there be the everlasting self-disclosure?”

The allusion is that today the friends have nothing more than the scent of the lights of those secrets and the whiffs of those traces, and that, other than Muḥammad the Arab, no one is worthy of that face-to-face vision.

First He alludes to the road of recognition for the elect, since their gaze is on the Essence and the attributes, which are called “the World of the Command.” Then He uncovers the road of recognizing Himself for the common people. He knows that their gaze does not pass beyond the newly arrived things, the engendered beings, and the World of Creation. He says,

13:2 God is He who lifted up the heavens without pillars that you see.

Heaven and earth, land and see, air and space, are the World of Creation, the playing field of the gaze of the creatures, whose end is apparent and which can disappear. But the World of the Command can never have an end, for it is necessarily continuous. As long as a man does not pass beyond the World of Creation, he will not be given access to the World of the Command. The chevaliers whose gaze travels in the World of the Command are the Pegs of the earth. Just as in respect of form the world’s mountains keep the earth in place, so also in respect of meaning the chevaliers keep the world standing. “Through them rain falls and through them provision is given.” This is why the Lord of the Worlds says,

13:3 And He it is who spread out the earth and placed within it unshaking mountains.

In terms of the allusion and intimation of the Folk of the Haqiqah He is saying, “It is He who spread out the earth and placed within it the Pegs, namely the friends and masters among His servants, to whom recourse is had and from whom assistance comes.”

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west for a hundred years before someone’s eyes are daubed with the collyrium of the Haqiqah by the pencil of solicitude. Perhaps we will be allowed to see those chevaliers and reach endless felicity with one look at them. For thousands of years the moon-faced beauties of Firdaws and the houris of paradise have been standing in wait in that busy bazaar: When will the fortunate procession of those chevaliers be conveyed to the highest of the High Chambers so that they, as hangers-on, may step into the pageant of good fortune at an Omnipotent King [54:55].

On the day Junayd’s bier was carried, a bird came and sat on the edge of his coffin. People were waving their hands at it but it would not leave. Ruwaym said, “In generosity the bird is telling us with the tongue of its state, ‘Leave me alone, for my claws have been fixed to the edge of his coffin with the nails of passion. Today this frame of Junayd is the portion of the cherubim. If not for the intrusion of your tumult, you would fly with me like falcons in this air.’” When they buried him, one of the poor stood above him and recited these verses:

“Oh the grief at separation from a group

who are lamps and fortresses,

rain clouds, cities, and unshaking mountains,

good, security, and stillness.

The nights will not change for us

until they are brought forth by fate.

So every fire belongs to our hearts,

every water belongs to our eyes.”

13:15 To God prostrate themselves all in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly.

In the tongue of commentary, the prostration of the unbeliever is an unwilling prostration, for he prostrates himself and shows humility at the time of tribulation in the state of hardship so as to repel harm from himself. Thus Muṣṭafā said to Ḥaṣīn Khuzāʿī,^{1The hadith concerns Ḥasīn, the father of ʿImrān, when he was still an unbeliever (see KA 3:706).} “How many gods do you worship today?”

He said, “Seven: one in heaven and six in the earth.”

He said, “Which one of them do you look to on the day of your hope and fear?”

He said, “The one in heaven.”

According to these words, when someone prostrates himself to a god wanting to attract a benefit or repel a harm, that is a prostration of unwillingness, not a prostration of willingness. The willing prostration is the one done for the command alone and to venerate the Real’s exaltedness. There is no taint of wanting, no hope for compensation, and no dread of tribulation. The individual is in prostration, the heart in finding, the spirit in witnessing; the individual is with loyalty, the heart with shame, and the spirit with limpidness.

That chieftain of the Tariqah, Abū Yazīd Basṭāmī, was addressed in a dream: “‘O Abū Yazīd, Our storehouses are full of worship. Approach Us with brokenness and abasement.’ In Our threshold, bowing and prostrating are of no use without brokenness of the heart and limpidness of the spirit, for the storehouses of Our exaltedness are already full of the bowing and prostrating of the lords of the heart. When you come to Our threshold, place the heart’s pain in the spirit’s cup and send it to the Presence of the Beloved, for the heart’s pain has measure with Us.”

The Pir of the Tariqah said, “The tawḥīd of the hearts of the faithful is in the measure of the heart’s pain. The more a heart is burnt and the more complete its pain, the more it is familiar with tawḥīd and the closer it is to the Real.”

Without the perfection of burning pain, don’t mention religion’s name.

Without the beauty of yearning for union, don’t lean on faith.

13:17 He sends down from heaven water, and the wadis flow in their measure, and the flood carries a swelling scum. And from that which they kindle in fire, wanting ornament or ware, arises a scum the like of it. Thus does God strike truth and falsehood. As for the scum, it vanishes as jetsam, and what profits people abides in the earth.

Abū Bakr Wāsiṭī said that this verse is the pivot of knowledge of the Haqiqah and recognition. “The meaning is that He revealed from on high to the hearts and ears of the prophets and He inspired the intellects and insights of the wise.”

The majestic Unity, through the attribute of mercy and clemency, sent down from heaven to the messengers the true message and the pure revelation. They heard it with their ears and they perceived it with their hearts. In the same way He inspired the friends and threw the light of wisdom into their hearts.

And the wadis flow in their measure, that is, He made the hearts see in the measure of their capacity, life, and illumination. The hearts of the prophets became clear and bright through the light of revelation and messengerhood, and the hearts of the friends with the lamp of wisdom and recognition.

In their measure, that is, each person in his own measure, in degrees and grades—one higher, one middling, one lower—the relative preference and disparity being apparent to everyone. About the messengers He says, “We made some of the prophets more excellent than others” [17:55]. About the friends He says, “They are degrees with God” [3:163]. One has messengerhood in addition to prophethood, another has prophethood in addition to wisdom, another has recognition in addition to knowledge, another has tasting the Reality in addition to faith and bearing witness, another has the knowledge of certainty along with explication, another has the truth of certainty along with face-to-face vision. He gave to each person what was fitting, and He placed within each heart that for which there was room.

And the flood carries a swelling scum, that is, He caused loss to those hearts with erroneous views, lowly lapses, and the wishes that Satan casts, what he steals from memory, his casting of slips. Even if those hearts are bright and lit up, they are not free of disquieting thoughts, insinuations, and minor lapses, since Satan is always sitting in ambush waiting to find a way into hearts so that he may throw forth a doubt or a mistake, make up a lie, or steal away something memorized. Satan even stole a little something from him who was the paragon of the world, the master of the children of Adam, the pearl of the oyster shell of nobility, in spite of the perfection of prophecy and the bravery of messengerhood. God says: “[We sent never any Messenger or Prophet before thee], but that Satan cast into his wish when he was wishing” [22:52]. So, he sought refuge in God from Satan’s goading, for he said, “My Lord, I seek refuge in Thee from the goadings of Satan.”

And from that which they kindle in fire, that is, and from that upon which they reflect, about which they ponder, and from which they deduce, wanting a proof or an unveiling, arises a scum, that is, something in addition to the inspiration of God and the suggestion of the angel, the like of it, that is, like the error being cast by Satan. He is saying about this possessor of inspiration and this possessor of recognition that one is busy in the sea of reflection with the hand of deduction bringing out the pearls of meanings from Qur’anic verses and hadiths, and the other is seeking for the realities of unveiling by pondering with the attribute of inspiration. They are striving and going forth so much in their reflection, pondering, and deduction that they pass beyond the measure and seek increase over the inspiration of the Real and the suggestion of the angel. This increase is just like what Satan has adorned, so both of them are to be avoided.

As for the scum, it vanishes as jetsam, that is, as for the error, the fault, and the excessiveness, these vanish through remembrance, as in His words, “Surely the godwary, when a visitation from Satan touches them, remember, and then see clearly” [7:201].

And what profits people, such as a deduction for a fatwa or stopping at a meaning, abides in the earth, that is, it takes firm root in the heart. He is saying that erroneous opinions, faults of the tongue, and excessiveness because of Satan do not last and do not find a resting place in the heart of the person of faith, for the person of faith has the mention and remembrance of the Real on the tongue and in the heart. Satan’s turmoil cannot last along with the ruling power of remembering the Real. That is why the Lord of the Worlds says, “when a visitation from Satan touches them, remember, and then see clearly.” What is useful for people—because the wholesomeness of the heart and religion lie within it, for it is in the measure of the Shariah and the Haqiqah—becomes firmly anchored in the heart. It is a tree whose roots are firmly anchored, its branches luxuriant, its wood fruitful; its roots are in the earth of loyalty, its branches in the air of approval, its fruit vision and encounter.

In sum, this verse alludes to the fact that when the light of recognition shines in the heart, it clears away the traces of the darkness of disobedience. But the lights are diverse, and the acts of disobedience disparate. The light of certainty takes away the darkness of doubt, the light of knowledge takes away the suspicion of ignorance, the light of recognition effaces the traces of disregard, the light of contemplation takes away the traces of the darkness of mortal nature, the light of togetherness lifts away the traces of dispersion. Then, beyond all of these, stands the light of tawḥīd.^{1This paragraph is partly derived from LI 3:224-5.} When the sun of oneness lifts its head from the horizon of the Unseen, it says to the night of duality:

“Night went, O Morning, and at once I was You—

how much longer the attributes of Adamites and Adam?”

13:28 Those who have faith and whose hearts are serene in the remembrance of God.

The hearts of one group are serene in the remembrance of God, and the hearts of another group are serene in God’s remembrance of them: And surely God’s remembrance is greater [29:45].^{1Taken from LI 3:229.}

In the tongue of the folk of allusion, this verse reports about two people, one the desirer and the other the desired. One keeps his hours immersed in the remembrance of the tongue, sometimes prayer, sometimes glorification, and sometimes recitation of the Qur’an. The other is joyful with the remembrance of the Real in the midst of the spirit because he is drowned in the ocean of face-to-face vision. He does not attend to the remembrance of the tongue, but keeps on saying, “O God, as long as I remember Your remembrance, my spirit laments at all remembrance. As long as my heart is happy with Your apparentness, the happiness of the two worlds is but wind.”

The first travels on the road of the religion, kept in the bonds of his own remembrance, and it is said to him, “Preserve the remembrance and give ear to the commands and prohibitions.” The other is on the carpet of proximity, snatched away from causes and creation and singled out for the divine attraction, and it is said to the remembrance, “Give ear to him.” This is just like one group hoping for paradise, while paradise itself is hoping for another group. That is in the Prophet’s words, “Surely the Garden yearns for four individuals: the one who fasts Ramadan, the one who recites the Qur’an, the one who protects the tongue, and the one who feeds the hungry.” It has also been narrated that the Garden yearns for Salmān.

The desirer’s eyes have come upon this: “Remember Me!” [2:152]. The desired has been shown this: “I will remember you” [2:152]. The desired is seeking remembrance, and remembrance is seeking the desired. The desirer is seeking the present moment, and the present moment is seeking the desired. The desirer is seeking the heart, and the heart is seeking the desired. The field of the desirer’s gaze is the world of setting forth in the wrap of createdness, and the field of the desired’s gaze is the air of unity and the space of solitariness.

Luqmān Sarakhsī and Bu’l-Faḍl Sarakhsī were two pirs of their era who were singular at the time and unique at the moment. Once the two were in listening [samāʿ] and Bu’l-Faḍl was freed from his own hands. He spun a few times like a spinning wheel, then went to the top of the wall. He turned to Luqmān and said, “Why not come up and we will fly in the air of setting forth.” Luqmān shouted at him, saying, “Do not be unmanly! Creation is a narrow playing field. It is not fitting for us to fly.” This is a magnificent allusion to the center point of togetherness, which belongs to those with familiarity in the heart and clarity in the spirit.

It has come in a report that faith has seventy-some gates, the least of which is that an aspiration arises from your makeup that throws this world and the afterworld off to one side. When this trash is swept aside from in front of your feet, the beauty of faith will disclose itself to your heart, for the subsisting things, the wholesome deeds, are better with your Lord in reward, and better in expectation [18:46]. This is just what that chevalier said:

“The beauty of the Qur’an’s presence will throw off its veil

when it sees the dominion of faith free of turmoil.” [DS 52]

13:39 He effaces whatsoever He will, and He affirms.

Know that the highway of the Real’s religion is three things: submission, the Sunnah, and self-purification. In submission be fearful, in the Sunnah be hopeful, and in self-purification be a lover. Submission has no escape from fear, the Sunnah must have hope, and self-purification is nothing but the foundation of the lover.

To the fearful it is said, “Be afraid!” To the hopeful it is said, “Keep on seeking!” To the lover it is said, “Keep on burning!”

In the end the address will come to the fearful, “Fear not! [41:30]. Do not fear, for the days of fear have come to an end.” To the hopeful will be said, “Grieve not! [41:30]. Have no sorrow, for your hope has been reached and the tree of joy has grown.” To the lovers will be said, “Rejoice! [41:30]. Be happy, for the night of separation has ended and the morning of union has come.”

Each of these things has its own path of effacement and affirmation in the world. From the hearts of the fearful He erases eye-service and puts certainty, He erases stinginess and puts generosity, He erases avarice and puts contentment, He erases envy and puts tenderness, He erases innovation and puts the Sunnah, He erases fright and puts security.

From the hearts of the hopeful He erases free choice and deposits surrender, He erases dispersion and deposits togetherness, He erases perplexity and deposits the precedent light.

From the hearts of the lovers He erases the customs of human nature and deposits the marks bearing witness to the Haqiqah, He decreases the marks bearing witness to the servant and increases the marks bearing witness to Himself. Then, just as he was at first, so also he will be at last.

The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O God, the majesty of Your exaltedness left no room for allusions. Your effacing and affirming took away the path of ascription—I lost all that I had in hand. O God, Yours kept on increasing and mine decreasing until at last there remained only what there was at first.”

Tribulation lies only in the makeup of my water and clay.

What was before heart and clay? That is what I will be.

He effaces whatsoever He will, and He affirms. It has been said, “He effaces the recognizers by the unveiling of His majesty and He affirms them by the gentleness of His beauty.”^{1LI 3:236.} Through the unveiling of majesty, intellects are eclipsed and swept away, and through the gentleness of beauty, spirits rejoice and are put at ease.

First He drowns the servants with the waves of confoundedness in the ocean of unveiled majesty until, at the domination of intimacy with Him, they are freed from themselves through a state that the body cannot bear, the heart cannot understand, and discernment cannot view. Like drunkards, they turn to the valleys of confoundedness, in thirst and bewilderment, sometimes weeping, sometimes laughing. They have no leisure to search out their frightened heart, no helper to whom to recount their portion.

Isolated from friends in every land—

the greater the sought, the fewer the helpers.

They keep on saying with the tongue of brokenness in the attribute of poverty, “O God, today this burning of mine is mixed with pain—I have no capacity to bear it, no place to flee. O God, why is this blade so sharp?! There is no place for ease and no way to abstain. O Generous One, my home is so far away. The traveling companions have gone back, saying that this is the work of delusion. If my home is joy, this waiting is celebration, and this tribulation on top of tribulation is light upon light [24:35].”

Then, with the gaze of gentleness, He looks into the servants’ spirits. The servants come back from intoxication to sobriety, take ease in the gentle favors of solicitude, and light up with the light of contemplation. They are released from self, freed from this world and the next, and live in the breeze of intimacy, seeing the beginningless reminder, having found everlasting happiness. They say, “O God, sometimes I spoke to You and sometimes I listened. In the midst of my offenses I thought of Your gentleness. I suffered what I suffered. All became sweet when I heard the voice of acceptance.”