25:23 We shall advance on what deeds they have done and make them scattered dust.

One of the pirs of the Tariqah recited this verse and said, “Of all the Qur’an’s verses, this is the sweetest. When He throws these tainted deeds of ours to the wind of unneediness, He will act toward us with bounty alone. What He does with His bounty will be fitting for His generosity. What is fitting for His generosity is better than what is fitting for our deeds.”

Then he said, “He has things rightfully due against us, like obedience and worship, but we in our makeup are destitute, and He has decreed our destitution. When the decreer decrees that someone be destitute, the plaintiff can have nothing against him. ‘If he has suffered hardship, that has comfort in view.’

“Whenever someone is destitute, it is incumbent to give him respite so that he may acquire some capital. But, we will never acquire capital until that world, when He will pour down the treasure of His bounty on our heads. We are not wealthy through our own being—we are wealthy through His attributes. Nothing comes from us or our deeds. When an affair is opened up for us, it opens up from His bounty.^{1Taken from RA 540-41.}

“When He accepts us, He does not accept us because of the form of our practice. He accepts us because of the readiness that He gazed upon in His beginningless knowledge. Whatever there may be in the world follows upon that readiness. Wait until tomorrow when He makes that readiness apparent and opens the doors of the treasuries. He will give the treasury of mercy to the disobedient and the treasury of bounty to the destitute so that they may discharge what is rightfully due to Him from His treasury, for the servants cannot discharge His rightful due from what belongs to them.”^{2The paragraph combines sentences from RA 548 and 541.}

The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O God, whatever I counted as a mark curtained me and whatever I considered a basis was foolish. O God, lift up this curtain from me totally, remove from me the defect of my being, and do not leave me in the hand of striving! O God, let none of our deeds circle around us! Lift us up from our loss! O Beautiful-Doer, straighten out what You made without us! Entrust us not to what You can put up with!”

25:45 Dost thou not see thy Lord, how He stretched out the shadow? Had He willed, He would have made it still. Then We made the sun an indicator of it.

In terms of outwardness, this verse explains a miracle of Muṣṭafā, but in the meaning understood by the folk of the realities, it alludes to the special favors and redoublings of generosity he received. The explanation of the miracle is that during one of his journeys, God’s Messenger dismounted under a tree at the time of the afternoon nap. All the companions were with him, but the tree’s shadow was small. To make manifest a miracle for Muḥammad, the Exalted Lord pulled out that shadow by His power such that the whole army of Islam had a place in the tree’s shadow. In that state the Exalted Lord sent down this verse, and this miracle became manifest.

As for the explanation of his being singled out for proximity and nearness, it is that Dost thou not see thy Lord is addressed to those who have presence and declares the eminence of the proximate. In the station of whispered prayer Moses wanted to see the Real: “Show me, that I may gaze upon Thee!”[7:143]. The exalted majesty of the Unity pulled the bodkin of severity across the eyes of his holiness: “Thou shalt not see Me” [7:143]. To Muṣṭafā He said, “Dost thou not see thy Lord?”: “Do you not see Me and gaze upon Me? What do you want with another?”

O chevalier! Do not suppose that when someone reaches the contemplation of the exaltedness of the Possessor of Majesty, his passion and yearning will become less by one iota. In the liver of a fish there is a heat that will not settle down by one iota even if you gather together all the oceans of the world. A heart that is a heart is at work today and it will also be at work tomorrow. Today it is in yearning itself and tomorrow it will be in tasting itself.^{1This paragraph is based on RA 26.}

One of the secrets of Dost thou not see thy Lord? is that mortal man, though he is singled out for the special favors of proximity, would never reach the point where he requests the vision of the exaltedness of the Possessor of Majesty if mutual seeing had not come at the request of Beauty. The explanation of this intimation is found in the report of Muṣṭafā where he says, “When the folk of the Garden enter the Garden, they will be called, ‘O folk of the Garden, God has promised you something that He desires to fulfill for you,’” and so on to the end.^{2Maybudī offers one version of the whole hadith under 10:26.} This indeed is the degree of the common people among the faithful. First they will reach their own degrees and domiciles and become familiar with their own followers, stewards, and servitors as well as the folk of their empire, and then they will reach the contemplation of Unity at the request of the Exaltedness.

There is another group who are the lords of the eye. They had become disengaged from their own attributes and reached the eye of their own innate disposition. Before they join with the ascending steps of paradise’s good fortune, the beauty of the lordhood will block their road and unveil the Cloak of Magnificence. He will let them witness His beauty and disclose Himself to them in His majesty before they arrive at the domiciles and degrees. That is His words, “Surely thy Lord lies in wait” [89:14].

It has also been said that Dost thou not see thy Lord, how He stretched out the shadow? means that “He stretched out the shadow of protection from sin before He sent thee as a messenger to the people. Had He willed, He would have made it still,” that is, “He would have neglected it and not done so. On the contrary, He made the sun, which rose up from thy breast, an indicator of it.”

25:46 Then We contracted it to Us with an easy contracting.

This is addressed to those from whom He made the traces and intermediaries fall away.

25:48 And He it is who has sent the winds, bearing good news before His mercy. And We sent down from heaven pure water.

This is an allusion to the wind of kind favor from the direction of solicitude, which blows over the hearts of the faithful to sweep away completely the rubbish of opposition and the varieties of opacity. Then the hearts will be worthy of receiving the generous arrivals from the Real. When the scent of the repose of those winds reaches the breast of the servants, they seek for increase in those influxes and search out the fragrance of those arrivals and that solicitude. In loving kindness and gentleness, the Exalted Lord opens four doors for them: The door of beautiful doing, the door of blessings, the door of obedience, and the door of love.

By virtue of mortal nature the servant enters the road of his own ingratitude, for Surely man is ungrateful to his Lord [100:6], so he closes the door of beautiful doing to himself. The Real sends the messenger of generosity with the key of disregard and pardon: “I will curtain your ugly-doing with My mercy, for I am the kind Master and you are the weak servant.” That is His words, “He it is who accepts repentance from His servants and pardons the ugly deeds” [42:25].

In the same way, the Exalted Lord opens the door of blessings for the servant. The servant comes forward with ingratitude, for Surely man is a clear ingrate [43:15], so he closes that door to himself with shortcoming in giving thanks. The Real sends the messenger of bounty with the key of favor and says, “Though you have fallen short in giving thanks, I do not fall short in My kindness.” That is His words, “In the bounty of God, and His mercy [in that let them rejoice]” [10:58].

The third door that God opens for the servant is the door of obedience. The servant closes that door to himself with disobedience. The Real sends the messenger of forgiveness with the key of repentance: “When you commit a sin, I will forgive you, and I do not care.” That is His words, “Surely God forgives the sins altogether” [39:53].

The fourth is the door of love, which God opens for the servant with His own bounty. The servant comes forth with disloyalty and closes that door to himself with impudence and breaking the covenant. The Exalted Lord sends the messenger of clemency with the key of curtaining: “My servant, though you have dared to act with ugly deeds, I will let that go, for I am your Beloved and I am the one who says, ‘He loves them, and they love Him’ [5:54].”^{1The explanation of the four doors is derived from RA 390-91.}

25:48-49 And We sent down from heaven pure water, thereby giving life to a dead earth and giving drink to many cattle and men that We created.

And We sent down from heaven pure water. Naṣrābādī said, “This is the sprinkles of the waters of love that He sprinkles on the hearts of the recognizers, thereby bringing their souls to life by putting their nature to death. Then He makes their hearts a leader for the people, effusing His blessings upon them, and the blessings of their heart’s light reaches everything that has a spirit. God says, ‘thereby giving life to a dead earth and giving drink to many cattle and men that We created.’”

25:53 He it is who mixed the two oceans, this one sweet, delicious; that one salty, bitter.

Hū [He] is one solitary letter that alludes to the solitary Lord. It is neither a name nor an attribute, but an allusion to a Lord who has no name and no attribute. The one letter is the h. The ū is the resting place of the breath. Do you not see that when you make its dual, you say humā, not hūmā? This is so that you will know that it is indeed one letter pointing to the One Lord.

Whenever you say any of the names and attributes, you say them from the tip of the tongue, in contrast to hū, which comes forth from the midst of the spirit and goes by way of the core of the breast and the depth of the heart. The tongue and lips have nothing to do with it.

When this word comes from the depths of the breasts of the men of the religion’s road and the lords of the eye of certainty—those who have limpid hearts, high aspirations, and empty breasts—what they mean and understand is nothing but the Real. Unless someone becomes a chevalier of this sort, the reality of the He-ness will not be unveiled to him.

A great man was walking on a road, and a dervish was coming toward him. He said, “Where are you coming from?”

He said, “He.”

He said, “Where are you going?”

He said, “He.”

He said, “What is your goal?”

He said, “He.”

No matter what he asked, he replied “He.” This is like what someone said:

“So much is your image in my eyes

that whatever I see I fancy is you.”^{1The first two paragraphs, the dervish story, and line of poetry are from RA 3 and 2.}

And He it is who mixed the two oceans, this one sweet, delicious; that one salty, bitter. The salty ocean has no sweetness, and the sweet no saltiness. The two are one in substantiality, but God in His power made them differ in attribute. In the same way He created hearts, some of which are quarries of certainty and recognition and others of which are loci of doubt and ingratitude.^{2LI 4:313.}

Sweet, delicious is an allusion to the hearts of the friends, which are bright with the light of guidance and adorned with the ornament of faith and within which is shining the radiance of tawḥīd’s sun. Salty, bitter is an allusion to the hearts of the estranged, which have become dark through the darknesses of unbelief and the opacities of doubt and remained in the bewilderment of ignorance. One has put on the robe of elevation without deviation, and the other’s foot is shackled with abasement and degradation, without iniquity. Indeed, when the Exalted Lord wants to place the crown of exaltation on a servant’s head, He gives him access to the carpet of secret whispering and keeps the road of faith bright for him. When He wants to place the scar of loss on his cheek, He drives him from the station of proximity with the whip of vengeance. And he to whom God assigns no light has no light [24:40].^{3From “Indeed” these sentences are derived from RA 183.}

25:63 The servants of the All-Merciful are those who walk in the earth in lowliness.

It has been narrated from Abū Baraza al-Aslamī that God’s Messenger said, “I saw a people from my community, not yet created, who will come into being after this day and whom I love and who love me. They counsel each other, act with kindness to each other, and walk gently among the people with the light of God, in hiddenness and godwariness. They are secure from the people, and the people are secure from them because of their patience and forbearance. Their hearts are serene in the remembrance of God, their mosques flourishing with their prayers. They have mercy on their young and revere their old. They share what they own among themselves; their rich visit their poor and their strong visit their weak. They visit their ill, and they follow in funeral processions.”

One of the group said, “They are being benevolent to their close friends.”

God’s Messenger turned to him and said, “Not at all. They have no close friends. They are serving their own souls. That is nobler with God than those who are openhanded to people, because of the lowliness of this world in the Lord’s view.” Then God’s Messenger recited, “The servants of the All-Merciful are those who walk in the earth in lowliness.”

The Persian of this report is this: Muṣṭafā said, “I saw,” that is, in his unveilings and visionary encounters, or in a dream, “a people of my own community whose persons and semblances had not yet entered into the bonds of created nature. The compass of power had not yet turned on the circle of their existence, for today is not the time of their manifestation. That will come in other days and another time, when the desire moves and the apportionings join with their designated times. This is a people whom I love and who love me. Each of them would love to see me along with his family and possessions. They are chevaliers who always want good for each other. Whatever they have, whether possessions or position, they do not hold back from one another. They put aside their own rightful dues and shares and put forward the rightful dues of their brothers. They are leaders to the Real who travel with the light of God. They travel the road of the religion with the lamp of guidance, the candle of faith, and the light of certainty. They go forward among the people softly, easily, and harmlessly. Their hearts are at ease in the remembrance of God and they keep their mosques flourishing with prayer and worship. With their old folk they live with respect and honor, toward their children they have mercy and clemency, and they give comfort and show consideration to everyone. Their wealthy do not disdain to visit the poor. They look after the weak, they ask after the ill, and they go out to take part in funeral processions.”

A man said, “O Messenger of God! If they have this attribute and conduct, it seems that they are showing benevolence and kindness to their slaves and mercenaries.”

God’s Messenger said, “Not at all, it is not as you say. For they themselves do not have servants and slaves, and they have no one and accept no one to serve themselves but themselves. They are more honored by God than those who give away this lowly, trifling world.” Then the Messenger recited this verse: “The servants of the All-Merciful are those who walk in the earth in lowliness.”

The elect servants and creatures of the All-Merciful are those who pull out the thorn of free choice from their own feet in the midst of the flow of apportionments. They have lopped off the head of the portion-seeking soul with the sword of humility and thereby reached the station of servanthood. His servants in reality are those who are always performing the command. They are pure of portion and far from free choice. They have disowned their own wants.

In the world you see a hundred thousand ʿAbd al-Raḥmāns [Servant of the All-Merciful], ʿAbd al-Razzāqs [Servant of the Provider], and ʿAbd al-Wahhābs [Servant of the Bestower], but you do not see one ʿAbdallāh [Servant of God]. Or rather, you see them in name, but seldom in meaning. Their servanthood is mixed with their portions and tainted by their own shares. He who seeks or worships the Real for his portion is a servant of the portion, not a servant of Him.

Pir Bū ʿAlī Siyāh said, “If you are asked, ‘Do you want paradise, or two cycles of the prayer?,’ do not choose paradise. Choose the two cycles of the prayer, for paradise is your portion, but the prayer is service to Him.”

When Moses, who was God’s speaking companion and honored by the Exalted Presence, came to Khiḍr, he protested twice: once because of killing the boy, and again because of breaking the boat. Since his portion was not in the midst, Khiḍr was patient. But when Moses was moved by his portion and said, “If you wanted, you could have taken a wage for it” [18:77], Khiḍr said, “This is separation between me and you [18:78]. Now that your own portion has come into view, there is no way for me to be your companion, for wages are not a condition of companionship.”^{1These four paragraphs (beginning with “The elect servants”) are derived from RA 68-69.}

The Pir of the Tariqah said, “The lord of companionship is not a wage-earner. In reality, the wage-earner is deluded. As long as a man is a wage-earner, he is far from companionship, and as long as he makes claims he is deceived. As long as the commands are revered and the prohibitions inviolable, he is drowned in light. The servants of the All-Merciful in truth are those whose outwardness is bound by the command and whose inwardness has the largesse of the All-Merciful’s bounty. The bond of the command in the outwardness is the mark of the fearful, and the largesse of the All-Merciful’s bounty in the inwardness is the mark of the proximate.”

It has been recounted that Jesus passed by three people and saw them weak and emaciated, their outsides withered and shrunken. He asked them the cause of their withering and emaciation. They said, “Fear of the Fire.”

He said, “It is rightfully due to God that He keep the fearful secure from the Fire.”

When he had passed them by, he saw three other people, even more emaciated and weak, their faces like mirrors to the light. He said, “What is it that has brought you to this state and made you so weak?”

They said, “Love for God.”

He said, “‘You are the proximate.’ Your state is something else, and your passion something else. You are the proximate and the friends, the chosen and near ones.”

Among the reports has come this: “O David, My remembrance is for the rememberers, My Garden for the obedient, My visitation for the grateful, and I belong specifically to the lovers.”^{2The story about Jesus and the words addressed to David are derived from RA 170-71.}

Within the curtain of friendship, things happen that outside the curtain of friendship are faults. It is as if God has said, “When We brought them into existence and knew that they would stumble and slip, first We spread the carpet of love and put forth this call of generosity: ‘He loves them, and they love Him’ [5:54]. Thus whatever they do will be lifted away from them and repelled because of love.”^{3This paragraph is summarized from RA 169.}

On the day that the beauty of Adam’s limpidness lifted its head from the World of the Unseen, he had a stature like an alif, a straight shape, and an upright makeup. His outwardness and inwardness were joined together, and the bonds of his elements had been tied by the hand of power. The eyes of the angels did not pass beyond the outward contours of his body. They did not know which oyster lay in the depths of his breast’s ocean and which pearl was inside that oyster. They gazed briefly at his outwardness and said, “What, wilt Thou set therein one who will work corruption there?” [2:30].

Then the call of the Unseen came: “You gaze on the outward disobedience, but We judge in keeping with the inner recognition. If the outwardness of this vicegerent becomes dusty with a slip, or if his children step into the trap of pleasures, their adorned inwardness and their tongue trimmed by asking pardon and forgiveness will beg pardon for that offense and We, at the intercession of a heart purified by faith and a tongue purified by the remembrance of the All-Merciful, will wash away that outward slip.”

When the beloved comes with one sin,

his beautiful traits come with a thousand interceders.

One of them said in describing the servants of the All-Merciful, “Worship is their adornment, poverty their nobility, obedience to God their sweetness, love for God their pleasure, their need for God alone, godwariness their traveling supplies, guidance their mount, the Qur’an their talk, remembrance their ornament, contentment their possessions, worship their acquisition, Satan their enemy, the Real their protector, day their heedfulness, night their reflective thought, life a leg of their journey, death their way station, the grave their fortress, paradise their dwelling place, and gazing upon the Lord of the Worlds their wish. These are the elect among His servants, those about whom God says, ‘The servants of the All-Merciful are those who walk in the earth in lowliness.’”