His words, Exalted is He:

And among mankind are those who dispute about God without any knowledge…

That is, they dispute about religion as their whim (hawā) [dictates], or through analogical [reasoning] (qiyās), without following [exemplary guidance] (iqtidāʾ).^{1The nature of this exemplary guidance is not specified here, but it could refer to the Prophet’s Sunna, guidance of the pious predecessors (salaf), or of a spiritual teacher. See above. IT, pp. liii–liv.} By doing this they lead people astray and produce innovation.

His words, Exalted is He:

And among mankind there is the one who worships God, as it were, on a knife edge…

The believer has one face, without a reverse side; he makes repeated [advances] and never retreats. You will see him striving for the cause of God’s religion and His obedience, upholding God’s oneness and the emulation of His Prophet ﷺ, constantly making humble entreaty (taḍarruʿ) of God and seeking refuge in Him in the hope of connecting to Him through following [exemplary guidance]. Zayd b. Aslam related from the Prophet ﷺ that he said: ‘Every person of my nation (umma) will enter Paradise, save the one who refuses.’ We said, ‘O Messenger of God who will refuse that?’ He said, ‘Whoever obeys me will enter Paradise, and whoever disobeys me has refused to enter Paradise.’^{1Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ, ‘al-Iʿtiṣām bi’l-Kitāb wa’l-sunna’.}

His words, Exalted is He:

…if good [fortune] befalls him, he is reassured by it…

That is, whoever follows [his] desire, if his heart is satisfied and his lower self is happy in its worldly share, he will feel reassured by it. Otherwise he will return to the disbelief that his desire calls him to.^{2‘Otherwise’ meaning if an ordeal befalls him he will return to unbelief, as it says later in the same verse: …he makes a turn about, losing this world and the Hereafter. That is the manifest loss.}

His words:

Truly God shall admit those who believe and perform righteous deeds into gardens…

He said:

They are those who were faithful to God in secret as well as in public, and followed the Sunna of the Prophet ﷺ and did not innovate in any situation.

His words:

…the sun and the moon...^{1The context of these words is: Have you not seen that to God prostrate whoever is in the earth, together with the sun and the moon, and the stars and the mountains, the trees and the animals…[22:18].}

He said:

The prostration of these things consists of their recognition (maʿrifa) of God [manifested] through their abasing themsleves (tadhallul) and submitting (inqiyād) to Him.

His words:

…Purify My House for those who circumambulate it…

That is, ‘Purify My House from idols, for those among My servants whose hearts are pure from doubt (shakk), misgivings (rayb) and hardness (qaswa). Therefore, just as God has commanded the purification of His House [at Mecca] from idols, so also He has commanded the purification of that house of His in which He deposited the mystery of faith (sirr al-īmān) and the light of gnosis (nūr al-maʿrifa), namely, the heart of the believer. God, Exalted is He, has commanded the believer to purify himself from rancour (ghill), deceit (ghishsh), inclination towards the lusts of the lower self (shahawāt al-nafs) and heedlessness (ghafla). For those who circumambulate it [the Kaʿba], as also for those who uphold the lights of faith, there will be manifold increase in [God-given] success (tawfīq).

…And those who bow and prostrate themselves

in fear and hope. Truly the heart ⸢is [like] a house⸣^{1Added on the basis of MS F638, f. 35a only, but the addition of the word bayt here really makes better sense and completes the analogy.}: if it is unoccupied it goes to ruin, and [likewise] if it is occupied by other than its owner, ⸢or by other than one whom the owner has settled there⸣, it will also go to ruin. Therefore, if you wish your hearts to be in good repair, do not let your prayer in them be other than to God, Exalted is He;^{2Who, as we saw above, is the Owner of hearts.} ⸢if you want to keep your breasts (ṣuḍūr) in good repair, let not anything be in them other than [awareness of] the Hereafter⸣;^{3The other additions in the passage were made on the basis of all three MSS: Z515, f. 76a, MS F638, f. 35a and MS F3488, f. 248b.} if you want to preserve your tongues, do not let your prayer on them be other than truthfulness (ṣidq); and if you wish to preserve your bodily members, do not allow them to become engaged with anything other than what is in accordance with the Sunna.

His words:

And announce among the people the [season for] Pilgrimage. They shall come to you on foot…

Verily God, Exalted is He, has servants among whom some go to mosques on thrones (sarīr), and some ride on conveyances of gold covered with silk and drawn by angels.

Aḥmad b. Sālim said, ‘I was working on a piece of land to improve it, when I saw Sahl on a couch above the water of the Euphrates River.’ He also said, ‘One day I entered Sahl’s house, the door of which was very small, and I saw a horse standing there. Then I left in fright, wondering how it could have entered through such a small door. Sahl saw me and told me to come back, so I returned and saw nothing there.’^{1On some charismatic gifts (karāmāt) attributed to Tustarī, see IT, above p. xx.}

It has been related that ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه was gazing down on the congregation at ʿArafāt and said, ‘If only the congregation in this plain knew [the hosts] who have descended, they would have rejoiced at His bounty (faḍl) after [receiving tidings of] being forgiven (maghfira)’.^{2As part of the Hajj, pilgrims gather on the plain of ʿArafāt and stay there from after the dawn prayer until sunset.}

His words:

…And celebrate God’s name, on specified days, over the livestock He has provided for them…

[By which] is meant the gifts and sacrifices. It was related of Fatḥ al-Mawṣilī that on the day of Eid he looked down over the city of Mosul and could see smoke rising from many houses, so he said, ‘O my Lord! How many people are drawing closer to You through sacrifice (qurbān) this night! I have also tried to draw closer to You through sacrifice,’ that is to say, through prayers (ṣalawāt). ‘What will You make of it, O Beloved One?’^{1Ibn al-Jawzī, Ṣifat al-ṣafwa, vol. 4, p. 188; Ibn Ḥanbal, Kitāb al-Waraʿ (Beirut, 1983), p. 92.} It was related of ʿAdī b. Thābit al-Anṣārī that he said, ‘The sacrifice of those who are mindful of God (muttaqūn) is prayer.’^{2Ibn Abī Shayba, al-Muṣannaf, vol. 2, p. 159.} But God knows best.

His words:

…And perform the circumambulation of the Ancient House.

He said:

People have differed concerning this. Ḥasan said, ‘He called it Ancient (ʿatīq) to honour it, just as the Arabs speak of an “ancient” body, and an “ancient” horse if it is noble.’^{1The word ʿatīq can mean excellent, when associated with being old.}

My maternal uncle, Muḥammad b. Sawwār,^{2Translating ‘my maternal uncle Muḥammad b. Sawwār’ (khālī Muḥammad b. Sawwār), on the basis of MS F638, f 36a. MSS: Z515, f. 76a and F3488, f. 249a have ‘Muḥammad b. Sawwār’s maternal uncle’ (khāl Muḥammad b. Sawwār), while the printed edition has ‘his maternal uncle’ (khāluhu).} related on the authority of al-Thawrī that he said, ‘It is called this because it is the oldest (aqdam) and most ancient (aʿtaq) place of worship belonging to God, just as He said: The first House (of worship) to be established for people was that at Bakka, a blessed place [3:96].’

Some have said, ‘He [God] called it ʿatīq because no tyrant ever headed for it with an evil design without God’s destroying him and freeing (aʿtaqa) His House from him. Some have said, ‘It is because it was saved (uʿtiqa) from being submerged during the great flood and raised to the sky.’ Just as God has freed His House, so He has also freed the heart of the believer from other [than Him]. It [the Kaʿba] is older than anything else that God, Exalted is He, erected on His earth as a sign (ʿalam), and He placed it within the Sacred Mosque (al-Masjid al-Ḥarām). Likewise the heart has [within it] another heart, which is the position from which the servant stands before his Master without being agitated or busied by anything, but in a state of tranquil repose in Him (sākin ilayhi).

His words, Exalted is He:

…Indeed, it is not the eyes that become blind, but it is their hearts that become blind within the breasts.

He said:

Is it not true that with the light of the heart’s insight (nūr baṣar al-qalb) a person can overcome desire and lust? But when the heart’s sight is blind to what is within it, lust will overcome him and heedlessness (ghafla) will [afflict] him at regular intervals. Consequently his body will stray into^{1MS F638, f. 35b has mutakhabbiṭan, meaning ‘blunder or stray into’, instead of mutakhaṭṭiyan, meaning ‘err’.} sin without being guided to God under any circumstances.

His words, Exalted is He:

We did not send before you any Messenger or prophet but that when he recited [the scripture] Satan cast [something] into his recitation…

He said:

That is, if he recites [the Scripture] and his lower self notices the recitation,^{1In a vain manner. On the manner in which the Qurʾān should and should not be recited, see Tustarī’s comments above, IC, pp. 3–4 and pp. 7–8.} Satan casts [something into it], for he^{2The published edition has ‘into his ear’ (alqā fī udhnihi) before the words idh lahu. However these words do not appear in any of the MSS. MS Z515, f. 76a has adhalla ʿālā’l-nafs, which could easily be a misreading of idh lahu.} has a partnership with the lower self in this, and that noticing of the recitation comes from the desire of the lower self and its lust. However, if [the person reciting] then witnesses the One remembered (madhkūr) instead of the remembrance [itself] (dhikr), the heart will become oblivious of it [the recitation], and he will not witness anything besides his Master. Consequently Satan will become one of his captives. Do you not see how if a servant is inattentive (sahā) in his recitation (qirāʾa) or in his remembrance of his Lord, Mighty and Majestic is He, his heart acquiesces in the basest pleasures (huẓūẓ) of his lower self and thus can the Enemy [Satan] get at him. Ḥasan said, ‘The whispering (waswās) is of two kinds, one of which is from the lower self and the other from Satan. That which persists in coming is from the lower self, and assistance against it is sought through fasting, prayer and propriety (adab). However, that which [comes, but then] withdraws (nabdhan) is from Satan, and assistance against it is sought through the recitation of the Qurʾān and remembrance [of God] (dhikr).’

His words:

…so that they may believe therein and their hearts may be humbled to Him…

He said:

True faith (ṣidq al-īmān) and its [true] realisation (ḥaqīqa) produce humility (ikhbāt) within the heart, which consists of tenderness (riqqa), fear (khashiya) and humble submission (khushūʿ) in the heart, and results in long periods of reflection (fikr) and silence (ṣamt). These are among the results of faith, for God, Exalted is He, has said: So that they may believe in it and their hearts may be humbled to Him. And God knows best.