His words, Exalted is He:

Indeed, prosperous are the believers, those who in their prayers are humbly submissive (khāshiʿūn),

[Sahl was asked], ‘What is humble submission?’ He replied:

Humble submission (khushūʿ) is openly [manifested] (ʿalāniyya). It is to stand before God, Exalted is He, while maintaining the conditions for the finest conduct (ādāb) required by the One who commands (al-Āmir), which is to purge your [moments of] activity (ḥarakāt) and stillness (sukūn) from anything other than Him. The root of this is fear (khashiya) within the innermost secret (sirr). If a person is given fear, humble submission will manifest in his exterior and this is one of the conditions of [true] faith.

It has been related of Ḥasan b. ʿAlī رضي الله عنهم that when he finished his ablutions, the colour of his face would change and he was asked about that. He said, ‘It is appropriate that the face of the one who intends to enter the presence of the Master of the Throne [God] should change colour.’ It is related of the Prophet ﷺ that he said to Muʿādh, ‘Truly, the Qurʾān has curbed (qayyada) the believer from much of what his lower self desires, and by God’s permission has come between him and his being ruined by that desire. Indeed, the believer is a captive to whomsoever has a rightful claim over him. O Muʿādh! The believer strives to liberate himself. O Muʿādh! Truly a believer’s fear will not abate, nor his unrest be stilled until he leaves behind him the Traverse over Hell.^{1The ‘Traverse’ (ṣīrāṭ) is traditionally described as a bridge stretched over the gulf of Hell, sharper than a sword and thinner than a hair, which all the believers are made to cross at the Resurrection. It is described in Ghazālī’s Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn, Book 40: Kitāb Dhikr al-mawt wa-mā baʿdahu, trans. Timothy J. Winter, as The Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife (Cambridge, 1989), pp. 205–10.} O Muʿādh! Truly the believer knows that there are observers keeping watch over his hearing, sight, tongue, hands, feet, stomach and genitals, and even the blinking of his eye, the particles of mud on his fingers, the kohl in his eyes and every movement he makes. Mindfulness of God (taqwā) is his companion (rafīq), the Qurʾān is his guide (dalīl), fear (khawf) is his way (maḥajja), longing (shawq) is his riding beast (maṭiyya), dread (wajl) is his emblem (shiʿār), prayer (ṣalāt) is his cave [of refuge] (kahf), fasting (ṣiyām) is his garden [or Paradise] (janna), charity (ṣadaqa) is his source of liberation (fikāk), truthfulness (ṣidq) is his vizier, shame (ḥayāʾ) is his emir, and behind all of these, his Lord is on the look out (bi-mirṣād). O Muʿādh! I wish for you what I wish for myself. I have forbidden you that which Gabriel عليه السلام forbade me. I do not know anyone at all who will join me on the Day of Resurrection and who will be happier than you at what God has granted you.’^{2Ṭabarānī, al-Muʿjam al-awsaṭ, vol. 8, p. 176; Iṣfahānī, Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ, vol. 1, pp. 26–7, and vol. 10, p. 31.}

His words:

And verily We created above you seven paths…

That is, the seven veils (ḥujub) which veil [a person] from his Lord, Mighty and Majestic is He: the first veil is his intellect (ʿaql), the second his knowledge (ʿilm), the third his heart (qalb), the fourth his fear (khashiya), the fifth his self (nafs), the sixth his wish (irāda) and the seventh his will (mashīʾa). The intellect [is a veil] in its preoccupation with the management of the affairs of this world (tadbīr al-dunyā); knowledge because of the vainglory (mubāhāt) [it breeds] among peers; the heart in its heedlessness (ghafla); fear because of its disregard for influxes [of grace from above] (bi-ighfālihā ʿan mawārid al-umūr ʿalayhā)^{1Note the use of ʿalayhā, feminine referring back to fear (khashiya), and thus suggesting a direct connection between these divine influxes of grace from God and the state of fear. As Tustarī has indicated a number of times, fear is a condition of true faith, yet in itself it can become a veil.}; the self because it is the haven (maʾwā) for every tribulation (baliyya); the will because it is directed towards this world and turned away from the Hereafter; the wish due to its pursuance of sins.

His words:

…Eat of the good things and perform righteous acts…

That is, ‘Eat what is legitimate to sustain yourselves whilst keeping propriety.’ Sustenance (qiwām) is that which you need to maintain your body while preserving your heart. Propriety in this is to show gratitude (shukr) to the Bestower of blessings (al-Munʿim). The least amount of gratitude a person should show is not to disobey Him by [abusing] any of the blessings [He has bestowed upon him].

His words:

Surely those who are in awe of their Lord are apprehensive,

He said: Fear (khashiya) is broken-heartedness (inkisār al-qalb) which comes from constantly standing (intiṣāb) before Him.^{1That is, maintaining a reverential awareness of His presence.} After this level comes fearful apprehension (ishfāq), which is a milder (araqq) state than fear and more subtle (alṭaf).^{2The printed edition has al-luṭf instead of alṭaf, which is clearly written in MSS: Z515, f. 78a and F3488, f. 251a. MS F638, f. 36a appears to have the extra ‘lām’ of al-luṭf partially erased.} Fear is milder than dread (khawf) and dread is milder than terror (rahba), but for each one there is a particular characteristic and a place.

His words:

…Yet they did not humble themselves to their Lord, nor do they devote themselves to prayer.

They did not devote themselves solely to their Lord in worship nor did they abase themselves before Him in His unicity (waḥdāniyya).