His words, Exalted is He:

when he came to his Lord with a sound heart (qalb salīm).^{1The verse is speaking about Abraham.}

That is, in a state of self-surrender (mustaslim), having committed his affairs to his Lord, resorting [to Him] through his innermost secret (sirr) in every situation.

His words, Exalted is He:

And he cast a glance at the stars (nujūm) And he said, ‘Indeed I feel sick.’

He said:

It is narrated from Muḥammad b. Sawwār from ʿAmr b. al-Aʿlāʾ who said, ‘Its meaning is that he looked at the plants (nabāt), as in His words, and the plants (najm) and trees (shajar) bow in prostration [55:6], intending by the word najm, plants which have no trunk,^{1The word najm (plur. nujūm) can mean ‘star’ while the word najm is a collective noun for ‘herbs’ or ‘plants’.} and by the word shajar, those which have a trunk.’^{2This is an exoteric interpretation, through which Muḥammad b. Sawwār possibly intends to make it clear that Abraham was not worshipping the stars, as did his ancestors, while other commentators point out that Abraham was deliberately giving his father and others the impression that he still depended on the stars. See, for example, the Tafsīr al-Jalālayn on this verse. See also p. 66, n. 12 above.}

His words:

Truly this was indeed a clear test.

He said:

That is, a trial of mercy (balāʾ al-raḥma).^{1The reason for its being called a trial of mercy is explained in the paragraph which follows in Tustarī’s commentary.} Do you not see how God sent him [Abraham] in a state of contentment (riḍā)? ^{2That is, the prophet Abraham manifested the quality of contented acceptance of whatever trials God had decreed for him. See above Tustarī’s commentary on 15:97, 98.}

He said:

We have heard that the following is written in the Psalms, ‘I did not decree anything for a believer which he either liked or detested without its being good for him.’ And it is related that God, Exalted is He, revealed the following to Abraham عليه السلام, ‘There is no one [whose provision in this world] I have increased, but that I have decreased by the same proportion [his provision] in the Hereafter, and that goes for you also, My true friend.’^{3Compare the commentary on 29:1, 2 above, regarding suffering and the reward of the Hereafter.}

Abū Yaʿqūb al-Sūsī^{4Abū Yaʿqūb Yūsuf b. Hamdān al-Sūsī (d. end third/ninth century). Böwering (Mystical Vision, p. 80) understands Sūsī to be among the visitors to Tustarī who benefited from his teaching for a short time.} relates, ‘A faqīr came to us while we were in Arrajān and Sahl b. ʿAbd Allāh happened to be there also on that day.^{5Arrajān is an ancient town built by the Sassanians, which is now a ruin. It is situated in Khūzistān, southern Iran, close to Behbahān.} He [the faqīr] said, “You are the people of [God’s] special care (ahl al-ʿināya). Indeed, a severe trial and affliction (miḥna) has descended upon me.” Sahl said to him, “In the registry of afflictions, it descended only after you exposed yourself to this matter.^{6That is exposing himself to the matter of the affliction.} So what is it?” He replied, “Something of this world opened itself up to me, so I took possession of it to the exclusion of my family and thus lost my faith and my [spiritual] state (ḥāl).” Sahl said, “What do you say concerning this, O Abū Yaʿqūb?” I replied, “The affliction was more intense [for him] regarding [the loss of] his state than regarding [the loss of] his faith.” Sahl responded, “A person like you would say that O Abū Yaʿqūb.”’^{7This discussion is related in Sarrāj, Kitāb al-Lumaʿ, p. 193. See Böwering, Mystical Vision, pp. 78–9. Böwering understands from this encounter that both Tustarī and Abū Yaʿqūb are in agreement in their disapproval of the faqīr’s being more distressed about the loss of his state than the loss of his faith.}

Sahl was asked about the [spiritual] state (ḥāl). He replied:

The state of remembrance (dhikr) [at the level of] knowledge (ʿilm) is tranquil repose [in God] (sukūn), and the state of remembrance [at the level of] the intellect (ʿaql) is profound peace (ṭumaʾnīna). The state of mindfulness of God (taqwā) [at the level of] Islam [consists of observing] the limits [of the law] (ḥudūd), and the state of mindfulness of God [at the level of] faith (īmān) is profound peace (ṭumaʾnīna).^{8On the significance of the levels of islām and īmān, as well as iḥsān see above Tustarī’s commentary on 14:25.}

If the servant has a state, and an affliction visits him, and he then asks for relief through a state lower than the one he is in, that counts as a defilement (ḥadath) from him.

He was asked, ‘Why is that?’, and he said, ‘It is like someone who is hungry asking for satiation, because the rank of the hungry is higher.’^{9The state of hunger is higher in the spiritual ranks than that of satiation, so if the aspiring mystic who is hungry asks for satiation, then that is tantamount to ‘defilement’. On the virtue of hunger, see above Tustarī’s commentary on 7:31 and IT, p. xvi, and p. xxi.}

His words:

Then We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice.^{1This a reference to the ram which God commanded should be sacrificed in place of Abraham’s son, once he (Abraham) had proved his readiness to sacrifice his son out of obedience to God.}

He said:

When Abraham عليه السلام loved his son with a natural human [love], God’s favour (faḍl) and protection (ʿiṣma) corrected him, such that He commanded him to sacrifice his son, though the intention [of this command] was not the realisation of the sacrifice, but rather the aim was to purge his innermost secret (sirr) from the love of other than Him by the most effective means. Then when He had purified his innermost secret for Himself, so that he desisted from following his natural habit (ʿādat al-ṭabʿ), He ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice.

His words:

And had he not been one of those who glorify God,^{1This is part of a brief account of the story of Jonah in the whale [37:139–48]. The following verse completes the conditional sentence, so the two verses read as follows: And had he not been one of those who glorify God, he would have tarried in its belly until the Day when they are raised [37:143–4].}

He said:

That is, among those who upheld the rights (ḥuqūq) of God, Exalted is He, before affliction (balāʾ) came. But God, Glorified and Exalted is He, knows best.