His words, Exalted is He:

And when mankind are gathered, [at the Resurrection], they will be enemies to them...^{1It the context of the previous Qurʾānic verse, ‘they’ are those whom mankind has called upon besides God.}

He said:

[This] concerns their lower selves, which led them into following them, [they will be turned against them] as a penalty for their allowing their desire to rule [over them], for they [their lower selves] will bear witness against them. Indeed, the Messenger of God ﷺ said: ‘Truly, the severest foe of man is his self that is between his two sides.’^{2ʿAjlūnī, Kashf al-khafāʾ, vol. 1, p. 148 and 160, and vol. 2, p. 222.}

His words, Exalted is He:

Say, ‘I am nothing new among God’s messengers…’

He said:

That is, ‘There were messengers before me who commanded what I command [you] and forbade what I forbid [you]. I am not peculiar (ʿajab) among the messengers. I do not call you to anything except the profession of God’s oneness (tawḥīd), and I do not guide you to anything other than the noblest of ethics (makārim al-akhlāq). It was with this that the prophets before me were sent.’

His words, Exalted is He:

…[So that] he may say: ‘Lord, inspire me to be truly grateful for the favour with which You have blessed me…’

He said:

That is, ‘Inspire me to repent and do works of obedience.’

His words:

‘…Invest my offspring with righteousness…’

He said:

‘Make them Your true servants and faithful heirs for me.’

His words:

‘…It guides to the truth and a straight way.’ ^{1The subject of this verse being the Qurʾān. The speakers are the jinn who had listened to the Qurʾān being recited and then went back to their people to inform them about it.}

He said:

That is, it shows the path of truth, [as that] by which one leaves dealings (muʿāmalāt) and formalities (rusūmāt) behind, [and endeavours] to realise the truth (taḥqīq al-ḥaqq), which is the straight path (ṣirāṭ mustaqīm).

His words:

‘O our people! Respond to God’s summoner...’

He said:

None can respond to the one who summons, except he who has heard the call (nidāʾ), and then has been granted success to do good things, and has attained certainty (yaqīn). Otherwise, who can respond well to the call?

And he further said:

Truly, in the heart of every believer there is one who summons him to his right course (rushd). The fortunate person is he who is attentive to the call of that summoner, and follows it up.

His words, Exalted is He:

So endure [with patience] like those messengers of firm resolve…

He said:

It means, ‘Be patient with the patience (ṣabr) of the people of gnosis (ahl al-maʿrifa), just as those of firm resolve (ūlū’l-ʿazm) among the messengers showed patience, a patience which is [one of] contentment (riḍā) and submission (taslīm) without complaint (shakwā) or impatience (or anxiety, jazaʿ).’ Abraham, God’s friend عليه السلام, was afflicted with the fire, and the sacrifice of his son, but accepted it with contentment (riḍā) and submitted. Job عليه السلام was afflicted by sickness, and Ishmael with the sacrifice and [likewise] showed contentment. Noah [was tested] with denial but remained steadfast (ṣabara), while Jonah [was placed] in the belly of the whale, but called on God and sought refuge in Him. Joseph, God’s blessings be upon him, [was afflicted with] prison and the well, but he did not alter; and Jacob was tested by the loss of his sight and his son, but he complained of his grief only to God and did not complain to anyone else.^{1An allusion to 12:86: I complain of my anguish and grief only to God.} There are twelve prophets, God’s blessings be upon them, who remained steadfast in the face of what befell them, and they are known as ‘those of firm resolve (ūlū’l-ʿazm) among the messengers’.^{2The most widely accepted tradition is that the ūlū’l-ʿazm are not twelve but five in number mentioned in Sūrat al-Aḥzāb, 7–8 and al-Shūrā, 13: Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muḥammad. Tustarī has not mentioned here Moses, Jesus or Muḥammad, but has mentioned Job, Jonah, Joseph and Jacob.} But God, Transcendent and Exalted is He, knows best.