His words, Exalted is He:

God will bring to naught the deeds of those who disbelieve and bar others from the way of God.

He said:

He brought them to naught because of their utterance of words that had no reality (ḥaqīqa) behind them.

His words:

He will guide them and dispose their minds aright.

He said:

This means that He will guide them in their graves to answer Munkar and Nakīr correctly; and dispose their minds aright, that is, He will bring about the commencement^{1That is, translating yashraʿu in all three MSS: Z515, f. 100b, F638, f. 47a and F3488, f. 277b, instead of yasraʿu in the published edition.} of the reward in their hearts [in the grave] (jazāʾ), and in the Hereafter, the delight of the meeting [with Him] (ladhdhat al-liqāʾ) at the moment of the manifestation (tajallī) of unveiling (mukāshafa), as a face-to-face encounter (kifāḥan), and thereupon, [His] taking care (tawallī) of them, as when He says:

That is because God is patron (mawlā) of those who believe…

That is, by His good pleasure, love and His keeping them in the station of proximity (qurb).

His words:

And how many a town, mightier in power than your town, which expelled you, have We destroyed and they had none to help them.

In this verse there is proof of his [Muḥammad’s] ﷺ superiority over Kalīm [Moses], because he did not leave out of fear of them in the way that Moses عليه السلام did,^{1A reference to Moses’ fleeing Egypt in fear, after he had killed an Egyptian, related in 28:15–21.} but he left in the way that God, Exalted is He, said in the words: which expelled you. He did not say ‘you left’, nor ⸢‘you fled’⸣, nor ‘you felt afraid’, for he [acted] by God and for God at all times,^{2The insertion of the words wa lā fararta, and a change of word order from lillāh wa bi’llāh, to bi’llāh wa lillāh, has been made on the basis of all three MSS: Z515, f. 101b, F638, f. 47b and F3488, f. 278a.} and it never happened that his attention was diverted to other [than Him] in any particular situation.

His words:

Is he who follows a clear sign from his Lord…?

He said:

The believer has a clear explanation (bayān) from his Lord and whoever has a clear proof (bayyina) from his Lord adheres to following the established ways of the Prophet (sunan).

His words:

…and forgiveness from their Lord.^{1Here, forgiveness is being described as one of the rewards of Paradise.}

He said:

Forgiveness from their Lord in Paradise is the lights of God which cover them at their vision of Him.^{2Because otherwise they would be annihilated at the vision of God. Above, in his commentary on 43:71, Tustarī spoke of empowerment (tamkīn) being given to those who realise the divine oneness at the moment of encounter (liqāʾ) in Paradise.}

His words:

…And ask forgiveness for your sin and for the believing men and women…

He said:

That is, ‘Seek forgiveness for the desire (himma) of the natural self (nafs al-ṭabʿ).’ The Prophet ﷺ said, ‘There is not one among us who has not had the desire [to do something] and then transgressed.’

This means that a [person’s] lower self (nafs) intended something,^{1The word used is hamma, which has a number of meanings including to entertain the desire for something, consider, or be on the point of doing something, apart from its meanings of being concerned about or of importance, which are not relevant here. Note that the saying of the Prophet cited in the previous paragraph used the word himma from the same verbal root, h-m-m.} overwhelming the heart (ʿalā’l-qalb), for the immediate [gratification of its share of] lusts (ʿājil al-shahawāt), but then that person turned away from that [intent] and sought forgiveness from God, just as the Prophet ﷺ said: ‘Truly, my heart becomes clouded, and truly I ask forgiveness from God, Exalted is He, seventy times every day.’^{2Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ, ‘Kitāb al-Daʿwāt’, Ibn Ḥanbal, al-Musnad, vol. 4, p. 211.}

His words, Exalted is He:

Know, then, that there is no god but God…

He said:

All people are dead except those who know (ʿulamāʾ), and for this reason He summoned His Prophet ﷺ to the abode of life (maḥall al-ḥayāt), through knowledge (ʿilm), with His words: Know…

His words:

…or is it that they have locks on their hearts?

He said:

God, Exalted is He, created the hearts, and secured them with locks. Then He made the realities of faith (ḥaqāʾiq al-īmān) the keys to hearts. With those keys, the only hearts He opened to realisation (taḥqīq) were those of His friends (awliyāʾ), messengers (rusul) عليهم السلام, and the veracious (ṣiddīqūn). The rest of people leave this world without the locks on their hearts being opened. The renunciants (zuhhād), devout worshippers (ʿubbād), and scholars (ʿulamāʾ) will leave this world with locked hearts because they sought the keys to them with the intellect (ʿaql), and thus strayed from the path. If only they had sought them by having recourse to God-given success (tawfīq) and grace (faḍl), they would have attained them [the keys].^{1On Tustarī’s teachings concerning the limitations of ʿaql, see IT, pp. xlvff.}

The key is to know that God is taking care of you (qāʾim ʿalayka), and watching over (raqīb) your bodily members, and to know that works are not complete without sincerity (ikhlāṣ) accompanied by heedfulness (murāqāba) [of God].

His words:

…Obey God and obey the Messenger…

That is, in revering (taʿẓīm) God. …Do not render your own works void, that is, by seeing them as coming from yourselves and by seeking recompense (aʿwāḍ) from your Lord, for sincere works are those that are done without seeking recompense.

His words, Exalted is He:

…God is the Self-Sufficient One, while you are the needy….

Gnosis (maʿrifa) of the secret [divine] mystery (sirr) is [attained] entirely through neediness (faqr), and that is God’s secret (sirr Allāh). The knowledge of [one’s] neediness for God, Exalted is He, is the corrective to the knowledge that [one has] richness (ghinā) through God, Mighty and Majestic is He. But God, Glorified and Exalted is He, knows best.