His words:

…Help one another to righteousness and mindfulness of God…

That is, to the performance of the obligatory acts, for righteousness (birr) is faith (īmān), and the performance of obligatory acts is a branch (farʿ) of faith. Mindfulness of God (taqwā) signifies the Sunna, and an obligatory act is not complete without the Sunna. He prohibited helping one another to sin (ithm) — which [is tantamount to] disbelief (kufr) and hypocrisy (nifāq) — and enmity, which [signifies] innovation (bidʿa) and controversy (khiṣām). Both the aforementioned are [derisive] play (laʿbān), and they have been forbidden from derisive play.^{1Several verses castigate the hypocrites and disbelievers for their derisive play (laʿb) and diversion (lahw); for example: 5:57 and 58; 6:32,70 and 91.} They have also been commanded to do [acts of] righteousness, which include both the obligatory acts and those which are Sunna, and to be steadfast in sincerely devoting themselves to God in all of this.

He was asked about His words, Exalted is He:

…Help one another to righteousness and mindfulness of God…

He said:

Righteousness (birr) is obedience to God and being on one’s guard against disobedience.

His words, Exalted is He,

…Yet fear them not, but fear Me…

That is, ‘Do not fear the disbelievers with regard to obeying Me, but fear Me with regard to following them.’

Then he said:

The weakest person is he who fears those who can neither benefit him nor harm him. However, the One in whose hand is the power to benefit and harm addresses him with His words, Yet fear them not, but fear Me.

His words, Exalted is He:

This day the good things are permitted to you…

[Sahl] said:

The good things refer to the provision which is lawful.

His words, Exalted is He:

When you prepare for prayer, wash your faces...

[Sahl] said:

Purification consists of four things: purity of the source of food, truthfulness of the tongue, avoidance of all sins, and the humility in one’s innermost secret (sirr). In turn, each one of these four corresponds to the purification of the outer members of the body.

His words, Exalted is He:

…But He wishes to purify you...

That is, to purify your state, your character and your actions, so that you return to Him in a state of true poverty (ḥaqīqat al-faqr) without being attached to any [secondary] cause.

Purification is of seven kinds: the purification of knowledge from ignorance, the purification of remembrance from forgetfulness, the purification of obedience from disobedience, the purification of certainty from doubt, the purification of the intellect from foolishness, the purification of opinion from slander, and the purification of faith from anything which is alien to it.^{1A similar definition appears in Iṣfahānī, Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ, vol. 10, p. 208, where only three kinds of purification are mentioned.} Furthermore, each punishment constitutes a kind of purification, except the punishment of the heart, which is hardness.^{2This is also cited in Iṣfahānī, Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ, vol. 10, p. 208.}

[Concerning] His words, Exalted is He:

Two men among those who feared, whom God had blessed, said…

Sahl was asked, ‘What was that blessing (niʿma)?’ He replied:

God blessed them with fear (khawf) and vigilance (murāqaba), because fear, concern (hamm) and sorrow (ḥuzn) increase one’s good deeds, whereas exuberance (ashar) and arrogance (baṭar) increase one’s misdeeds.

His words:

…Stern towards the disbelievers…^{1These words are part of a warning from God to the believers that if they go back on their faith God will soon replace them with people whom He loves and who love Him, who are humble towards the believers, stern towards the disbelievers and who strive in God’s way without fearing anyone’s reproach…[5:54].}

That is, tough (ghalīẓa) on them.

His words:

Your patron is God only, and His Messenger, and the believers…

[Sahl] said:

The patronage (wilāya)^{1As stated above, IC, p. 2, n. 5, and p. 3, n. 14, wilāya can also mean friendship, and hence the awliyāʾ may be translated as ‘friends [of God]’.} of God is [His] choosing (ikhtiyār) for whomever He has taken under His patronage. Then He informed the Messenger that He is the Patron of the believers. Thus it became incumbent upon him to befriend those who had allied themselves to God, Exalted is He, and those who believed. Then He said:

As to those who ally themselves with God, His Messenger and the believers, it is the party of God that is certainly triumphant.

That is, they are triumphant in vanquishing the desire of their lower selves.

His words:

Truly God’s hands are extended wide. He expends however He wills…

[Sahl] said:

This means that His rule, command and prohibition are operative in His dominion.

His words:

And had they observed the Torah and the Gospel and what was revealed to them from their Lord, they would surely have received nourishment from above them and from beneath their feet…

That is, if they acted according to what God revealed to Muḥammad ﷺ, and if you acted according to it, you would attain this rank, just as those who acted according to it attained it. Furthermore, if you had turned to the Provider (al-Razzāq), your provision would have been taken care of.^{1lit. ‘you would have been spared the trouble of storing up, or maintaining, provisions [for yourself].’}

Then he said:

You are not greater than ʿAmr b. Layth, who would march with one thousand horsemen and one thousand foot soldiers in his charge, each one holding a mace of gold and silver. Eventually it came to pass that he was imprisoned in a house after being handed over to the Caliph, who subsequently deprived him of food and drink. When his door was opened they found him dead with his mouth full of straw and clay due to his intense hunger.^{2ʿAmr b. Layth (d. 265/879) was the second ruler of the Ṣaffārid dynasty, founded in the Iranian province of Sīstān by ʿAmr’s elder brother Yaʿqūb b. Layth (d. 253/867), the dynasty taking its name from the latter’s trade of coppersmith (ṣaffār). The Ṣaffārid empire soon spread to include Khurasan and Fārs. ʿAmr tried to expand their empire by invading Transoxiana, but was defeated by the Sāmānid ruler, Ismāʿīl b. Aḥmad (d. 279/892), who had ʿAmr sent to the Caliph in Baghdad. There he was imprisoned and starved to death.} Then he [the Caliph] said, ‘Truly I have advised you and truly I am among those who give you good counsel.’

It was related by Mālik b. Dīnār, from Ḥammād b. Salma and Ḥammād b. Yazīd, that these two came to visit Rābiʿa, and mentioned something concerning the matters of this world. So Rābi‘a said, ‘You are talking about this world a lot. I think you must be hungry, so if you are hungry go over to that pot with the flour and make yourselves whatever takes your fancy.’ Then, one of those who were with her remarked, ‘If only we had some garlic.’ Ḥammād continued, ‘Then I saw Rābiʿa’s lips moving and she had not even finished before a bird came with a clove of garlic in its beak which it cast down and then flew off.^{3A similar story involving a bird bringing an onion required for the stew, is related in ʿAṭṭār’s Tadhkirat al-awliyāʾ, pp. 77–8. The anecdote is translated by Margaret Smith in Rābiʿa the Mystic and her Fellow Saints in Islam (Cambridge, 1984), p. 34.}

His words, Exalted is He:

…God will protect you from people…

[Sahl] was asked, ‘What is this protection (ʿiṣma)?’ He replied:

God, Exalted is He, promised him [the Prophet] that He would not put him through trials, as He had the rest of the prophets عليهم السلام, such as Abraham with the fire, Ishmael with the sacrifice, and others as well. Since he [Muḥammad] was not aware of what would happen to him — as He has related, Nor do I know what will be done with me or with you [46:9] — God, Exalted is He, informed him that He would protect him from people.

His words:

And when they hear what has been revealed to the Messenger, you see their eyes overflow with tears because of the truth that they recognise…

[Sahl] said:

These were the priests and monks from whom people would seek blessings and anointment due to their knowledge of the religion. They came to the Prophet ﷺ, and the Qurʾān was recited for them. They were deeply moved by it so that their eyes overflowed [with tears], and they were not haughty, due to God’s protecting them from pride. Subsequently, they entered His religion because of the knowledge of God which He had deposited within them.

Then he said:

The corruption of religion is in three things: when kings commit excess[es] and [follow] their lusts; when the scholars issue rulings based on concessions; and when the Qurʾān reciters worship without knowledge. Truly, people need the learned (ʿulamāʾ) for their life in this world and the Hereafter. Indeed, it was related by Jābir b. ʿAbd Allāh رضي الله عنه from the Prophet ﷺ that he said: ‘The people of Paradise need the learned just as much as the people need them in this world. They visit their Lord every Friday and it is said to them: “Desire anything you want”, after which they head for the scholars, who tell them, “Desire such and such a thing”, so they desire that thing.’^{1This ḥadīth is listed in Ismāʿīl b. Muḥammad al-ʿAjlūnī, Kashf al-khafāʾ wa muzīl al-ilbās ʿammā ishtahara min al-aḥādīth ʿalā alsinat al-nās (Beirut, 1979), vol. 1, p. 263; Aḥmad al-ʿAsqalānī, Lisān al-mīzān (Beirut, 1971), vol. 5, p. 15, as a fabricated ḥadīth.}

His words:

The Day when God will assemble all the messengers and ask, ‘What response did you receive?’ They will say, ‘We have no knowledge…’

That is, ‘We do not possess knowledge of the faith in You that their hearts contained, nor knowledge of whatever else was [in their hearts]. Our knowledge is only of what they outwardly affirmed on their tongues. …You, only You are the Knower of things unseen.’

[Sahl] was asked, ‘Will He ask them about what was really in the hearts of [their] communities?’ He replied:

No, He only directed the question to them concerning their outward reality, which is in fact only an expression of their inner reality. They [the prophets] responded by indicating that [only He] possesses knowledge [of the answer]. It could also mean, ‘We have no knowledge of the meaning of your question, since You already have knowledge of our reply — You, only You, are the Knower of things unseen.’

His words:

…You know what is in my self, though I do not know what is in Your Self…^{1These words are part of the colloquy between God and Jesus. God asks Jesus if he had said to mankind that they should take him and his mother as gods besides Him. It is Jesus’ answer that is the subject of Tustarī’s interpretation.}

That is, ‘I do not know the hidden purport of Your question, while You have knowledge of it.’^{2i.e. ‘You have knowledge of what I said, so there must be some other reason for Your asking the question.’} It is also possible that what is implied is: ‘You know what is in my human soul,^{3That is, according to all three MSS (Z515, f. 30b, F638, f. 20b and F3488, f. 214b) which have fī nafsī al-bashariyya, instead of fī sirrī in the printed edition.} and I do not know the nature of the deposit (mustawḍaʿ) [from] within Yourself that is in my innermost secret (sirr). This is because Your secret is between You and it [my innermost secret], and no one can have knowledge of it besides You.’ It [that divine deposit] is the eye through which [the servant] sees God, the ear by which he hears God, and the tongue by which he calls Him. The evidence for it is in His words, Exalted is He, concerning the hypocrites, Deaf, dumb and blind [2:18]. This is because they do not have these deposits. But God knows best.