His words, Exalted is He:

Truly those who are mindful of God will be amid gardens and springs.

He said:

He who is mindful of God (muttaqī) [inhabits] in this world gardens of [God’s] good pleasure (riḍā), and swims in well-springs of intimate companionship (uns). This is the inner meaning of the verse.^{1The outer meaning would indicate that the gardens and springs are rewards in the Hereafter, but by saying ‘in this world’ Tustarī has, in its inner interpretation, extended the reward for mindfulness of God to life in the present.}

His words, Exalted is He:

They used to sleep little of the night.

He said:

Neither heedlessness (ghafla) nor sleep ever, under any circumstances, diverts them from the remembrance [of God].

His words, Exalted is He:

and there was a share in their wealth [assigned] for the beggar and the deprived.

He said:

That is, [they give] alms both to those who ask for them and to those who do not ask.

Ḥasan al-Baṣrī said:

In my time I came across people among whom [it was the custom for] the man to adjure his family never to turn away any supplicant. I also came across people among whom a man would leave his brother responsible for his family for forty years. [Moreover,] the members of his household would suffer a supplicant even if they were neither of jinn nor of humankind. Those who came before you only took from this world what was absolutely necessary. They would sell their own selves for the sake of kindness [to others]. May God have mercy on the person who lives the simplest of lives,^{1lit. who can be sustained by one kind of sustenance (jaʿala’l-ʿaysh wāḥidan).} eating just a crust of bread, and wearing worn-out clothes, who is the lowliest of men,^{2lit. he cleaves to the earth.} strives hard in his worship, cries over the misdeed he commits, flees from punishment and seeks God’s mercy up to the moment when death overtakes him, he being in that state.’^{3Iṣfahānī, Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ, vol. 2, p. 149; Bayhaqī, Kitāb al-Zuhd al-kabīr, vol. 2, p. 65.}

It was related that a man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, ‘O Messenger of God — may God make me your ransom! — what is the matter with me that I dislike death?’ He said, ‘Do you have wealth?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ So [the Prophet] said, ‘Then give away your wealth.’ [The man] replied, ‘I am incapable of doing that, O Messenger of God.’ [The Prophet said ﷺ],^{4MSS Z515, f. 107a and F3488, f. 284b–285a have ‘…yā rasūl Allāh’ followed by the statement about man’s heart being attached to his wealth which therefore attributed the statement to the man, whereas F638, f. 50a, having qāla nabī Allāh, and the published edition, ‘…yā rasūl Allāh.’ Qāla, are both assuming the statement to be a saying of the Prophet. This tradition appears with slight variation in Ibn Mubārak, Kitāb al-Zuhd wa’l-raqāʾiq (India, 1966), p. 224.} ‘Truly, a man’s heart is with his wealth, so if he gives his wealth away, it will want to go along with it, but if he holds on to it, it will want to remain with it.’^{5Note that all three MSS have in khallafahu instead of in akhkharahu. The ḥadīth is listed in Daylamī, Firdaws, vol. 3, p. 205.}

His words, Exalted is He:

On earth there are signs for those who know with certainty,

He said:

That is, [signs] for the mystics (ʿārifūn) by which they find evidence for their gnosis (maʿrifa).

His words, Exalted is He:

and in yourselves too, do you not see?

He said:

That is, [signs] in their forms; in their being endowed with the finest proportions (taqādīr); in their veins, which run through them like flowing rivers; and in His dividing them (shuqūq) without your experiencing any pain, after your being a mere drop.^{1An allusion to 16:14; 35:11; 53:46; 75:37 and 76:2. Perhaps what is meant is the dividing of the cells.} Then He assembled you stage by stage. Do you not see this remarkable omnipotence (qudra), and hence believe in His unicity (waḥdāniyya) and His omnipotence (qudra)?

Furthermore, God, Exalted is He, has created within the soul of the son of Adam one thousand and eighty portents, three hundred and sixty of which are apparent and three hundred and sixty of which are hidden, but which you could see if He unveiled them to you. The [remaining] three hundred and sixty of them are obscure and are only known to a prophet or veracious person (ṣiddīq). If just one of these [latter portents] were to be revealed to the possessors of intellects (ahl al-ʿuqūl), they would attain sincerity (ikhlāṣ).

Truly God, Exalted is He, has veiled the hearts of those who are heedless (ghāfilūn) from His remembrance due to their pursuance of lusts, which [prevent them] from perceiving these portents. However, He has unveiled them to the hearts of those who have gnosis of Him (ʿārifūn), thereby causing them to attain it [sincerity].

His words, Exalted is He:

And in heaven is your provision, as [also] that which you are promised.

That is, ‘Apply yourself to worshipping Me and do not let the work of seeking your provision divert you from Us, for truly We are providing for you.’

Then He said:

God is content with your performing for Him just a day’s worship at a time, so be content with Him for the provision you receive a day at a time.

He further said:

It also has another interpretation: And in heaven is your provision, that is, of remembrance and its reward.

His words, Exalted is He:

Has the story reached you, of Abraham’s honoured guests?

He said:

He [God] called them honoured (mukramūn) because he [Abraham] served them himself, and for seven days he had not eaten anything, as he was waiting for a guest. Then when God, Exalted is He, sent His angels to Him, he rejoiced at them and served them himself, but did not eat with them. This is the mark of true friendship (khilla),^{1Note, as mentioned above, p. 30, n. 94, Abraham’s honorary title is ‘Khalīl Allāh’ (Friend of God).} that is, to feed others without eating oneself, and to cure another’s illness when one is sick.^{2A practice which Tustarī carried out himself, for which see IT, p. xxi. MSS Z515, f. 107a and F638, f. 50b have: wa yashfī al-ghayr min aḥadin wa yasqam, whereas the published edition has wa yashfī al-ghayr min alamin wa yasqam, which is what we have translated here.}

His words, Exalted is He:

[Say] ‘So flee to God. Truly I am a clear warner to you from Him.’

He said:

That is, ‘Flee from that which is other than God to God. Flee from disobedience to obedience, from ignorance to knowledge, from His punishment to His mercy, and from His wrath to His good pleasure.’ Indeed, the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘I take refuge in You from You.’^{1Nīsābūrī, al-Mustadrak, vol. 3, p. 93; Tirmidhī, Sunan, ‘Kitāb al-Daʿwāt’.} This in itself is a great branch of knowledge.

His words:

So shun them, you will not be reproached.

He said:

Turn away from them, for you have striven with all your effort in conveying [the message]. But God, Glorified and Exalted is He, knows best.