His words, Exalted is He:

He is the First and the Last…

He said:

The greatest name of God is alluded to in six verses at the beginning of Sūrat al-Ḥadīd starting from the verse: He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden. The significance (maʿnā) of the names (asmāʾ) is none other than gnosis (maʿrifa) of the One who is named (musammā), and the significance of worship (ʿibāda) is none other than gnosis of the One who is worshipped (maʿbūd).^{1Translating bi’l-maʿbūd on the basis of all three MSS: Z515, f. 111a, F638, f. 52b and F3488, f. 290a, instead of fī’l-ʿubūdiyya in the published edition.} The meaning of the Manifest (al-Ẓāhir) is the One who is manifest in His exaltedness (ʿuluww), omnipotence (qudra) and coerciveness (qahr). The Hidden (al-Bāṭin) is the One who knows the hidden thoughts (ḍamāʾir) and stirrings (ḥarakāt) that are concealed within hearts.

His words, Exalted is He:

…He knows what enters the earth…

He said:

[In] the inner meaning of the verse, the earth is the natural self (nafs al-ṭabʿ), and thus He knows, among the things which enter it [the natural self], that which is wholesome (ṣalāḥ) or corrupt (fasād) for the heart;^{1That is, reading li’l-qalb, according to MS F638, f. 52b. The other MSS (Z5125, f. 111a and F3488, f. 290b) and the printed edition have al-qalb.} and what issues from it, in the way of diverse acts of obedience (funūn al-ṭāʿāt), the traces and marks of which are clearly seen upon the bodily members; and what comes down from Heaven, God’s codes of fair conduct (ādāb) towards Him which [descend] to it; and what ascends to it, the beautiful scents and remembrance of Him that ascend to God.

His words, Exalted is He:

He makes the night pass into the day…

He said:

The inner meaning of the verse is that the night is the natural self (nafs al-ṭabʿ) and the day is the spiritual self (nafs al-rūḥ). If God, Exalted is He, wishes good for His servant, He reconciles and brings together his natural self and his spiritual self through the perpetuation of [His] remembrance (dhikr), and makes this manifest in the corresponding lights of humble submission (khushūʿ) [to God].^{1On this doctrine see above, IT, pp. xxxix–xl.}

His words, Exalted is He:

Believe in God and His Messenger, and expend out of that which He caused to come down to you…

He said:

That is, what you inherited from your forefathers (ābāʾ), and your possessions (mulk). So give of what your natural selves enjoy from [this] world, in the cause of obeying Him and His Messenger. For those of you who believe and expend their whole lives in the ways that God commanded that they should expend them, will have a great reward, namely, to abide with the Everlasting (al-Bāqī) in His Garden, [enjoying] His good pleasure (riḍā).

His words, Exalted is He:

Who is he that will lend God a goodly loan (qarḍan ḥasana)...?

He said:

God granted His servants His favour, and then He asked them to make Him a goodly loan. The goodly loan [for which He asks] is the witnessing of Him (mushāhadat), just as the Prophet ﷺ said: ‘Worship God as if you see Him…’^{1The ḥadīth continues: ‘…for if you see Him not He surely sees you.’ This is part of the Gabriel ḥadīth which was discussed above, in IT, p. lviii, n. 265. On the levels of islām, īmān and iḥsān, see also Tustarī’s commentary on 14:24.}

The following saying is narrated from Abū Ḥāzim: ‘Verily, [in this world] there is little market for the merchandise of the Hereafter, so ask and hope for more slow seasons [to increase your stock], for when the day for spending arrives, you will not be able to build it up either by a little or a lot.

His words, Exalted is He:

[Mention] the Day when you will see the believing men and believing women, with their light shining forth before them and to their right…

He said:

The light of the believer shines forth before him, and he inspires awe in the hearts of the people of conformity (muwāfiqūn) and the people of opposition (mukhālifūn) alike. The one who conforms reveres him and his standing (shaʾn), and the one who opposes holds him in awe and fears him. This is the light which God made for His friends and it does not appear in anyone unless he has submitted and humbled himself to Him. It belongs to the light of faith. Then He described the hypocrites, in their saying to them [the believers]:

…‘Wait for us, that we may glean something of your light…’

so that we can cross the Traverse (al-Ṣirāṭ) with you, for we are in darkness.^{1On the Traverse (al-Ṣirāṭ) p. 135, n. 1.} The angels will reply to them, ‘Go back and seek light by means of the intellects (ʿuqūl) you used to manage your affairs in your life in the world.’ They turn back to the rear, but then God places a wall between themselves and their own intellects, and He veils from them the right choice, so they do not reach the path of guidance. Then when they end up crossing the Traverse they fall into Hell, abiding there forever.

His words, Exalted is He:

So on this day no ransom will be taken from you…

That is, no ransom will be accepted for your souls.

Ibn Sālim said:

I served Sahl b. ʿAbd Allāh for sixty years and he did not change in terms of his practice of remembrance or anything else.^{1A similar passage is cited in Sarrāj, Kitāb al-Lumaʿ, the beginning of which has the following variation, as translated by Böwering: ‘(Muḥammad b. Sālim) recalls: “I served Sahl for sixty years, yet I did not see him change while listening (kāna yasmaʿu) to (a repetitive formula of God’s) commemoration (dhikr), to Qurʾān recital or any other recitation…”’ See Sarrāj, Kitāb al-Lumaʿ, p. 292, Böwering, Mystical Vision, p. 72.} Then on the last day of his life a man recited the verse before him, So on this day no ransom will be taken from you, and I saw him tremble and sway to the point where he almost fell down. When he recovered his state of sobriety (ṣaḥw), I asked him about what had passed, saying, ‘Nothing has happened like this during my time with you.’ He replied, ‘Yes I know, my dear friend! Indeed I have become weak.’ So I asked, ‘What is the condition [that denotes] a strong state (quwwat al-ḥāl)?’ He replied, ‘There is no influx [from above] (wārid) that comes over him without his absorbing it through his strength. Whoever acts in this way will not be changed by the influxes [of grace] (wāridāt) that he receives, however strong they may be.’

He also used to say, ‘My state during [ritual] prayer (ṣalāt) is the same as that before the commencement of the prayer.’ This is because he would keep watch over his heart and keep God, Exalted is He, before his eyes with his innermost secret (sirr) before commencing the prayer, and consequently he would stand for prayer with the presence of his heart (ḥuḍūr qalbihi) and the collectedness of his spiritual energy (jamʿ himmatihi).^{2Böwering, Mystical Vision, p. 72, cites an almost identical passage from Sarrāj’s Kitāb al-Lumaʿ, except that the explanation takes the form of a comment by Sarrāj: “‘My state (ḥāl) during ritual prayer (ṣalāt) and before entering ritual prayer is one and the same”’. Sarrāj comments, ‘He watched over his heart (qalb) and kept God before his eyes (yurāqibu Allāh) with his inmost being (sirr) before he entered the ritual prayer (ṣalāt). Then he performed the ritual prayer with the presence of his heart (ḥuḍūr qalbihi) and the collectedness of his energy (jamʿ himmatihi). He entered into ritual prayer with the intention (maʿnā) he had before the prayer, so that his state (ḥāl) during prayer was the same as his state before the prayer. Thus, his state before and after the auditive experience (samāʿ) was the very same thing.’ See Sarrāj, Kitāb al-Lumaʿ, p. 293, trans. Böwering, Mystical Vision, p. 72.}

His words, Exalted is He:

Is it not time for those who believe to humble their hearts for the remembrance of God…?

He said:

Is the time not ripe for them to feel humbled when they listen to the Reminder [the Qurʾān], and witness what is promised and what is warned of, in a contemplative witnessing of the unseen (mushāhadat al-ghayb)?

His words, Exalted is He:

…so their hearts became hardened…

He said:

That is, through the pursuit of lust.

His words, Exalted is He:

Know that the life of this world is merely play and diversion…

He said:

The world (dunyā) is a sleeping soul (nafs nāʾima), and the Hereafter is a soul awake (nafs yaqẓāna).

It was asked, ‘What is the way to salvation from it [the life of this world]?’ He replied:

The root of this [salvation] is knowledge (ʿilm) and its fruit is opposing one’s desire (hawā) by avoiding what is forbidden (manāhī). Then it is the soul’s endurance (mukābadat al-nafs) in fulfilling the divine commandments, [in a state of] purity (ṭahāra) from every kind of defilement (adnās). This will bring about ease in worship, and thereafter he will abide in the stations of the worshippers. Then God will let him experience that which His friends (awliyāʾ) and elect (aṣfiyāʾ) experienced, which is the rank of tasting (madhāq).^{1Note that the verbal root dh-w-q may be used both for experiencing and tasting, and Sufis often use the term dhawq (here madhāq ) for a mystical experience.}

He [Abū Bakr al-Sijzī] said, ‘He [Sahl] then mentioned to us the following’:

One day Abraham عليه السلام, Friend of the Lord of Mercy, was in the desert on an extremely hot day, and he was afflicted with great thirst. He saw an Abyssinian man tending some camels, so he asked: ‘Do you have any water?’ He replied, ‘O Abraham, what do you prefer: water or milk?’ He said: ‘Water.’

He [Sahl] continued:

He then struck a rock with his foot upon which water gushed forth. Abraham عليه السلام was amazed, so God said to Abraham, through inspiration, ‘If that Abyssinian man had asked Me to remove the heavens and earth from existence I would have removed them.’ So he [Abraham] asked, ‘Why is that, O Lord?’ He replied, ‘It is because he does not desire anything from the world or the Hereafter except Me.’^{2This is an example of wasīla, which Tustarī mentions in his commentary on 32:16. On wasīla see also 48:4 and p. 155, n. 4 and p. 196, n. 3.}

ʿĀmir b. ʿAbd al-Qays said,

I have found the world to comprise four main properties (khiṣāl). As for two of these, namely, the [desire for] women and the [desire] to amass wealth, my soul (nafs) has renounced them willingly. However, as for the other two, there is no doing without them, though I try to keep them away from me as much as I can; these are sleep and food.^{3Iṣfahānī, Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ, vol. 2, pp. 90–1; Bayhaqī, Shuʿab al-īmān, vol. 5, p. 39; idem., Kitāb al-Zuhd al-kabīr, vol. 2, pp. 63–4.}

His words, Exalted is He:

So that you may not grieve over what escapes you (nor exult at what He has given you)…

He said:

In this verse there is guidance to the state of contentment in both adversity (shidda) and ease (rakhāʾ).

His words, Mighty and Majestic is He:

…But as for monasticism, they invented it…

He said:

Monasticism (rahbāniyya) is derived from the word rahba which means fear. It refers to adherence to [a state of] fear without any earnest desire (ṭamaʿ). We had not prescribed it for them, that is, We did not demand that they worship Us in that way.^{1Note that above in his commentary on 11:75 and 17:57, Tustarī, like other Sufis, strongly advocates the combining of fear (khawf) and hope (rajāʾ), while here he is using the word ṭamaʿ meaning ‘desiring something eagerly’ or ‘earnestly’. In the Qurʾān the pairs khawf and ṭamaʿ are paired in 7:56; 13:12; 30:24 and 32:16. See also, p. 93, n. 13.}

His words, Mighty and Majestic is He:

…and He will give you a twofold portion of His mercy…

He said:

That is, the ⸢secret of⸣ mercy (⸢sirr⸣al-raḥma),^{1The word sirr appears in all three MSS: Z515, f. 111b, F638, f. 52b and F3488, f. 292b.} and the essence of mercy (ʿayn al-raḥma). [Its] secret is the secret of gnosis (sirr al-maʿrifa). [Its] essence is the essence of obedience to God and His Messenger.