His words, Exalted is He:

You who believe, why do you say [you will do] what you do not do?

[Sahl] said:

Truly God warns His servants about making claims that they do not substantiate. Such claims require of [the servant] that from this day on he fulfil one of the rights of God, which is that he becomes free of (barāʾa), and repents from (tawba), every sin that he has committed.

[The one who makes claims] says ‘I will act tomorrow’, but there is no one who makes a claim without overlooking the right of God from two points of view: both outwardly and inwardly. The one who makes claims (muddaʿī) has no fear; the one who has no fear is not safe (āmin); and the one who is not safe is one who has not acquainted himself with the recompense (jazāʾ).

He also said:

Those who desire the Hereafter are many. However, there are but two [kinds of] servant whose sufficiency (kifāya) God takes care of: [one is] the simple servant who is nonetheless sincere in his quest, puts his trust in God (mutawakkil), and is true to Him; his Master will suffice him and take care of all of his affairs. The other is the servant who is knowledgeable about God, His days,^{1On ayyām Allāh see above p. 128, n. 1.} His commandments and His prohibitions; God will suffice him with all he needs in this world and, when he passes on to the Hereafter, ⸢he will have ease (istirāḥa)⸣.^{2The word istirāḥa appears after idhā ṣāra ilā’l-ākhira in only MS F638, f. 55a. However, it makes more sense to include it, since firstly, Tustarī is contrasting this servant’s situation in this world with his situation in the Hereafter, and secondly because Tustarī is making the point in general that God has nothing to do with the false claimants, not specifically in the Hereafter.} God will pay no attention to any other than these two [kinds of servant], because the others claimed what they did not have.

Ibn ʿAyniyya said concerning this verse:

Why do you speak about a matter which does not concern you, for you do not know whether you will do that or not.

His words, Exalted is He:

They desire to extinguish the light of God with their mouths…

This means: with their tongues they denied the proof (ḥujja) of the Prophet ﷺ that appeared to them, and with their souls they turned away from it. But God bound (qayyada) some souls^{1Through His pre-eternal decree — Böwering translates this as ‘He foreordained some…’} to accept him, namely, those whom He brought into existence under the decree of eternal bliss, and He adorned some hearts with the lights of His gnosis (maʿrifa), and the secrets of its light by virtue of firm belief (taṣdīq). So they spent freely of their whole being (muhaj) and their possessions for Him, like al-Ṣiddīq and al-Fārūq, and the other honourable Companions, رضي الله عنهم.^{2Al-Ṣiddīq (‘the Veracious’) is the honorary title which was conferred on Abū Bakr, the first caliph, and al-Fārūq (‘the one who distinguishes truth from falsehood’) is an honorary title by which ʿUmar b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, the second caliph of Islam, is known.}

His words, Exalted is He:

You who believe, be helpers of God…

He said:

That is, by accepting [that which comes] from Him, and heeding (istimāʿ) Him, and by obeying Him in what He has commanded you to do, and in what He has forbidden you from doing. But God, Glorified and Exalted is He, knows best.