His words, Exalted is He:

O you enveloped in your mantle, arise and warn,

He said:

‘O you who are seeking succour from your own self in order to relieve your breast and heart. Arise through Us and shed from yourself all other than Us. Warn Our servants, for surely We have prepared you for the most honoured of positions (ashraf al-mawāqif) and the greatest of stations (aʿẓam al-maqāmāt).’

and purify your garments,

He said:

That is, ‘Do not wear your clothes in a state of disobedience (maʿṣiyya). Purify them from your selfish interests (ḥuẓūẓ) and wrap yourself around with them.’

Similarly ʿĀʾisha رضي الله عنها said, ‘The Messenger of God ﷺ used to have a long shirt and he gave it to Abū Jahm in exchange for his Manbijī garment.^{1Probably a simple woollen cloak, which would also have been called an anbijāniyya, indicating, perhaps, that it came from the town of Manbij in Syria. See Yedida K. Stillman, Arab Dress (Leiden, 2000), p. 13.} Someone said, “O Messenger of God, the shirt is better than the garment.” He said, “Truly, I would look at it during prayer.” He was distracted by the design of the shirt.’^{2Ibn Ḥanbal, al-Musnad, vol. 6, p. 46; Ibn Māja, Sunan, ‘Kitāb al-Libās’.}

His words, Exalted is He:

and [then I] assigned him ample means,

He said:

That is, to Walīd b. al-Mughīra,^{1Walīd b. Mughīra b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Makhzūmī (d. 1/623), was a leading figure among the Quraysh who did not accept Islam.} to whom I [God] gave avarice and far-fetched hope (ṭūl al-amal).

His words, Exalted is He:

…He is the [One who] is worthy of being heeded, and the [One who] is Master of forgiveness.

He said:

That is, He deserves to be heeded and not be disobeyed, and He is fit [and ready] to forgive the one who repents. Mindfulness of God (taqwā) means abandoning everything which is reprehensible (madhmūm). With regard to the command, it is abandoning procrastination (taswīf), and with regard to what is prohibited, it is giving up the very thought of it. In terms of codes of propriety (ādāb), it refers to noble characteristics; in the case of inducement (targhīb), it means keeping a secret; and in the case of intimidation (tarhīb), it means being wary of remaining in a state of ignorance.^{1See above, Tustarī’s commentary on 8:1, where the same was also said of the application of mindfulness of God (taqwā) in those two situations, i.e. inducement and intimidation.} Mindfulness of God means freeing oneself from [dependence] on all save God. Therefore, whoever observes these codes of conduct in mindfulness of God is deserving of forgiveness.

It has been related that a man came to Jesus the son of Mary عليه السلام and said, ‘O Teacher of Good (muʿallim al-khayr), how can I become mindful of God in the way that I should?’ He replied, ‘It is very simple. Love God with all your heart, and work with a generous spirit and all your strength as much as you can. Have mercy on the souls of your own kind (jins), just as you have mercy on your own soul.’ He asked, ‘Who are my own kind, O Teacher of Good?’ He replied, ‘The sons of Adam. Furthermore, do not do to anyone else what you do not wish to be done to you.’

But God, Glorified and Exalted is He, knows best.