The following was read before Sahl and he affirmed the truth of it:

ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه said, ‘Whoever wishes to visualise (yabṣira) the Day of Resurrection should read Sūrat al-Qiyāma, for the resurrection of each one of you [occurs with] his death.

His words, Exalted is He:

Nay, I swear by the Day of Resurrection. And nay, I swear by the self-reproaching soul!

The evil-inciting self (nafs ammāra bi’l-sūʾ) is [here in the form of] the blaming self (nafs lawwāma).^{1The ‘self which incites to evil’ (nafs ammāra bi’l-sūʾ) and the ‘self-reproaching or blaming self’ (nafs lawwāma) are understood in Sufi ‘psychology’ to be two closely associated levels of the self at its lowest or least transformed stage. Later, through the practice of spiritual disciplines and through divine grace, the self may reach the level of being the ‘self at peace’ (nafs muṭmaʾinna), and, according to the doctrines of some Sufis, even beyond that to other levels and stages in the transformation of the nafs. On Tustarī’s doctrines concerning the different levels of the nafs, see IT, pp. xli–xlii.} It is a companion (qarīna) to avarice (ḥirṣ) and [far-fetched] hope (amal).^{2Note that almost the same characteristics were attributed to Walīd b. al-Mughīra, in the commentary on 74:12 above, except that in this case the word ṭūl, preceding amal, is absent from all three MSS: Z515, f. 125b, F638, f. 61a and F3488, f. 307a.}

Then he said:

He [God] has simply forbidden you from obeying ⸢the Enemy [Satan]⸣,^{3The word Allāh is absent from all three MSS, while the words min al-ʿaduww, absent from the published edition, have been added on the basis of all three MSS: Z515, f. 125b, F638, f. 61a and F3488, f. 307a. Thus we have read it as innamā nahākum ʿan al-qabūl min al-ʿaduww, that is, ‘He has simply forbidden you from obeying (submitting or yielding) to the Enemy’.} from being deluded by the world, and from letting yourself be deceived by the lower self. God, Exalted is He, said, Verily the soul is ever inciting to evil [12:53]; and He said: So do not let the life of this world deceive you [31:33]; and He also said: Truly Satan is an enemy to you [35:6].

His words, Exalted is He:

and the sun and moon are brought together.

He said:

Its inner meaning is the following: the moon represents the light of the sight of the physical eye (nūr baṣar ʿayn al-raʾs) which pertains to the natural self (nafs al-ṭabʿ), and the sun represents the light of the sight of the eye of the heart (nūr baṣar ʿayn al-qalb) which pertains to the spiritual self (nafs al-rūḥ), and the intellect (ʿaql).^{1MS F638 has the word naẓar in both places instead of baṣar.} Do you not notice how He says:

On that day man will say, ‘Where is the escape?

That is, the one who denies the Day of Resurrection says, when the two lights are brought together, ‘Where is the deliverer from the punishment of God?’^{1See the commentary on 57:6 above, and 81:7 below, for Tustarī’s recommendation that the natural self (nafs al-ṭabʿ) and the spiritual self (nafs al-rūḥ) should be brought together in this world.}

His words, Exalted is He:

Some faces on that day will be radiant, looking upon their Lord.

He said:

Whoever was killed by his love [for Him], his recompense (diya) will be the vision of Him.^{1The word diya is traditionally used for ‘blood money’ or ‘blood wit’ that can be claimed by a victim’s family from the victim’s killer.}

Then he said:

The reward for works is Paradise, and the reward for the realisation of God’s oneness (tawḥīd) is the vision of God, Mighty and Majestic is He.

It is related that Abū al-Dardāʾ رضي الله عنه said, ‘Travel for the sake of tribulation (balāʾ),^{2Tribulation here being the tests and trials that purify the self.} prepare for annihilation (fanāʾ), and make yourselves ready for the encounter (liqāʾ)!’ Rābiʿa رضي الله عنها used to say, ‘My Lord, I love this world only that I might remember You in it, and I love the Hereafter only because I may see You there. Every hour that passes by while my tongue is not moist with Your remembrance is accursed. My Lord, do not bring upon me these two things for I will not be able to bear them: burning in Hell and separation from You.’

His words, Exalted is He:

No indeed! When it [the soul] reaches the collarbones,

That is, the throat (ḥulqūm);

and it is said, ‘Who is a magician [to restore him]?’

That is, ‘Is there a doctor who can cure [him]?’ It has also been said that it means, ‘Who will raise the soul of this disbeliever to heaven?’

and he thinks that it is [the time] of parting,^{1The subject here is the person at the point of death.}

He [God]^{2Usually Tustarī’s words, if they are being ascribed to him, are preceded by qāla, and in this comment and the one that follows, yaqūlu appears to refer to God.} is saying that he knows that it is the parting from this world.

and [his] legs are joined together,

He is speaking of the affairs of this world and the Hereafter. It has also been said that they are your legs when they joined together in your shroud. It has been related of Jacob عليه السلام that when the [angel] bearing good tidings came to him, he [the angel] said, ‘I have not been given permission to bring to you what I have come with, without saying: “May God make the pangs of death easy for you to bear”’. It was said to Aswad b. Yazīd when he was dying, ‘Be of good cheer, for forgiveness is your lot.’ He replied, ‘But what about the shame [that we shall feel] before the One from whom forgiveness comes?’

It has been related that when Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq رضي الله عنه was dying, he was visited by ʿĀʾisha رضي الله عنها and she cited the following verse:

By your life, wealth does not enrich one

On that day when [the soul] reaches the throat and the breast is constricted [in death].^{1This couplet, with some variants, appears in the Dīwān of Ḥāṭim b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Ṭāʾī (d. second half of sixth century c.e.) (Cairo, 1975), p. 210. In translating the version as it appears in Tustarī’s tafsīr, the feminine of the verb has been taken to refer to the nafs. The verb ḥashraja is an old Arab verb meaning to come up to the throat, as the soul at the time of death, which is described in the verse that Tustarī is commenting on.}

Then he uncovered his face and said, ‘That is not so [in my case], but the words for me are, And the agony of death arrives with the truth [50:19]. Look to those two [old] garments of mine, ⸢wash them⸣^{2Translating fa-’ghsilūhumā added on the basis of all the MSS: Z515, f. 126a, F638, f. 61b and F3488, f. 307b.} and enshroud me in them, for the living have greater need for new clothes than the dead.’