Sahl said, ‘Muḥammad b. Sawwār informed me from Mālik b. Dīnār from Maʿrūf b. ʿAlī from al-Ḥasan, from Maḥārib b. Dithār, from Jābir b. ʿAbd Allāh (may God be pleased with them all), that he reported that when Sūrat Barāʾa was sent down, the Messenger of God ﷺ said, “I was sent to treat people with affability (mudārāt).”’^{1Sūrat Barāʾa is an alternative name for Sūrat al-Tawba, taken from the word with which the sūra opens, meaning ‘immunity from God and His Messenger’, which is discussed in the first few verses. Repentance (al-tawba) is the subject of vv. 103, 112 and 118.}

His words, Exalted is He:

Journey freely in the land…

That is, ‘Travel through the land and while doing so learn the lessons [from what you see], whilst affirming (iqrār) God.’

His words, Exalted is He:

…[neither bond of] kinship nor treaty…^{1Referred to in this verse are the hypocrites, who give the appearance of making a pact, but when they gain the upper hand, have no regard either for the pact or for the bonds of kinship.}

Ill means kinship, and ‘dhimma’ means a treaty.

His words:

…an intimate friend (walīja)…^{1The context is that God is informing the believers that He has yet to know from them which of them has gone through the struggle and not taken any intimate friend besides Him, the Messenger and the believers.}

ʿUmar b. Wāṣil al-ʿAnbarī said, ‘A walīja is anything that you cause to enter or become part of something other than itself.’^{2According to Lane, walījatuhum means: ‘an adherent to them’, ‘one who has entered, become introduced or been included among them’; ‘a particular, intimate friend or associate’; or ‘one whom a person takes to rely on or have confidence in, not being of his family’.} Sahl said:

This means that they^{3That is, those referred to in the verse as the ones who have been tested by God and found not to have resorted to any other than Him.} did not become heedless of Him by the inclining of their hearts towards their lower selves.

His words:

…Nor do they practise the religion of truth…

That is, they do not obey [it]. And whoever is under the authority (sulṭān) of a man is also upon his religion (dīn), just as He has said: He could not have taken his brother according to the king’s law [12:76], that is, under his authority. Likewise, if the self embraces sincerity (ikhlāṣ) before God, Exalted is He, it comes under the rule of the heart (qalb), the intellect (ʿaql), the spiritual self (nafs al-rūḥ),^{1On nafs al-rūḥ and nafs al-ṭabʿ in Tustarī’s understanding of the inner make-up of the human being, see above IT, pp. xxxviiiff.} and the body in obedience, for the remembrance of God, Exalted is He.

His words:

They desire to extinguish God’s light with their mouths…

This means that they are intent upon destroying the Qurʾān with the lying of their tongues. But God insists on bringing His light to its fullness, that is, He will [fully] manifest His religion, Islam.

His words, Mighty and Majestic is He:

…They have forgotten God, so He has forgotten them…

He said:

This means that they have forgotten the bounties (niʿam) of God that they had, and He has made them forget to show gratitude (shukr) for those bounties.

His words:

And the believers, both men and women, are protecting friends of one another.

He said:

[A person’s] protective friendship (muwālāt) towards the believers is [his] avoiding doing them any harm.

Then he said:

Know that the servant does not attain true faith (ḥaqīqat al-īmān) until he becomes as the earth for the servants of God — [it endures] the suffering that they [impose] upon it,^{1i.e. it passively endures whatever they do to it. According to the MSS (Z515, f. 51b, F638, f. 25a and F3488, f. 225a), an alif has been omitted in the published edition, which should read: adhāhum ʿalayhā.} and they [derive] benefits from it.

He also said:

The fundamentals (uṣūl),^{2Complying here with the printed edition and MS Fātiḥ 3488, f. 225a. Z515, f. 51b and F638, f. 25a, however, have wuṣūl, which might be translated as ‘attainment’.} in our view, comprise seven things: adherence to the Book of God, following the Messenger of God ﷺ, abiding by what is lawful, refraining from harm [to others], the avoidance of sins, repentance and the observance of the rights [of others].

His words:

O Prophet, struggle against the disbelievers and the hypocrites…

He said:

Struggle against your lower self with the sword of opposition! Place upon its [back] the burdens of remorse (nadam), and guide it through the desert plains of fear (khawf), so that you may turn it back to the path of repentance (tawba) and contrition (ināba). Repentance is not acceptable except from one who feels perplexed at his plight, grief-stricken at his situation, and confounded in his heart at what has happened to him. God, Exalted is He, has said: When the earth seemed straightened for them, for all its breadth [9:118].^{1This is a reference to the three men who wavered and failed to support the Prophet on the expedition of Tabūk. Such was their sense of regret afterwards that not only did the earth feel constricted for them but also their own souls. So it was for them until, as the remainder of the verse relates, they realised that there was no refuge from God except with Him. Then He turned [relenting] to them that they might also turn [in repentance]. Truly God is the Relenting, the Merciful [9:118]. It is probably because of the emphasis in this verse and the previous one [9:117] on God’s relenting towards the believers and those who wavered — and in Arabic the same verb is used (tāba) both for God’s relenting towards humanity and for their repenting to Him — that the sūra is usually given the title al-Tawba. See above, p. 83, n. 1.}

His words:

…In it are men who love to purify themselves…

He [Sahl] said:

What He means by this purification (ṭahāra) is remembrance (dhikr) of God, Exalted is He, secretly and openly, and obedience to Him.

His words, Exalted is He:

Indeed God has purchased from the believers their selves and their possessions, so that theirs will be [the reward of] Paradise…

That is, He has purchased [one’s] self from the desires of this world and from all that distracts it from remembrance of Him, so that one’s self and wealth may become solely devoted to Him. And how can anyone who has not sold his ephemeral life and fleeting desires to God, live with God, Exalted is He? Moreover how can he live a good life?

Then he said:

God has purchased from the believers their selves… notwithstanding the fact that there is no good in them, and He gave them in exchange that which is entirely good, even though all that is within the two realms of existence belongs to Him. Truly this is out of His utmost graciousness (luṭf) and generosity (karam) to His believing servants.

Mālik b. Dīnār has related that he passed by a palace under construction and asked the workers about their wages. Each one replied by telling him how much his wage was except for one of them. So he asked him, ‘What is your wage?’ He replied, ‘I don’t have a wage.’ He asked, ‘And why is that?’ and he replied, ‘It is because I am the servant of the owner of the palace.’ Then Mālik ⸢cried out and⸣^{1The addition of ṣāḥa is in all three MSS: Z515, f. 52b, F638, f 25a and F3488, f. 225b.} said, ‘O my Lord! How generous you are! All humanity are your servants, yet you have assigned them work to do and promised them a reward for it.’

His words:

Those who repent, those who worship...

Sahl said:

Of the rights^{1The word ḥaqq (pl. ḥuqūq) means here the right or just claim which someone can claim from another. In this case, it is the right which God has to claim from human beings.} [due to God] in this world there is none whose fulfilment is more incumbent upon humanity than repentance. Indeed it is obligatory [for them] at every moment and instant, and there is no punishment more severe on them than the lack of knowledge of repentance.

He was asked, ‘What is repentance?’ He answered, ‘It is not to forget your sin.’ Then he said:

The first thing that a novice is instructed to do is to change his reprehensible actions into praiseworthy ones, which is repentance. [However] his repentance is not complete until he imposes silence upon himself, and his silence is not complete until he forces himself to observe seclusion (khalwa). His seclusion is not complete unless his food is lawful. His consumption of what is lawful, however, is not complete unless he fulfils the right of God, Exalted is He, and his fulfilment of what is God’s right is not complete unless he guards his bodily members and his heart. Moreover, none of that which we have described is acceptable unless [the novice] seeks God’s aid at every stage.

He was asked, ‘What is the mark of true repentance?’ He replied:

Its mark is that a person gives up what is [rightfully] his in addition to what is not his.

Sahl was [then] asked about a man who repents and renounces a certain sin, but then it occurs to his heart, or he sees it or hears of it and finds sweetness in that vile sin. What is to be done in such a case? He replied:

The feeling of sweetness pertains to [his] nature (ṭabʿ) and is not susceptible of change, such that a thing which is loved could become something detestable. However, the heart’s determination can be coerced so that he can return to God, Mighty and Majestic is He, and place his dilemma before Him. Then he should force on himself and on his heart a state of rejection [of that sin] which should never leave him, for if he becomes inattentive to that state of rejection for just the blinking of the eye, it is to be feared that he will not remain safe from it.^{2This saying is cited in Makkī, Qūt al-qulūb, vol. 1, p. 324.}

He [also] said:

Give up all idle talk (qāl wa qīl). In this day and age, there are three things which you must do: repent to God, Mighty and Majestic is He, from what you are aware of between yourselves and Him; as far as you are capable, make amends for wrongs done to servants; and when morning comes do not preoccupy yourselves with the evening, nor when evening comes preoccupy yourselves with the morning [that has been or is to come]. Misfortunes have multiplied and the danger is great. So fear God and coerce yourselves into a state of repentance.

His words, Exalted is He:

… a party from each group should go forth so that they may become learned in religion

He said:

[That is], in order to learn what is necessary concerning their religion. It has been related from Ḥasan al-Baṣrī that he said, ‘The erudite (faqīh) is the one who has renounced this world (zāhid), who is desirous (rāghib) of the Hereafter, and who has insight (baṣīr) into religious affairs. Sahl was asked about the words of the Prophet ﷺ, ‘Seeking knowledge is an obligation (farīḍa) for every Muslim’.^{1MS Z515, f. 53a only has ‘every Muslim man and woman’ (muslim wa muslima). The ḥadīth is listed in Ṭabarānī, al-Muʿjam al-awsaṭ, vol. 2, p. 289 and vol. 6, p. 97; Ṭabarānī, al-Muʿjam al-ṣaghīr, vol. 1, pp. 36, 58.} He said, ‘This refers to the knowledge of [one’s] state (ḥāl).’

He was asked, ‘What is the knowledge of [one’s] state?’ He replied:

Inwardly it is sincerity (ikhlāṣ) and outwardly it is emulation (iqtidāʾ).^{2On iqtidāʾ see above IT, pp. liii–liv.} Moreover, unless a person’s outward [self] (ẓāhir) is leading his inner [self] (bāṭin), and his inner self is the perfection (kamāl) of his outward self, he will merely be fatiguing his body.^{3Tustarī is here emphasising the essential interdependence of outer practice and inner realisation in the mystical way.}

He was asked, ‘What is the explanation of this?’ He said:

Truly God keeps watch over you, in what you keep secret and what you make known, in your [moments of] movement and stillness,^{4Or, ‘in everything that you do’. See above, p. 66, n. 17.} and you are never absent from Him even for the blinking of the eye, just as He has said, Is He who stands over every soul [observing] what it has earned? [13:33], and He has said, There is not a secret consultation between three, but He makes the fourth among them [58:7]. He has also said, We are nearer to him than [his] aorta (ḥabl al-warīd) [50:16]. This is the artery located deep inside the heart, and He has informed us that He is closer to the heart than that artery.^{5Although ḥabl al-warīd is customarily translated as ‘the jugular vein’, according to Lane (under ḥ-b-l) it is, ‘a name applied to each of the two carotid arteries and sometimes to each of the two external jugular veins’. It is also applied to ‘a vein between the windpipe and the two sinews, called the ʿilbāwān’ or ‘a certain vein in the neck’ or throat (ḥalq). Lane elsewhere states, concerning warīd (under w-r-d), that it is applied to ‘each of the two veins asserted by the Arabs to be from the aorta (wartīn)’. Since Tustarī states that the ḥabl al-warīd is ‘deep inside the heart’, he may understand it to be the aorta, this being the artery that issues from the heart. I am grateful to Aziza Spiker, who queried the conventional translation, ‘jugular vein’.} If you know this you should feel shame before Him. Furthermore, whenever some craving from the lower self stirs itself in the heart, and [at that moment] the servant remembers that God, Mighty and Majestic is He, is watching over him, and subsequently abandons [that craving], knowledge of his state will enter his heart, such that if what he is granted were to be distributed among the people of Medina, all of them would rejoice at it, and would triumph because of it. Mālik b. Anas رضي الله عنه alluded to this point when he said, ‘Knowledge is not just about how much you can relate [from memory] (riwāya) but rather knowledge is a light that God places within the heart.’

He [Sahl] was asked, ‘How can a man recognise his state (ḥāl) and act upon it?’^{6That is translating wa’l-ʿamal bihi as in all three MSS (Z515, f. 53b, F638, f. 25b and F3488, f. 226b), instead of ʿilm bihi as in the printed edition.} He replied:

When you speak, your state is that of speech, and when you observe silence, your state is that of silence. When you stand your state is that of standing, and when you sit your state is that of sitting. [To have] knowledge of your state you should see whether it is for God or for other than Him.^{7The use of the term ḥāl here is interesting, and different from its more technical usage in Sufism, when it denotes a spiritual state. What is being implied in this context is a kind of existential understanding of every action we do.} If it is for God you may settle in it, but if it is for other than Him you should abandon it. This is the act of taking account of oneself (muḥāsaba) which ʿUmar رضي الله عنه enjoined when he said, ‘Call yourselves to account before you are called to account, and weigh yourselves up before you are weighed up…’^{8Tirmidhī, Sunan, ‘Kitāb Ṣifat al-qiyāma’; Ibn Abī Shayba, al-Muṣannaf, vol. 7, p. 96.} Indeed, ʿUmar used to beat his chest while calling himself to account.