17. Al-Israa

And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him, and beautiful doing toward your parents. In this verse the wise Lord, the eternal Enactor, the lovingly kind and generous Beautiful-Doer commands the servants to servanthood. Servanthood is three things: seeing favor, striving in service, and fear of the end. Seeing favor belongs to Abraham the bosom friend, who said, “Who created me, so He is guiding me” [26:78]. Striving in service belongs to MuḤammad the beloved, to whom it was said, “We did not send down the Qur'an upon thee for thee to be wretched” [20:2]. Fear of the end belongs to Joseph the sincerely truthful, who said, “Receive me as a submitter” [12:101]. When someone stands in the field of servanthood in the row of service and sets his feet in the clay of what he desires, making the Exalted Presence the Kaabah of his wishes, God will put the folk of the empire into his service and will take care of his work in the two worlds without him. This is why MuṣṬafā said, “When someone belongs to God, God belongs to him.” When- ever someone has no watchfulness in servanthood, he will have no contemplation on the carpet of proximity. Know also that the wayfarers in the road of servanthood are three men: One is the worshiper, whose soul is subjugated by the fear of punishment. One is the recognizer, whose heart is subju- gated by the forcefulness of proximity. One is the lover, whose spirit is subjugated by the unveil- ing of the Haqiqah. Whenever the worshiper wants to lift away the bond of struggle from his days, at once he looks at the title-page of the Real's rebuke and throws down his head in the station of shame. Whenever the recognizer wants to make manifest the banner of happiness and expansiveness by virtue of proximity, at once the ruling power of the Real's awesomeness appears and he falls into the lowland of confoundedness. Whenever the lover gazes at majesty, at once he melts in awe, seeing only bewilderment in bewilderment. Whenever he gazes at beauty, he delights in happiness and revelry, seeing only light and joy. In the tongue of his state he says, “Your beauty is my pleasure, Your approval my delight, and among all the religions Your love is my religion.

(And let not thy hand be chained to thy neck�) [17:29]. Abu�l-Hasan Muhammad ibn �Abd Allah ibn �Ali ibn �Imran informed us> Abu �Ali ibn Ahmad al-Faqih> Abu �Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Isma�il al-Mahamili> Zakariyya ibn Yahya al-Darir> Sulayman ibn Sulayman al-Juhani> Qays ibn al-Rabi�> Abu Ishaq> Abu�l-Ahwas> �Abd Allah who said: �A boy came to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: �My mother asks you to give her this and that�. He said to him: �We do not have anything today�. The boy said: �She is asking you to give her your gown�. He took off his gown, gave it to him and remained in his house denuded. Allah, glorified and exalted is He, then revealed (And let not thy hand be chained to thy neck nor open it with a complete opening�)�. Said Jabir ibn �Abd Allah: �As the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was sitting with his Companions, a boy came to him and said: �O Messenger of Allah, my mother asks you for a gown�. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, did not have any gown except the one he was wearing, and so he said to the boy: �Things turn up from time to time, so come back to us another time�. He went to his mother and informed her but she said to him: �Tell him that my mother asks you for the gown you are wearing�. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, went inside his house, took off his gown and gave it to the boy and remained there naked. When Bilal called for the prayer, people waited for the Prophet, Allah bless him and give, to emerge and lead them in prayer but he did not come out. The Companions became worried. One of them entered in on him and found him naked. Allah, glorious and exalted is He, then revealed (And let not thy hand be chained to thy neck nor open it with a complete opening)�.