2. Al-Baqara

When there came to them a messenger from God confirming what was with them a party of those who had been given the scripture cast away the scripture of God behind their backs as though they did not know. They denied the messengers of the Real that came to their hearts by means of intuitions khawāṬir and [they] belied the messengers who came to them outwardly. O ignorance in which there is not a sliver of deeper knowledge ʿirfān! O deprivation whose companion is disappointment khidhlān!

And they follow what the devils used to relate during the reign of Solomon: Solomon disbelieved not but the devils disbelieved and taught the people sorcery; and that which was revealed to the two angels in Babylon- Hārūt and Mārūt. They taught not any man without them saying �We are but a temptation; do not disbelieve.� From them they learned how they might cause division between a man and his wife yet they did not hurt any man thereby save by the leave of God; and they learned what hurt them and did not profit them. And surely they knew well that whoever buys it he shall have no share in the hereafter; Whoever is divided by his whims ahwāÌ falls into one state of heedless- ness ghafla after another so that every kind of ignorant affair welcomes him. Moreover those whose absence [from the Beloved] is prolonged become a warning to others and a temptation for whoever follows their path. Whoever emulates them in their transgression joins their commu- nity and becomes one of them. This is the case in the description of Hārūt and Mārūt and what happened to them-they became a temptation and a warning for men. One who listens to what they say and does not take into account their ignorance will share in their tribulation balāÌuhumā and suffer their distress ʿanāÌuhumā in the hereafter. The allusion in their story is to the one on this path Ṭarīqa who is inclined to affectation deception and pretension. He attracts followers whom he leads to hell by his falsehood and blocks them from the path of right direction by the evil of his darknesses. But those who take heed cross over to safety on its bridges and the one who is disgraced tahattaka by his inclinations to falsehoods-his veils astāruhu are torn tahattakat and his faults ʿawāruhu are exposed to anyone with eyes. When Hārūt and Mārūt were deceived by the disobedience to which they had become accustomed they blamed [their being deceived on] the disobedience of the children of Adam. Because of their tendencies toward carnal desires and the promptings to temptations and harmful things they plunged forward into disobedience. What happened to them is what the storytellers relate: they are hanging upside down until the Day of the Resurrection and if not for [God's] gentleness rifq toward them and their affair their punishment would not end then.

Yet if only they had believed and been fearful verily a reward from God would have been better if they had but known. If they had only preferred drawing near iqbāl to God over being dis- tracted ishtighāl from Him they would have obtained the treasure of the two abodes dhukhra al-dārayn and reached the glory of the two worlds ʿizza al-kawnayn. But the blows of subjugation pressed upon them kasa- bathum saṬawātu al-qahr and kept them in the lands of abandonment fa-athbatathum fī mawāṬini al-hajr.

O you who believe do not say �Observe us�; but say �Regard us� and listen; and for disbelievers awaits a painful chastisement. The objectives of enemies in all their states fī jamīʿi aḥwālihim including their actions and words min aʿmālihim wa-aqwālihim are malicious for they remain tied to their ways in what they do and do not do. The way of the friends [of God] is to avoid being like them and to adopt a path which is not their path.

Those disbelievers of the people of the scripture and the idolaters do not wish that any good should be revealed to you from your Lord but God singles out for His mercy whom He will; God's grace is most abundant. The antipathy of the enemies toward the unwavering decency of the friends is unceasing and enduring. But the envious [one] shall not prevail lākin al-ḥasūda lā yasūd nor will he obtain what he seeks wa lā yaḥṣul lahu maqṣūd. The special qualities of mercy are sufficient for the friends even if the enemies are abased and the flanks and borders of the lands of their rejoicing are destroyed.

Do you not know that to God belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and that you have none besides God neither protector nor helperḍ His ������ way sunna is to draw His friends from the witnessing of what He possesses milk to the vision of His kingdom mulk. Then He takes them from the vision of His kingdom to witnessing His truth ḥaqq and then [He] takes them from the vision of His signs ayāt to the vision of His attributes ṣifāt and from the vision of His attributes to the witnessing of His essence dhāt.

Or do you desire to question your messenger as Moses was questioned aforetimeḍ Whoever exchanges belief for unbelief has surely strayed from the even way. The children of Israel annoyed Moses ���� ������ and the Muslims were prohibited from following this precedent. They were commanded to be conscious of the bashfulness of the Messenger ﷺ as much as possible so that in his presence they were silent with awe. [God] most high said Support him and revere him [48:9].195 The beauty of refined behavior adab in outward circumstances is a model for the beauty of refined behavior with God inwardly.

Many of the people of the scripture long to make you disbelievers after you have believed from the envy of their own souls after the truth has become clear to them; yet pardon and be forgiving till God brings His com- mand; truly God has power over all things. Those among the heedless who have lost understanding wish that not even a star would rise over those who are in peace and safety salāma and those who are possessed by envy would like the sun to stop shining over those whom they envy. These are the attributes of disbelievers so God abases and humbles them. The allusion in this is to the state of those who possess spiritual desire irāda in the beginning when they embark on their travels. If they do not find help and success in companionship and they live among people following externals these people will prevent them from traveling and will not stop giving advice to them. They will frighten them with weak- ness and threaten them with poverty until they divert them to the way of heedlessness and cut them off from the path of spiritual desire. These are truly the enemies of God those who have been overtaken by the enmity of the moment. Their punishment is being deprived of smelling any of the fragrances of sincerity ṣidq. Yet pardon and be forgiving... for the way of the aspirant is to protect his innermost self from anyone or anything other [than God]. He tries to employ his best nature with each individual and spares no effort in kindness for soon the Real will open the way for him on his path.

And perform the prayer and pay the alms; whatever good you shall offer for your own souls you shall find it with God; assuredly God sees what you do. The obligation for the aspirant is to perform the acts of intimate communication muwāṣalāt and to continually seek to gain access with different kinds of acts of drawing near qurubāt trusting that what he offers in sincere difficult efforts mujāhadāt will bear fruit in the final states hālāt.