2. Al-Baqara

And they say �None shall enter paradise except those who are Jews or Christians.� Such are their desires. Say �Produce your proof if you speak truly.� Each party ḥizb smooths things out199 for itself thinking salvation belongs to it and claiming access [to paradise] as its share. But mere guessing ḥusbān without the verification of proof burhān does not produce results lā yaÌtī bi-ḥāṣil nor is it of any use wa lā yaḥūz bi-ṬāÌil.

No, whosoever submits his face to God, doing the beautiful, shall have his wage with his Lord, and no fear shall be upon them, neither shall they grieve. The work is the work of the purifiers, the good fortune the good fortune of the truthful, the con- duct the conduct of the pure, and the hard cash the hard cash in their purse. Today they are on the carpet of service with the light of recognition, tomorrow on the carpet of companionship with the joy of union. Surely We purified them with that which is pure [38:46]. He is saying, “We made them pure and brought them forth pure from the crucible of testing so that they would be worthy for the Presence,” for the Pure Presence gives access only to the pure. “Surely God is goodly and accepts only the goodly.” Nothing is of any use with the Pure Presence save pure activity and pure speech. Then you must become so purified of that pure activity that you do not seek it out in this world or the afterworld. Then you may reach God pure. Surely he shall have nearness to Us, and a beautiful return [38:40]. The secret of this talk is what was said by Abū Bakr Zaqqāq: “The defect in the purity of every purifier is to see his purity. If God desires to purify his self-purification, He will eliminate the seeing of his self-purification from his purification. Then he will be 'purified' [mukhlaṣ], not 'purifying' [mukhliṣ].” He is saying that your self-purification will be pure when it is pure of your seeing it. Know also that this self-purification is not in your hands, nor in your capacity or possession. Rather, it is a secret of the Lord placed there by the Glorified. No one is aware of it, and no one else has any access to it. The Unity says, “It is one of My secrets that I deposit in the hearts of those whom I love among My servants.” He is saying, “I choose a servant and approve him for My love, then I place my deposit in the core of his heart. Satan has no access to it so as to destroy it, nor does the soul's caprice see it so as to change it, nor does the angel reach it so as to write it down.

The Jews say �The Christians stand on nothing�; and the Christians say �The Jews stand on nothing�; yet they recite the scripture. Thus the ignorant say the like of what these say; God shall decide between them on the Day of Resurrection regarding their differences. The allusion in this verse is an inversion of its apparent sense. Today the enemies [of God] disclaim one another [as they have done in the past] but the friends [of God] also do something like that. Nonetheless it is said that the Sufis will remain in a good state as long as they quarrel and do not accept one other because if they were to accept one another they would stay with each other [rather than turning to God].

Who does greater wrong than he who bars God's places of prostration? In terms of allusion, He is asking, “Who does greater wrong than he who ruins the homeland of worship with appetites? Who does greater wrong than he who ruins the homeland of recognition with attachments? Who does greater wrong than he who ruins the homeland of contemplation by glancing at others?” The homeland of worship is the soul of the renunciants, the homeland of recognition the heart of the recognizers, and the homeland of contemplation the secret core of the friends. When someone keeps his soul away from appetites, the homeland of his worship flourishes and his name is written in the register of the renunciants. Thus Mālik Dīnār lingered in Basra for forty years and never ate or tasted the dates of Basra, dried or fresh, before he died. He was asked about that and he said, “The possessor of appetite is veiled from his Lord.” When someone keeps his heart pure of attachment, the homeland of his recognition flourishes and he belongs to the ranks of the recognizers. Thus one of them said about Ibrāhīm Adham, “I was with Ibrāhīm Adham in a journey, and we were afflicted with hunger. After we settled in a mosque he brought out some sections of the Qur'an he had with him and said, 'Go and pawn these sections and bring us something to eat, for hunger has stricken us.' I went out, and someone came forward to me in front of a fully laden mule. He was saying, 'The one I am seeking is a light- complexioned man called Ibrāhīm ibn Adham.'” “I said, 'What do you desire from him?' “He said, 'I am the slave of his father, and these things belong to him.' So I led him to him. He entered the mosque, put his head and hands on the ground and kissed him. Ibrāhīm said, 'Who are you?' He said, 'I am your father's slave. Your father has died, and I have with me 40,000 dinars, your inheritance from your father. I am your slave. Command me as you wish.' “Ibrāhīm said, 'If you speak the truth, then you are free, for the sake of God. And what you have with you is all a gift to you. Leave us.

To God belong the East and the West; whithersoever you turn there is the face of God. Lo! God is Embracing Knowing. Here the allusion is to the eastern and western places of hearts [of the believers]. Hearts have rising lights shawāriq and night visitors Ṭawāriq. The night visitors are the murmurings hawājis of the lower selves that arrive in the darknesses of desire and carnal passions. The rising lights are the stars of different types of knowledge the moons of presence and the suns of gnosis. As long as the lights are rising the qibla of the hearts is clear and visible. Then when the realities take over the authority of the lights becomes hid- den like stars at the rising of the sun. Similarly at the appearance of the Real there is destruction and subjugation so there is no witnessing of any trace no remaining sensation or comprehension no power of intellect or knowledge no illumination of deeper knowledge. For the experiencing of all these qualities lasts only as long as human nature lasts. When those who have attributes become effaced how can any attribute of theirs remainḍ He said �whithersoever you turn there is the face of God.� As long as there is a remnant or even a sliver of sensory perception and the ability to differentiate then the qibla should be aimed for and if it is not known it should be sought. According to scholars when the guideposts in every direction are obscure and there is no knowledge of the qibla all directions are equally permissible for prayer since none of them can be preferred for the intention niyya.

Originator of the heavens and the earth; and when He decrees a thing He but says to it �Be� and it is. The Originator al-badīʿ according to the scholars is the One who brings the entity ʿayn into existence without any model lā ʿalā mithāl. According to the people of allusion He is the One and there is nothing like Him laysa lahu shayun mithlihi since this term alludes to both the negation of any likeness mithl to His essence and the negation of any model mithāl for His acts. He is the One al-aḥad without any quantity comprising Him; the Eternal al-ṣamad whom no final point in time cuts off; the Real al-ḥaqq whom no imagination can picture; and the Existent al-mawjūd of whom no understanding is capable. When He decides on an affair nothing preordained maqdūr can oppose it and nothing created mafṬūr can separate itself from His decree.

And they who do not know say �Why does God not speak to usḍ; Why does a sign not come to usḍ� So spoke those before them the like of what they say; their hearts are much alike. Yet We have made clear the signs to a people who are certain. The speech kalām of God ������ is connected to all created things in their entities aʿyān and their traces āthār by the command to �Be!� amr al-takwīn [and it is also connected to] those who have been charged [with the law] by the prescriptive command amr al-taklīf. But whoever lacks the ear of comprehension is deaf to hearing the Real. He ������ addressed some among the people of the Book and they heard His address but they were not able to bear it and after they recognized the enormity of the signs they engaged in distortion and alteration. Included in the signs which He made manifest were that which removes the defect of anything other [than Him] al-ʿilla min al-aghyār and quenches the thirst from things that are better al-ghulla min al-akhyār. But what proofs even if they were plain and clear would suffice those whose due is wretchedness whose [wretch- edness] has already comeḍ

We have sent you with the truth a bearer of good tidings and warner. You shall not be asked about the inhabitants of hellfire. �We have singled you out [O Muḥammad] with qualities which We did not make appear in anyone else so all people are under your banner. Those who are accepted are in conformity with you while those who are rejected oppose you al-maqbūl man wāfaqaka wa-l-mardūd man khālafaka. You will not be questioned about the states of others and you will not be turned away because of anyone.�

Never will the Jews be pleased with you neither the Christians not until you follow their creed Say: �God's guidance is the true guidance.� And if you were to follow their whims after the knowledge that has come to you you shall have against God neither friend nor helper. �Do not concern yourself with pleasing the enemies after you have received Our good pleasure riḌāÌ for they will not be pleased with you unless you follow their religions and that is impossible. So declare yourself free of them make your difference apparent and show enmity toward them. Know that their reliance on what they find pleasing is the cause of endless wretchedness. Do not worry yourself. Call your community to free them- selves from them and their path and be for Us through Us free of anyone other than Us trusting in Our help for you are through Us and from Us.�