2. Al-Baqara

Among them is he who says, “Our Lord, give us in this world something beautiful, and in the next world something beautiful.” It is said that the beautiful thing of this world wanted by the faithful is knowledge and worship, and the beautiful thing of that world is paradise and vision. That of this world is witnessing the mysteries, and that of that world is seeing with the eyes. This world's is the success of service, and that world's the realization of union. This world's is self-purification through obedience, and that world's deliverance from burning and separation. This world's is the Sunnah and the com- munity, and that world's the encounter and vision. This world's is the firm fixity of faith, and that world's the repose and ease [56:89]. This world's is the sweetness of obedience, and that world's the pleasure of contemplation. For this world's, there must be deeds with obedience, and for that world's there must be pain with recognition. It is a long road from deeds to pain, and he who does not have this eyesight has an excuse. What is obtained from these deeds is houris and palaces, but the possessor of this pain is drowned in light in the ocean of face-to-face vision. O You the guide on whose road is pain! You are solitary and Your familiar solitary! Among them is he who says, “Our Lord…”. There is a subtle point in this verse. When someone wants this world, inevitably he will be held back from the reward of the afterworld, for God says, “He has no share in the next world” [2:102]. MuṣṬafā said, “When someone loves this world of his, that will harm his next world; and when someone loves his next world, that will harm this world of his. So prefer that which subsists to that which undergoes annihilation!” When someone wants both this world and the afterworld, the Exalted Lord does not hold them back from him. He gives him what he wants. The report has come, “God is ashamed when a servant lifts up his hands to Him and He disappoints him.” It is also narrated, “God is ashamed when a person with gray hair who observes propriety and clings to the Sunnah asks Him for something and He does not give it.” There remains another group, who recognize the reality of approval and have surrendered to God's decree and approved of His determination. They do not turn away from lauding Him in order to ask from Him. They do not seek access to this world nor do they ask for the afterworld. Concerning them the Lord of the Worlds says, “When remembering Me busies someone from ask- ing from Me, I bestow upon him the most excellent of what I bestow on the askers.”

Those-they shall have a portion from what they have earned; If [what they have earned] was good then a good [portion]. If it was something else then something else. and God is swift at reckoning [The reckoning occurs] for ordinary people at [the Day of Judgment] and for the elect at every breath. It is said that He mentioned two groups: those who say �Our Lord give to us in this world� and those who say �Give to us in this world and the next.� The third group which is not mentioned are those who are content with His decree those who submit to His command those who forgo every supplication and request.

And remember God in certain numbered days, but if someone hastens on after two days, no sin shall be upon him. There are three sorts of remembrance: The remembrance of habit, the remembrance of calculation, and the remembrance of companionship. The remembrance of habit has no worth, for it is the se- cret core's heedlessness. The remembrance of calculation has no adornment, for its goal is seeking the wage. The remembrance of companionship is a deposit, for the tongue of him who remembers is a loan in the midst. The remembrance of the fearful is from dread of being cut off, the remembrance of the hopeful is from wishing to find what they seek, and the remembrance of the lovers is from the tenderness of burning. The fearful heard the call of the threat with the ear of fear and clung to supplication. The hopeful heard the call of the promise with the ear of hope and clung to laudation. The lovers heard the call beforehand with the ear of love and did not mix with pretexts. The remembrance of the Beginningless reached the recognizers and they fled from effort to their lot. And remember God in certain numbered days, but if someone hastens on after two days.... This is the attribute of the end of the ritual and the final acts of the hajj. Now let us offer com- prehensive words comprising all the waymarks and rituals along with allusions and subtle points. Know that there are two sanctuaries: the outward sanctuary and the inward sanctuary. The outward sanctuary surrounds the Kaabah, and the inward sanctuary surrounds the heart of the faith- ful. In the midst of the outward sanctuary is the Kaabah, the kiblah of the faithful, and in the midst of the inner sanctuary is a Kaabah that is the target of the All-Merciful's gaze. The former is the goal of the pilgrims, and the latter the locus of lights, so he is upon a light from his Lord [39:22]. The former is free from the hands of evil-doers and unbelievers, and the latter is free from seeing and thinking about others. If some article is found in the outward sanctuary, it is left there so that its owner may appear and find it. If some article is found in the inward sanctuary, there is no way to go after it, for it is nothing but God's secret.

And when he turns his back he hastens about the earth to do cor- ruption there and to destroy the tillage and the stock; and God loves not corruption. [Here] the allusion is to those who only hasten to seek worldly fortunes. They are not concerned even though the ties to their religion have become unraveled and their bonds to Islam have been weakened. After that the ropes [tying them to] the world become stronger and the bonds of their desires become more closely woven with the prohibited things they have gathered and the debris they have acquired. When they retire to their whis- perings and ruinous aims they hasten to corruption make decisions based on worldly [aims] and employ people to help them in furthering their affairs-people from whose hearts God has removed inner sight. And God loves not corruption: Outward corruption is whatever brings about the ruin of religious affairs and the proper ordering of worldly matters.

And when it is said to him �Fear God� he is seized by vainglory in his sin. So Hell shall be enough for him-how evil a cradling! Those are the people who have been seized by arrogance and who have lost the ability to humbly accept fair criticism; they turn up their noses at accepting the truth. When you enjoin someone [like this] to decency he says �How can you say this to someone like me when I am such and suchḍ� Then he turns it around and attacks you saying �You have more need to be enjoined with decency and forbidden indecency because your condi- tion is such and such...� If God had granted success to help him or mercy had reached him he would have been granted the favor shown to those who have been guided to seeing their errors and observing their bad traits. And he would not have harbored enmity toward the one who gave him the advice the traces of which remain in the heart for years. God most high said �So hell shall be enough for him� meaning [hell is] the state of his estrangement the darknesses of the lower self and the constriction of choice such that he does not hasten in anything except his [lower] desire. At every moment over and over he succumbs to [this] chastisement and trial. Then he is transported from this chastisement to the greater chastisement. God most high said �And We shall surely make them taste the nearer chastisement before the greater chastisement� [32:21].

But there are other men who sell themselves desiring God's pleasure; and God is gentle with His servants. Those who have been touched by the special favors of mercy and raised up by the fate already preordained [for them] prefer the good pleasure of the Real over themselves and submit entirely to their protector mawlā. God is gentle with His servants and because of His gentleness they attain these states-they do not deserve His gentleness because of these states.

O you who believe come all of you into submission; and follow not the steps of Satan; he is a manifest foe to you. [God] has charged the believer with making peace with everyone except his lower self for it makes no move except to oppose [the believer's] leader sayyid. Anyone who makes peace with himself becomes listless in his spiritual exertions mujāhadāt. This is the reason a seeker falls short and an aspirant loses interest. The steps of Satan are what are whispered to you about your inability to hold to the precepts of moral behavior and [your inability] to abandon unwise inclinations that are best ignored. But it is as God most high said �If you fear for him cast him into the waters� [28:7]. Look what He did with [Moses] when [Moses's mother] cast him [into the water] and how He returned him to her after saving him!

But if you slip after the clear proofs have come to you know then that God is Mighty Wise. A single slip after the disclosure of clear proofs is uglier by far than the many slips committed before this disclosure. Those who are known to be treacherous cannot be trusted. When the tribulation for the worst sins descends they will be completely uprooted.

What do they wait for that God shall come to them in the shadows of clouds and the angelsḍ The matter is determined and to God all matters are returned. The people thought that the Hour would be long in coming but the details tell them of the severity of the matter. [What are described] are acts af ʿāl [of God] only in the sense of the terrible events ahwāl [of that Hour]. God ������ divulges them so as to remove their doubt concerning the gran- deur of His affair and the implementation of His power in what He wills. The matter is determined and to God all matters are returned that is the veil of the unseen is removed exposing the clarity of the [divine] preordination. The hearts of those who declare His oneness are lit by the lights of insights and [therefore] they have no need to seek interpretation taÌwīl of this verse and those like it since [they know] the Real ������ is far removed from any change in locality or fading or specificity in place or time. He is sanctified from every movement and appearing [before human beings].