2. Al-Baqara

And they routed them by the leave of God and David slew Goliath; and God gave him the kingship and wisdom and He taught him such as He willed. God frightened the enemies with Saul whom He had given such a large body. But at the time of the fighting He brought the victory about through the hands of David. As the story goes [David] was of middling stature not large in body a compact person. He had no weapon with him but a slingshot; the victory was his because the help of God ������ was with him. And they routed them by the leave of God so that nothing not even a trace remained of them. David killed Goliath. Because of Goliath's bulk and size David's victory over him was unimaginable but as the one who spoke for them said: He met me with his sword drawn and said to me One of us is gone. Had God not repelled people some by means of others the earth would have surely been corrupted; but God is bounteous to all worlds. If mankind were to make common cause and agree with one another alto- gether the weak would be destroyed by the victory of the strong. But He keeps some occupied by others so as to deflect their evil from other people.

Those messengers some We have preferred above others; there are some to whom God spoke and some He raised in rank. And We gave Jesus son of Mary the clear proofs and confirmed him with the Holy Spirit. In the message they were united but they differed in the specific details. Each one has lights and their lights have places where they are cast. Among them is one who is the most sublime in terms of light and most perfect in rank and intensity. Their virtues are not entitlements based on their actions and states but rather are a goodly decree that came to them ḥukmun bi-l- ḥusnā adrakahum and a beautiful succession that reached them in turns wa-ʿāqibatun bi-l-jamīli tadārakathum. And had God willed those who came after them would not have fought against one another after the clear proofs had come to them; but they fell into variance and some of them believed and some disbelieved and had God willed they would not have fought against one another but God does whatever He desires. They are made to turn about by the eternal will and have been stripped of free choice; [instead there is the divine choice] around which everything circles madār and by which is the crossing over iʿtibār. Servanthood is the tight- ening of the belt of service khidma and the witnessing of prior fate qisma.

O you who believe expend of what We have provided you with before there comes a day in which there shall be neither commerce nor friendship nor intercession. And the disbelievers-they are the evildoers. This means [one should] take advantage of the help [one is] granted-the ability to act virtuously-before [one's] strength flags and one's allotted time passes.

God, there is no god but He, the Living, the Self-Standing. Slumber takes Him not, nor sleep. To Him belong whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. Who will in- tercede with Him save by His leave? He knows what is before them and what is behind them, and they encompass nothing of His knowledge save as He wills. His Footstool embraces the heavens and the earth, and He is the High, the Tremendous. God is He who has divinity and lordhood, God is He who has unity and self-sufficiency. His fix- ity is unitary, His being self-sufficient, His subsistence beginningless, and His brilliance eternal. God is the name of a lord whose essence is everlasting and whose attributes are eternal. His subsistence is beginningless and His splendor endless. His beauty is self-standing and His majesty constant. He is magnanimous and renowned, great in measure and deed, great in name and word, beyond intelligence and before when, and greater than any measure. O majestic God who is the Enactor and the good sweetheart, the creator of the world and the guardian of the creatures, keeper of enemies and companion of friends, the hard cash of hopes and enough for assurances, the receiver of every plaintiff and the forgiver of every offense, the kiblah of the desirer and the remembrance of the recognizer's heart! In remembrance of You I pass my days without You, in my eyes a picture of Your form. God is the remembrance of the hearts of the friends, God is the witness of the heart of the recogniz- ers, God is the joy of the secret core of the distracted, God is the healing of the hearts of the ill, God is the lamp of the breast of the tawḤīd-voicers, God is the light of the heart of the familiars and the balm of the pain of the burnt. Passion for You in my heart is like the light of certainty, Your name upon my eyes like the seal on a ring. In my nature and aspiration until the day of resurrection love for You will be like the spirit and loyalty to You like religion. The Pir of the Tariqah Junayd said, " If someone says God with his tongue when other than God is in his heart, God will be his adversary in the two abodes. " If someone remembers God with his tongue and delights in His name and then busies his heart with love for another, then-by the maj- esty and exaltedness of the Lord God-tomorrow the whip of rebuke will reach him in the station of harshness, and his adversary will be God. On the night of the miʿrāj He said to the master, " 'O MuḤammad! I wonder how anyone with faith in Me can depend on other than Me. O MuḤammad! Were they to gaze on the subtleties of My kindness and the wonders of My artisanry, they would not worship other than Me': What a wonder is someone who finds Me and then seeks for someone else! How can He who recognizes Me busy himself with other than Me? " When an eye sees You, it is relieved of pain. When a spirit finds You, it is exempt from death. The Pir of the Tariqah said, " O God, O worthy of generosity and caresser of the world! There is no sorrow along with Your union and no grief along with Your remembrance. You are the plaintiff and the interceder, the witness and the judge. As long as I breathe along with Your love, …

There is no compulsion in religion. The arguments are clear and the proofs plain and evident. Rectitude has become clear from error; The night is distinguished by its darkness from the day and its light. The eternal truths ḥuqūq [of the Real] are given facts while the basic limits ḥudūd [of created things] are subject to other causes. [The truths of the Real] are [known] through the property of timeless eternity naʿt al-qidam while [the limits of created things] are [known] through the attribute of privation waṣf al-ʿadam. so whoever disbelieves in the false deity The false deity is anything that distracts one from his Lord. and believes in God Belief is the life of the heart ḥayāt al-qalb through God. has laid hold of the most firm handle Laying hold of the most firm handle is holding to the command and pro- hibition al-amr wa-l-nahy which is traveling the path of al-MuṣṬafā ﷺ. unbreaking; God is Hearing Knowing. Anyone who realizes the truth of it inwardly and holds to it outwardly will win in the two abodes and will be happy in both worlds.

God is the friend of those who have faith. Their friend [walī], their patron [mawlā], their ruler [wālī], and their caretaker [mutawallī]-all are alike in meaning. He is saying, " God is the lord of the faithful, their caretaker and helper, their guide and open-hearted friend. " In a report it has come that God's Messenger said, " If someone were to destroy the eminent, great Kaabah, take apart its stones, and set it on fire, his disobedience would not be as much as if he were to denigrate one of God's friends. " A nomad was present. He said, " O Messenger of God! Who are these friends of God? " He replied, " All of the faithful are God's beloved friends. Have you not recited the verse, 'God is the friend of those who have faith?' " The equal of this verse is where He says, " That is because God is the patron of those who have faith, and the unbelievers have no patron " [47:11]. He is the friend and caretaker of the faithful, not only in this world, but also in the next, as He says: " We are your friends in this world's life and in the next world " [41:31]. In the story of Joseph, He quotes his words, " Thou art my friend in this world and the next " [12:101]. There is a great difference between these two verses-We are your friends and Thou art my friend-though anyone who does not have the eyes to see is excused. We are your friends comes from togetherness itself, but Thou art my friend alludes to dispersion. This is not because the friend is superior to the prophet, for the end of the friend's work is but the beginning of the prophet's work. However, the weak are shown greater benevolence, and the incapable are given more caresses, for they are not so bold as to claim familiarity. They see themselves as tainted, so they do not have the tongue to speak. Whoever is more helpless is closer to the Friend. Whoever is more broken is more worthy of love: " I am with those whose hearts are broken for Me. " It has been reported that on the Day of Resurrection, one of the broken and burnt will be taken to the Presence.

Have you not seen him who disputed with Abraham concerning his Lord that God had given him the kingshipḍ When Abraham said �My Lord is He who gives life and makes to die� he said �I give life and make to die.� Abraham said: �God brings the sun from the east; so bring it from the west.� Then the disbeliever was confused; and God guides not the folk who do evil. The Real ������ hastened the punishment of separation furqa for His ene- mies before He punished them with burning ḥurqa. This punishment [of separation] was in actuality more powerful in its effect if they had had the eye of insight [to see this]. The Real ������ relates that Abraham ���� ������ moved from one sound proof with the accursed enemy to another which was clearer not because there was anything wrong with the [first] proof but because of the shortcomings in the understanding of the disbeliever. The touchstone of one whose sight is blocked from recognizing the truth is the wasting of time without any useful benefit. It is not about the quality of the proof for a matter about which there is no question.

Or such as he who passed by a city that was all in ruins to its roofs he said �How shall God give life to this now that it is deadḍ� So God made him die for a hundred years then he raised him up; He said �How long have you tarriedḍ�; he said �I have tarried a day or part of a day�; He said �Nay you have tarried a hundred years. Look at your food and drink it has not spoiled; and look at your donkey so that We would make you a sign for the people. And look at the bones how We shall set them up and then clothe them with flesh.� So when it was made clear to him he said �I know that God has power over all things.� This was not a question of denial a matter of ignorance or an indication of doubt in divine power for this report is about Ezra ʿUzayr the prophet ���� ������ and it is not possible for the prophets [���� ������] to doubt or be ignorant. Rather it was a question of wondering about something extraordinary. In this conversation [Ezra] wanted to be more certain so God showed him that within his [own body] by making him die and then bringing him to life and then reviving his donkey while he watched and he became more and more certain. Asking for certainty from God and using the tactic of pos- ing difficulties are practices of those who are curious to know. Because of that God excused Ezra in this conversation and the increased certainty he sought was made possible for him. Then he said �I know that God has power over all things� in giving life and causing death that is �My knowl- edge has been increased by what I saw. He showed me weighty signs which increased my certainty.� His food and drink did not change in this long period even as his donkey died and his bones decayed.

When Abraham said to his Lord, “Show me how Thou givest life to the dead.” He said, “Dost thou not have faith?” He said, “Yes indeed, but that my heart may be serene.”... And know that God is exalted, wise. In the language of unveiling and in keeping with the tasting of the lords of the realities, this verse has another intimation and explanation. They say that Abraham was yearning for the Real's speech and burning for His address. His burning had reached the limit, the army of his patience had been put to flight, and the fire of his love was shooting up flames. He said, “O Lord, show me how you bring the dead to life.” He said, “O Abraham, dost thou not have faith? Do you not have faith that I bring the dead to life?” He said, “I do, but my heart has been thrown into turmoil by the wish to hear Your speech and by burning passion for Your address. I want You to talk.” Dost thou not have faith? “The goal was exactly that You would talk and ease would enter my heart.” My ease is Your message and my feet are in Your snare. The story is told that a man had fallen for a young woman and wanted to speak with her, but she would not talk and was unwilling to do so. The afflicted man became helplessly captivated by her, hoping to speak with her. He knew that she had a liking for jewels. He went and gave everything he had for one precious gem. He went and placed a stone in front of her in order to break the gem. The object of his passion did not have the capacity to put up with breaking. She said, “Poor man, what are you doing?” He said, “I am doing it so that you will say, 'What are you doing?'” No rest or ease remains in my heart- call me names if you have no message. It has been said that with these words Abraham was asking for the life of the heart and the serenity of the secret core. He knew that as long as a heart is not alive, serenity will not come down into it, and as long as serenity has not come down into it, he would not have reached the final goal of the recognizers. The final goal of the recognizers is the repose of intimacy, the witnessing of the heart, and the constancy of love; the tongue in remembering, the heart in secret whispering, the spirit in joy; the tongue in remembrance, the heart in reflection, the spirit with love; the tongue as spokesman, the heart with explication, and the spirit in face-to-face vision. It was said, “O Abraham, life is found in death and subsistence in annihilation, so go and kill four birds outwardly as We command in order to show reverence for Our command and to make manifest your servanthood.” Inwardly He is telling him to obey these commands: “Hang the peacock of finery on the gal- lows: Take no ease in the blessings of this world or the finery of this world. “Don't be held back by nightingale and peacock- with this you have only calls, with that only color. “Kill the crow of avarice: Be not avaricious for that which does not remain and quickly comes to an end. “Why are you passionate for the companion who took Alexander's life? Why are you in love with the loveless by whom Darius lost his kingdom? [DS 53] “Break the rooster of appetite: Let no appetite enter your heart lest you be held back from Me. …