2. Al-Baqara

If you proclaim your voluntary almsgivings it is a fine thing; but if you conceal them and give them to the poor that is even better for you; and it will absolve you of your evil deeds. God is aware of what you do. �If you reveal your companionship ṣuḥba with Us and make it public you have behaved generously and well. But if you protect Our secret from the intrusion of intermediaries between us you have kept the conditions of love widād and have raised up the lofty edifice of communion wuṣla.�

You are not responsible for guiding them; but God guides whomever He will. And whatever good you expend is for yourselves; for then you are expending desiring only God's face and whatever good you expend shall be repaid to you in full and you will not be wronged. �[O Muḥammad] yours is the praiseworthy station al-maqām al-maḥmūd the firmly tied banner al-liwāÌ al-maʿqūd the noble degrees al-rutab al-sharīfa the high waystations al-manāzil al-ʿaliyya and the pleasing practices al-sunan al-marḌiyya. You are the leader of those who come first and those who come last. No one comes close to you and certainly [no one] equals you. But you are not responsible for their guidance. Guidance is among the special characteristics of Our right and not a sliver of it is given to another. O Muḥammad you call them but We guide them.�

[It is] for the poor, who are constrained in the path of God and are not able to travel in the earth. The ignorant man counts them as rich because of their self-restraint. Thou shalt rec- ognize them by their mark-they do not ask of the people imploringly. And whatever good you expend, surely God knows it. This is a description of the state of the poor among the Companions and a clarification of their conduct. Until the day of resurrection, this is the balm of the hearts of the burnt and broken. Their first attribute is that they are constrained in the path of God, that is, they have halted at God's decree. They have constrained their souls to obey Him, their hearts to recognize Him, their spirits to love Him, and their secret cores to see Him.23 They have settled down in God's decree and approved of it, they have welcomed His command, they have kept their souls in obedience, they have occupied their hearts with recognition, their spirits have come to be at ease in love, and their secret cores have remained in anticipation of vision, for the Exalted Lord says about them, " They are unable to travel in the earth. " They are so busy with the Real that they attend neither to the creatures nor to themselves. They take no steps in seeking daily provision, nor do they put their hearts into acquisition and trade. This is exactly what He says: " whom neither trade nor buying diverts from the remembrance of God " [24:37]. They are chevaliers whose watchword is God's remembrance and whose blanket is God's love. They have repose and settledness at the threshold of serving Him and their aspiration is free of others. They are the beauty of paradise and the adorn- ment of the abode of settledness [40:39]-a few of the Emigrants and a few of the Helpers. The ignorant man counts them as rich because of their self-restraint. You would say that they are without need and you would number them as wealthy, for, despite the defectiveness of their state and the constraint of poverty, they never ask, whether from creatures or from the Real. Not asking from creatures is precisely trust, and trust is the level of their abode. Not asking from the Real is the reality of approval, and the field of approval is their way station.

Those who expend their wealth night and day, secretly and openly, shall have their wage with their Lord, and no fear shall be upon them, neither shall they grieve. As long as they have any wealth, they do not slacken from expending it for an hour, night and day. When the wealth is exhausted, they do not slacken from witnessing Him for a moment, night and day.24 This is as they say: Wealth, gold, things-gamble them away for nothing. When the work reaches your spirit, gamble it away! Spending wealth in the road of the religion according to the Shariah is the work of the faithful, and throwing away the spirit in the contemplation of the majesty and beauty of the Patron in respect of the Haqiqah is the work of the chevaliers. This is the effort of servanthood by the servants. What then is worthy of God and the divine generosity toward the servants?!

Those who devour usury shall not rise again except as one whom Satan has made prostrate from touch; that is because they say �Trade is like usury�: God has permitted trade and forbidden usury. Whoever receives an admonition from his Lord and desists he shall have his past gains and his affair is committed to God; but whoever reverts-those are the inhabitants of the fire abiding therein. Those who turn away from the command giving themselves license from their own interpretation taÌwīl have neither secure independence in the present moment lā istiqlālun lahum fī l-ḥāl nor recovery in the end wa- lā intiʿāshun fī l-maÌāl. They lose in their current life khasirū fī ʿājilihim and have no profit in their future wa-lam yarbaḥū fī ājilihim. Those who heed the calls of admonition curb the bridle of their whims and do not give free rein to persist [in prohibited actions] are granted respite for the present. However if they return to these blameworthy states let them wait for the swiftest uprooting and sudden chastisement.

God effaces usury but He augments voluntary almsgivings with inter- est. God loves not any guilty ingrate. The behaviors He has permitted are connected to good things fa-maqrūnun bi-l-khayrāt and are accompanied by blessings wa-maṣḥūbun bi-l-barakāt while [behaviors] that arise from [personal] whims come to naught-loss is the end of the affair of one [who follows his own whims].

Those who have faith and do wholesome deeds, who perform the prayer and give the alms tax, shall have their wage with their Lord, and no fear shall be upon them, neither shall they grieve. In other words, “Enough for those who come to be Ours will be what they find with Us, for We leave not to waste the wage of those who do beautiful deeds [18:30].” “When someone has recourse to the gate of Our generosity, We give him shelter in the shade of Our blessings. When the dust of Our path falls on someone, the darkness of separation from Us will not fall upon him. When someone takes one step toward Us, he will find a gift with Us.” In other words, “When someone joins with Us, he will escape from the night attack of severance.” Or: “When someone binds his heart to Our generosity, he will pack his bags from the room of sor- rows.” Or: “When someone sees Us, his spirit will laugh. He who reaches himself will reach Us. Nothing can be said about what he who reaches himself will see and hear.” The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O God, all Your caresses are for our sake, for in each breath ap- pears so much burning with the light of Your solicitude. Who has a patron like You? Where is a friend like You? With the attributes that You have, nothing else is fitting. All this is the mark, and the celebration is tomorrow. This indeed is the message, and the robe of honor is in place.” The robe of honor is what He said: “shall have their wage with their Lord, and no fear shall be upon them, neither shall they grieve.” Wait until tomorrow, when He gives out the generous wage and tremendous caress that He has with Himself, the boundless blessings and everlasting triumph, in the assembly of repose and ease [56:89] and the appointed time of union with the Beloved. When will my luck smile at me from Your playing field? When will separation from You strike its tent from my spirit's desert? What wonderful work is the work of the poor! Gabriel, with six hundred peacock wings, could not take one step beyond the Lote Tree along with that paragon of the world.

O you who believe fear God and give up the usury that is outstand- ing if you are believers. Being content with what is promised mawʿūd by the Lord is better for the one who submits than attaching one's heart to what the lower self seeks maqṣūd. What you seek maqṣūd is from the deceptions of the lower self while what you are promised mawʿūd is guaranteed by the Real.

But if you do not then be warned of war from God and His Messenger. Yet if you repent you shall have your principal sums not being unjust and no injustice being done to you. Those who willfully persist have no weight or measure miqdār before Us no standing or degree of dignity akhṬār.