2. Al-Baqara

[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. This was exactly the state of Abraham, to whom it was said that he should ask from the Real. He said, " His knowledge of my state is enough asking for me. " ʿAbdallāh Mubārak was seen weeping. They asked, " What happened to this great man of the religion? " He said, " Today I asked forgiveness from God. Then I thought, 'What is this meddling of mine?!' He is the Lord and I am the servant. He will do whatever He wants with the servant and will give him what he needs. He is not asleep that He should be awakened, nor is He heedless of the work that He should be alerted. " Junayd said, " Once it passed my lips, 'O God, give me drink!' I heard a call, 'Are you intrud- ing between Me and yourself, O Junayd?' " This is the attribute of a group who have reached the world of realization, tasted a drink from the cup of union, and been delivered from occupation with creatures and self. As for him who does not have this state and has not reached this …

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 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. But this poor man with begging hands does not let go of the paragon's skirt until he places his foot along with his on the Majestic Throne. Know, however, that this boldness does not belong to today, for it is longtime. When the foundation of love was laid down in the beginningless covenant, the spirits of the poor drank one draft of the wine of He loves them, and they love Him [5:54] in the session of intimacy and on the carpet of expansiveness. This is why they became bold. The proximate angels of the Higher Plenum said, “Look at the high aspiration of this folk! After all, we never tasted a draft of that wine, nor even caught a whiff.” The ruckus of these beggars' spirits fell to Capella: First You began this talk of passion, so take care of our work as is worthy of You. How can we find room in the pavilion of mystery? We have nothing in hand but bragging and the edict of need.