2. Al-Baqara

(The foolish of the people will say�) [2:142]. This was revealed about the change of the qiblah. Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Ja�far informed us> Zahir ibn Ahmad> al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Mus�ab> Yahya ibn Hakim> �Abd Allah ibn Raja�> Isra�il> Abu Ishaq> al-Bara� who said: �When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, went to Medina, he prayed toward the direction of Jerusalem for sixteen or seventeen months. But Allah�s Messenger, Allah bless him and give him peace, liked to be directed in prayer toward the Ka�bah. Allah, exalted is He, revealed (We have seen the turning of thy face to heaven) up to the end of the verse [2:144]�. The foolish among people, who are none other than the Jews, said: (What hath turned them from the qiblah which they formerly observed?) Allah, exalted is He, said: (Unto Allah belong the East and the West) up to the end of the verse. This is narrated by Bukhari from the report of �Abd Allah ibn Raja�.

Thus We appointed you a midmost community.... Surely God is clement, ever-merciful toward the people. It is the wise Lord, the knowing King, whose power and existence-giving bring forth beings. The newly arrived things exist through His exaltedness and His making them manifest, and the earth and the heavens stand forth through His keeping. He created the newly arrived things and chose from among them the animals. From among the animals He chose the Adamites, from the Adamites He chose the faithful, from the faithful He chose the prophets, and from the prophets He chose MuḤammad. He chose his community above the previous communities. This is why MuṣṬafā said, “I was brought forth from the best generation of the children of Adam, generation after generation, until I came to be in the generation in which I am.” He also said, “Surely God chose my companions above all the world's folk save the prophets and the envoys. He chose four of my companions and made them the best of my companions-and in all of my companions there is good-Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, and ʿAlī. He chose my community over the other com- munities, so He sent me forth in the best generation. Then there will be the second and third in succession, then the fourth, one after another.” What is understood from this report is that MuṣṬafā is the best of the Adamites, the chosen from among the world's folk, the leader of the creatures, the adornment of the world, the weighty one of the time, the lamp of the earth, the full moon of heaven, the shelter of the disobedient, the interceder for the sinners, the master of all the messengers and their seal. After MuṣṬafā the best of all creatures is Abū Bakr the sincerely truthful. The Lord of the Worlds placed the cushion of his imamate on the throne of MuṣṬafā's Shariah, turned the lodging place of his servanthood into self-purification and truthfulness, and made trust and certainty the keeper of the rank of his friendship. After him the best of creatures is ʿUmar KhaṬṬāb. The Lord of the Worlds placed the reins of lowering and raising the legal rulings in the hand of his sufficiency and pulled the robe of his rulership over the forehead of the creed. With his harshness and awesomeness the smoke of as- sociationism was subdued by its own misfortune. After him the best of creatures is ʿUthmān ʿAffān. The Lord of the Worlds spread the carpet of his dignity and honor in the seven heavens and in the era of his reign the lights of Islam were lit up in the regions of east and west. After ʿUthmān the best of creatures is ʿAlī Murtaẓā. The Lord of the Worlds unveiled the realities of the Shariah and the marks bearing witness to the Tariqah through his conduct and secret core and made trust and godwariness his watchword and blanket. MuṣṬafā placed each of these masters and caliphs in a rank and gave each a specific charac- teristic. Concerning ṣiddīq he said, “O Abū Bakr, God has bestowed upon you the Greatest Ap- proval.” It was said to him, “O Messenger of God, what is the Greatest Approval?” He said, “God will disclose Himself generally to His faithful servants on the Day of Resurrec- tion and specifically to Abū Bakr.” Concerning ʿUmar he said, …

We have seen thy face turning about in heaven. Now We shall turn thee toward a kiblah that thou shalt approve. He had let him know that he was in the sight of the Real so that he would model his courtesy on the Real's courtesy. When he put courtesy into practice, he did not ask the Real for what his heart wanted and did no more than gaze upon heaven. Then He gave him better than what He gives to those who ask. When the Lord is generous and the servant exalted, He keeps the servant within the stipula- tions of courtesy, shows him the road of deeds, and gives him success. Then He rewards him for the deeds and praises him for his veneration. He says, “How excellent is the wage of the doers!” [3:136]. “How excellent a servant he was; surely he kept on returning” [38:30]. In the same way, He reported to MuṣṬafā, “You are in My vision and My exalted witnessing. Be careful to recognize the respect due to the Presence and to ask in keeping with courtesy.” Hence when his heart was intent on the kiblah, he did not make this manifest, in keeping with courtesy. He kept that wish in his heart and then the Exalted Presence addressed him: “Now We shall turn thee toward a kiblah that thou shalt approve. We have come to know that wish in your heart and We have admired your beautiful courtesy in not asking. We will bestow upon you that of which you approve in the work of the kiblah. O MuḤammad! All the servants in the world are seeking My approval, but I am seeking your approval. All are searching for Me, but I am calling for you. All wish for My caresses, but We are caressing you. Thy Lord shall bestow upon thee so that thou shalt approve [93:5]. Now consider the Kaabah as the kiblah of your soul and Me as the kiblah of your spirit.” When those caresses came forth from the Presence of Unity and those generosities reached him, the tongue of his state said in his yearning, “When your heart reaches out once in love for me, suffering separation from You becomes easy, sweetheart.” Abū Bakr Shiblī said, “The kiblahs are three: the kiblah of the common people, the kiblah of the elect, and the kiblah of the elect of the elect.

(Those unto whom We gave the Scripture recognise (this revelation) as they recognise their sons�) [2:146]. This was revealed about the believers of the people of the Book: 'Abd Allah ibn Salam and his companions. They knew Allah's Messenger, Allah bless him and give him peace, by his description, traits and mission from their Scripture as did any one of them know his son upon seeing him with other boys. Said 'Abd Allah ibn Salam: �I knew Allah's Messenger, Allah bless him and give him peace, better than I knew my son�. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab asked him: �How is that, O son of Salam?� He said: �Because I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah truly and out of certainty, but I cannot bear witness truly and out of certainty that my son is mine, for I have no knowledge of what women do [behind their husbands' backs]�. 'Umar then said: �May Allah give you success, O son of Salam!�

Everyone has a direction to which he turns. The creatures have five kiblahs. First is the Throne, second the Footstool, third the Inhabited House, fourth the Holy House [Jerusalem], and fifth the Kaabah. The Throne is the kiblah of the angels who carry it. The Footstool is the kiblah of the cherubim. The Inhabited House is the kiblah of the spirituals. The Holy House is the kiblah of the prophets. The Kaabah is the kiblah of the faithful. The Throne is of light, the Footstool of gold, the Inhabited House of carnelian, the Holy House of marble, and the Kaabah of stone. This is an allusion for the faithful servant: “If you cannot come to the Throne to circumam- bulate, or to the Footstool to visit, or to the Inhabited House to worship, or to the Holy House to serve, then at least you can turn your face five times a day toward this stone, which is the kiblah of the faithful, and receive the reward for all of them.” Everyone has a direction. One of them has said that the allusion here is this: “All people have been distracted from Me by something that has come between Me and them. So, O faithful, belong to Me and be through Me.” In terms of allusion, He is saying, “All the people have turned away from Me. They have become familiar with others without Me. They have made their sweetheart other than Me and ac- cepted the other in friendship. “You who are the chevaliers of the Tariqah and claim friendship with Me, lift up your eyes from anything beneath Me, even if it be the highest paradise. Then you will go straight in follow- ing the Sunnah and conduct of MuṣṬafā and you will perform the rightful due of emulating that paragon of the world. For, as the greatest of the prophets, his conduct was to turn his eyes away from all beings and not to see any refuge nor to approve of any resting place other than the shelter of Unity.” When a man wears down his spirit in passion's road he'd best incline toward none but the Friend. In passion's road the passionate must not think of hell or paradise. When someone puts himself right in following MuṣṬafā, the candle of friendship with the Real will be lit in his road and he will never fall away from friendship's avenue.