3. Aal-i-Imraan

Alif, Lām, Mīm.! God! There is no god except Him, the Living, the Eternal Sustainer.He [Sahl] said:It [Allāh] is God�s Greatest Name, which is written across the sky in green light from East to West.

Alif, Lām, Mīm.! God! There is no god except Him, the Living, the Eternal Sustainer.He [Sahl] said:It [Allāh] is God�s Greatest Name, which is written across the sky in green light from East to West.

�and He revealed the criterion�That is, the Qurʾān, wherein is the way out of all doubt and error.

�As for those in whose hearts is deviation, they follow the allegorical part, desiring sedition�That is, disbelief; �and desiring its interpretation, refers to its interpretation according to the desire of their lower selves. �But no one knows its interpretation except God.Ibn ʿAbbās y said:God sent down the Qurʾān according to four ways of reading (aḥruf): the lawful (ḥalāl) and the unlawful (ḥarām), ignorance of which nobody is excused; the interpretation (tafsīr) according to which the Arabs have interpreted it; the interpretation according to which scholars (ʿulamāʾ) have interpreted it; and the ambiguous (mutashābih), which none but God, Exalted is He, knows, and whoever claims knowledge of it other than God, Mighty and Majestic is He, is lying. His words:�And those who are firmly rooted in knowledge (rāsikhūna fī�l-ʿilm)�[Sahl] said:It was reported from ʿAlī that he stated, �[Those rooted in knowledge] are the ones whom knowledge has protected from plunging [into the interpretation of the Qurʾān] according to some whim (hawā) or with set arguments (ḥujaj maḍrūba) without [awareness of] the unseen [mysteries] (ghuyūb).� [This is] due to God�s guidance of them, and His disclosing to them His unseen secrets from within the treasure chests of knowledge. Thus they said, We believe in the Book; all of it is from our Lord [3:7]. So God, Exalted is He, acknowledged them [in this verse], and made them among the people of profound and far-reaching knowledge, as an increase granted to them from Him. Just as God has said, Exalted is He, But say: �O my Lord! Advance me in knowledge [20:114]�.Sahl also said:God, Blessed and Exalted is He, showed those who are firmly rooted in knowledge to be exceptionalbecause of their saying all of it is from our Lord [3:7], by which they mean, the abrogating and the abrogated, the clear and the ambiguous. They are the ones who reveal three [ways of] knowing (ʿulūm), since those who know (ʿulamāʾ) may be [designated in] three [ways], namely: those [whose knowledge derives from] the divine lordliness (rabbāniyyūn), those [whose knowledge derives from] the divine light (nurāniyyūn); and those [whose knowledge derives from] the divine essence� (dhātiyyūn). [Those firmly rooted in knowledge reveal] in addition four [other kinds] of knowledge: revelation (waḥy), theophany (tajallī), knowledge directly bestowed by God (ʿindī) and knowledge from the divine presence (ladunnī), just as God has said, to whom We had given mercy from Us and We had taught him knowledge from Us [18:65], [and when He said], Yet none remembers but the people of inner substance [2:269], that is, none reflects save the people of understanding (fahm) and intellect (ʿuqūl), who say:

Our Lord, do not cause our hearts to deviate after You have guided us�That is, �Do not let our hearts turn away from faith after You have guided us with guidance from Yourself�; �But grant us mercy from You, ⸢that is, stability (thabāt)⸣ �You are the One who bestows, upon those who return to You in a state of neediness, entreaty and lowliness.Then Sahl said:The only stratagem (ḥīla) that the servant has is to establish the practice throughout his life of saying, �My Lord! Protect me! Protect me! Keep me safe! Keep me safe! Help me! Help me!� God, Exalted is He, has said, As He brought you into being, so shall you return [7:29].Every person who affirms God�s oneness should know for a certainty that not everyone who loves God (Ḥaqq) is loved by Him, for Iblīs encountered Him with the ⸢outward sign⸣ of love and said, �Shall I prostrate before one whom You have created from clay [17:61], when You are God, and it is not permissible to worship other than You?� Consequently God cursed him. Therefore, not all those who try to draw close to God are accepted by Him. Nor does God accept the obedience (ṭāʿa) of all who obey Him. Truly He perceives what is in the conscience (ḍamīr) [of all His creatures]. Thus, no one can feel secure that God will not deal with him in the same way that He dealt with Iblīs. God cursed him with the lights of His protection (bi-anwār ʿiṣmatihi) such that he was always in reality under His curse, but God veiled him from what had been foreordained [for him] from Him, up until the time when He punished him by bringing it to realisation through him. Thus, the servant can do nothing except continually [implore] help (ghawth) from God. Indeed the Messenger said, �O You who make the steadfast firm, make me firm with Your firmness (thabāt)! O You whose oneness is unchanging, for there is no god except You, Glorified are You! Truly I have been among the wrongdoers.� He wouldalso say: �O Lord and Protector (walī) of Islam and its people, make me firm in Islam until I encounter You!� [Sahl] said [on this matter], �The place of faith in God, Exalted is He, is the heart and the place of Islam is the breast, and it is subject to increase and decrease.� His words: