4. An-Nisaa

O people, be wary of your Lord, who created you from one soul, created from it its mate, and scattered forth from the two many men and women. And be wary of God, whom you ask against one another, and of the wombs. Surely God is watcher over you. “O center point of human nature, O attribute of mortal nature, make godwariness your shelter and cling to it, for the life of the servants is through it and the deliverance of the travelers in it.” Godwariness is for the servant to make the commands of the Shariah into his shield so that the arrows of prohibition may not reach him. It has three levels: First, he takes refuge in the sentence of tawḤīd and avoids every associationism. Second he takes refuge in obedience and steps away from the path of disobedience. Third he takes refuge in caution and flees from ambiguity. Anyone who climbs these way stations of godwariness with truthfulness will inescapably reach deliver- ance, for the Qur'an gives this report: “God will deliver those who were godwary in their place of security; ugliness will not touch them, neither shall they sorrow” [39:61]. In another place He says, “Whosoever is wary of God, He will appoint a way out for him and He will provide for him from whence he never reckoned [65:2-3]. Whenever someone takes hold of godwariness, We will ease for him the road of deliverance from every suffering and We will send him provision from whence he has no hope.” It has been said that the sister of Bishr Ḥāfī went to see AḤmad Ḥanbal. She said, “O Imam of the Muslims! I work a spindle on the roof of my house. When the torch of the Tahirids passes by, it may happen that I join threads with the rays of that torch. Is this permissible or not?” AḤmad said, “First tell me who you are. Are you in a walkway of being able to tolerate such godwariness?” She said, “I am the sister of Bishr Ḥāfī.” AḤmad wept and said, “Godwariness like this is permissible only in the household of Bishr Ḥāfī! It is not worthy of you, so be careful not to do it, and Bishr Ḥāfī will be happy with you. Emulate your brother so that perhaps you may be like him. Then, if you want to work your spindle in the glow of the Tahirids' torch, your hand will not obey, for your brother had a degree such that whenever he reached for food that was in any way suspicious, his hand would not obey him.” “When the servant desires to be negligent of Me, I come between him and his negligence of Me.” This is found in the report in which MuṣṬafā said, narrating from his Lord, “When I know that what dominates over My servant's heart is being occupied with Me, I put my servant's ap- petite into supplicating Me and conversing with Me. When My servant is like that, My servant has passion for Me, and I have passion for him. When My servant is like that and he desires to be negligent of Me, I come between him and his negligence of Me. Those are my friends in truth. Those are the champions. They are the ones for whose sake I remove from the earth those whom they desire to be punished.” He is saying: “When My servant wants only Me, knows only Me, and belongs only to Me, I also turn the face of My heart toward him. For him I shut the door of all desires, all …

Surely those who eat the property of orphans wrongly will be eating only fire in their bellies and will roast in a blaze. The majestic compeller, the great Lord, the renowned keeper of servants, the clement, the gener- ous, the loyal, the tremendous, the lord of everyone, the carrier of everything, who takes the hand of the weak and joins with them in love, in this verse caresses the weak and shows love to the orphans. As for those wrongdoers who skewer the livers of orphans and drink the blood of the indigent, He threatens them and warns them of a fearful punishment. He acts as the deputy of the helpless and disputes with the wrongdoers for their sake. For He is the companion of the weak, the helper of the despairing, the responder to the call of the distressed, and the listener to the voice of the grieved. He loves the servant who, when battered, incapable, and destitute, lets out a cold sigh, sheds warm tears, and lifts two empty hands toward Him, asking again to be excused. It has come in the traditions that a man was saying, “O Lord, O Lord! You have written, You have measured out, and You have decreed!” O God, all that was, is, and shall be is what You want, what You bring about, and what You write for the creatures. O God, none of this is outside Your predestination, nor does it happen without Your decree. A call came in his secret core, “That is tawḤīd. Where is servanthood?” What you have said is nothing but tawḤīd and is fit for My Godhood. What then is the mark of your servanthood? The man said, “O Lord, O Lord! Surely I have disobeyed, I have sinned, and I ask.” O God, what comes from me is fitting for me. O God, I have broken the covenant, I have no loyalty, I am disloyal and everything worse. What can I do about this story-I'm all artifice and color. I'm altogether too lame to walk on the straight road. Greed has made me all grasping claws, I'm all war with the Apportioner's apportioning. Surely those who eat the property of orphans wrongly. It is harsh to eat the wealth of orphans and foolishly crave their possessions. They say that once the marvel of the empire, the pure Jesus, was passing by a graveyard. He said, “Lord God, bring one of these servants of Yours to life!” At once a section of dust caved in, and a tall man came out and stood. Jesus was frightened by him and said, “Young man, who are you?” He said, “I am the son of Taghlab.” He said, “When did you die?” He said, “2,700 years ago.” He said, “Tell me how you have found death.” He said, “From the moment I went into the dust until now, the bitterness of death has been with me.” He said, “What has God done with you?” He said, “O spirit of God! After 2,700 years I am still being called to account for half a piece of silver that I owed to an orphan. Calling to account for that has still not come to an end.” He said this and fell back into the dust.