7. Al-A'raaf

And when they tasted the tree, their shameful parts were shown to them.Anyone who follows in the tracks of the soul's appetite in opposition to the Real's command will be held back from the Real and not reach the appetite. Adam the chosen had not savored more than a taste from that prohibited tree when the whip of rebuke came down on his head and his state was changed. He did not completely satisfy the appetite, nor did God's approval remain with him. When he looked again, he did not see the crown on his head, nor the robe on his body. At first he had seen himself sitting on the throne of chosenness, leaning back on the cushion of vicegerency, adorned with the robes and trinkets of paradise. After this, he saw himself held back from all that, naked and hungry, in need of one leaf of a tree.God bless the chevaliers who set out earlylike kings and took their ease like the indigent!*Wonder not at my abasement-I am he with whose lifeblood time sported, then abased.The command came: �O Adam! You were not able to enjoy all those blessings without suffering and toil. Now go to the house of tribulation and adversity and work, plant seeds, take pains, and be patient.�Adam said, �All of this is trifling if one day I am again given access to this Threshold.� He lamented at the pain in his heart and placed his need and incapacity on the palms of remorse. He wept and said,

�Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves. If Thou dost not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers.��O God, if we weep, weeping for You is sweet. If we lament over you, our lamenting is appropri- ate. O God, what comes from dust other than error? What is born from defect other than disloy- alty? And what comes from the generous other than loyalty? O God, we have come back with two empty hands. What would happen if You placed balm on the wounded? O God, You are the treasure of the poor, the traveling supplies of the distressed, the resource of the fleeing, the hand- holder of the helpless. You created, so You saw the faulty jewel, but You selected it and bought it with all its faults. You lifted us up and no one said, 'Lift up!' Now that You have lifted up, don't put down! Keep us in the shadow of gentleness and entrust us to none but Your bounty!�If You water, You Yourself planted.If You flatten the foundation, You Yourself raised it.I the servant am just what You fancied. Don't throw me down-You lifted me up.

Say: �My Lord has commanded justice. Set your faces in every place of prostration and supplicate Him, purifying the religion for Him. Just as He began you, so you shall return.�In this verse the Lord of heaven and earth, the Creator of the world and the world's folk, the bestower and forgiver, the lovingly kind toward the servants, brings together the foundations of service, the signposts of practice, and the realities of recognition. He makes the faithful aware of pleasing character traits and He instructs them in beautiful worship of Himself and beautiful living with the creatures. He honors them by letting them recognize the causes of His approval.This verse is one of the all-comprehensive words concerning which MuṣṬafā said, �I was sent out with the all-comprehensive words, and knowledge was made very concise for me.�In the Qur'an there is much of the same sort. Let me speak about one of them: �Surely God is with those who are godwary and those who are beautiful-doers� [16:128]. Consider how such a short verse has so many of the meanings. All of God's caresses, the generous giving and boun- teousness of the Real toward the servant, are included in Surely God is with. All service, such as the sorts of worship and the types of practice that the servant does for God, comes under godwary. All that is rightfully due to people from each other in the various sorts of practices comes under beautiful-doers.In the same way, all the pillars of the religion, the standpoints of the Shariah, and the gates of the Haqiqah are included in the words, �My Lord has commanded justice. Set your faces in every place of prostration and supplicate Him, purifying the religion for Him.� He is saying, �God has commanded me to justice, that is, in my practice with the Real, the creatures, and the soul: with the Real by putting commands and prohibitions to work and approving of His decree in every state; with the creatures by living with good character, observing equity toward them in the varieties of practice, and not asking equity for myself; and with the soul by opposing it, pulling it into the field of struggle and discipline, and shutting the door to appetites and ease.�The equal of this verse in the Qur'an is where He says, �God commands justice and beautiful do- ing� [16:90].