9. At-Tawba

And others who acknowledged their sins; they mixed a wholesome deed with another that is ugly. Perhaps God will turn toward them. Surely God is forgiving, ever-merciful.

Since they were also granted success to [being of] the former division by the blessedness of companionship with the Messenger and his purification of them and his [moral] training of them, He says: Take of their wealth some alms, since wealth is the cause of the manifestation of the soul and of its being overpowered by its attributes and the [source of] reinforcement of its faculties and the substratum of its vain desires, as the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'Wealth is the substance of passionate desires'. Thus their initial state must be one of disengagement from wealth so that the faculties of the soul might be broken and its vain desires and attributes might be weakened so as to be cleansed from the dark configurations that are in it and to be purified from the vileness of sins and the impurity of Satanic motivations. That is the significance of His words: to purify them and to cleanse them thereby, and pray for them, by extending [your] aspiration [to include them] and by effusing the light of [your] companionship upon them; truly your prayers are a peacefulness for them, that is, truly the light that you effuse upon them by turning the attention of your mind to them and the potency of your aspiration and the blessedness of your companionship are the cause for the coming down of the divine peace (sakīna) upon them, their hearts finding peace therein and reassurance. The divine peace is a light that settles in the heart, remaining firm with it in the orientation to the Truth and by which certainty is strengthened and by which is removed that inconstancy which is the result of Satan's touch and his evil whisperings, as well as the conversations of the soul and its murmurings, since that person will no longer accept them then. And God is Hearer, hearing their humble beseechings and admission of their sins, Knower, of their intentions and resolve and of the remorse and distress in their consciences.

And others who are made to hope for God's command; either He will chastise them or He will turn toward them. And God is knowing, wise. In these verses the Generous Lord, the lovingly kind, the able, the pure-knowing knower, the one and unique in name and mark, divides MuḤammad's community into three groups according to the degrees of their faith, the disparity of their acts, and the difference of their character traits. This is the same classification that He provided in detail elsewhere: " Among them are wrongdoers to themselves, among them are moderate, and among them are preceders in good deeds " [35:32]. There He mentioned them together and here apart, but the classification and the ranking in terms of virtue are the same. First are the preceders, the first, and they are the preceders. Second are others who have acknowledged their sins, and they are the moderate. Third are others made to hope for God's command, and they are the wrongdoers. He begins with the preceders. In the beginningless they have the precedence of solicitude and the bounty of guidance from God. They are the first chieftains and the forebears of this commu- nity, the best of creation, the lamps of guidance, the signposts of the religion, the treasurers of the Real, the pillars of the submission, the masters of this world, the interceders of the next world, the chosen of mortal man, the boast of Adam's children. They are the Companions of MuṣṬafā and the chosen of God, the leaders of the submission and the Sunnah, the first in the religion and recogni- tion. They were the first to hear the Real's message and they were the first to accept the message- bringer and to welcome the Real. One group are the Emigrants. They left behind their homes and families and lost their means and homeland for God's sake. Another group are the Helpers, who accepted MuṣṬafā with heart and spirit and gave his companions refuge. As a bird nurtures its chick, they nurtured the submission. They made their bodies and spirits shields for the religion of the submission. They took this world as lowly and they placed their love in the religion. Another group are the Followers who came later: and those who followed them in beautiful doing.

[�] A mosque which was founded upon [pious] fear of God: since the world of the Kingdom is subject to the dominion of the world of the angelic realm and subjugated to it, the intentions and configurations of souls must concomitantly exercise an effect upon the deeds it engages in. Thus everything that is performed with sincere intention for God, exalted be He, issuing from a luminous configuration, then companionship of it is blessedness, all-comprehensiveness and purity. Everything which is performed with a corrupt Satanic intention, issuing from a dark configuration, companionship of it will result in schism, impurity, effacement and evil omen. Do you not see how the Kaʿba is honoured and exalted and a source of blessedness because it was built by the hands of one of God's prophets with sincere intention and with a noble and pure soul, as well as with perfect sincere devotion to God, exalted be He, and that we still witness the vestiges of that in people's deeds and we also find the vestiges of purity and concentration in some places and regions, as well as impurity and schism in others, and this is so only because of that [fact]. That is why He says that a mosque founded upon [pious] fear of God, from the first day is worthier for you to stand in, because corporeal configurations exercise an effect on souls, just as ego-centric configurations exercise an effect on bodies. Thus if the place in which one stands has been founded upon [pious] fear of God and purity of soul, the soul will be affected by way of the concentration of single-minded concern (hamm) and the purity of the moment and the pleasantness of state and the tasting of ecstatic consciousness. If it is founded, however, upon the desire to make a show and to [cause] harm, it [the soul] will be affected by way of impurity, schism and constriction; in it are men who love to purify themselves, that is, a folk who have the will and make the effort to purify themselves from sins. He is cautioning here that the company of the righteous folk from among the folk of volition has a tremendous effect: it must therefore be chosen, for it affects others. Similarly, a station has an effect of which one must be mindful and to which one must be committed, which is why according to the convention of our [Sufi] folk it is mentioned that one must be mindful of the time, the place and the brethren when actualising the concentration (jamʿiyya).