Tawḥīd: the Oneness and Knowledge of God
Tawhid Prophethood Divine Justice Imamah The Day of Resurrection Ethics and Society
Divine Names 69 Divine Knowledge 25 Divine Mercy 42 Creation 95 Worship 110 Human Dependence on God 85
Quotations without a link appear in the ʿAllāmah’s separate discourses, which are not on this website; they can be read in the printed volumes and the Al-Mizan App.
Divine Names
Every praise, uttered by any speaker for any good deed is in reality addressed to God only; because every good — which is the object of praise — emanates from Him only. In short, to Him belong the species of the praise and all and every praise.
For these people, God's life, knowledge, power, choice, will, decree, order and management have the same meanings as do their own life, knowledge and so on. It is a disease for which there is no cure. And the signs and warnings can avail nothing to a people who do not understand.
Intercession, in its true sense, belongs to God only; all His attributes are intermediaries between Him and His creatures and are the channels through which His grace, mercy and decrees pass to the creatures; He is the real and all-encompassing intercessor.
On the Impossibility of God Having a Begotten Son
How does one beget a son? A physical being removes some of his parts from himself and develops and nurtures it into another member of the species, similar to himself. Now, nothing can be similar to Allāh; He is far above such things; whatever is in the heavens and in the earth belongs to Him, is His property. Things being as they are, how can anything be similar to Allāh? Does God belong to a species? How can He beget someone of the same 'species'?
On God Being One in a Way That Forbids the Very Word 'One'
The sentence, 'Allāh is one,' may be interpreted in four ways, two of them are not permissible for Allāh. The two not permissible are: using it as a numeral — for that which has no second does not come within the domain of number; and likening Him to a species — as a species is one of its genera. He, the Mighty, the Great, is unique in significance; He is not divisible, neither in existence, nor in thought or imagination. Such indeed is our Lord.
On the Divine Attributes as One Undivided Reality
He is one because His attributes are not multiple; they are not separate from one another except in their verbal meanings. His knowledge, His power and His life — all is one thing, all is His very person; none of them is separate from the other. Allāh knows by His power, and has power by His life, and is alive by His knowledge. He is not like other things, where attributes are multiple and numerous not only in meanings but in reality also.
On the Only Real Life Being the Divine Life
The real life is that in which non-existence at any stage is impossible; which is essential being; in other words, where life is not acquired by the person, but the person is life itself and life is the person himself. Going a step further, it will be realized that the only real life is Divine Life, Essential Being.
On the Speech of God as Creation Itself, Not Sound
On pondering on all these aspects, one finds out that the divine 'saying' means creating a thing to show the intended meaning. So far as the matters of creation are concerned, when God creates a thing and brings it into existence, it exists. And the very thing is a 'saying' of God, because it, by its existence, shows the particular intention of God for its creation. Therefore, His saying, in matters of creation, is the creation itself — it is nothing separate from it.
On God Speaking Without Mouth, Tongue, or Instrument
The speech of God with His creature is not like the speech of a creature with another creature; and He does not speak with a mouth and tongue; rather He says to it: 'Be' and it is. Imām al-Riḍā said: 'It was by His will He addressed His command and prohibition to Moses without any meditation in His Self.' And ʿAlī said: 'Speaking, not by meditation; Wishing, not by contemplation.'
On God as the Ultimate Speech, Speaker, and Meaning
Deep thinking leads one to the belief that the ultimate 'speech' is God Himself. It is the Creator Himself Who leads to Himself through His creation. In the same way, it is He Himself Who leads to His creation. He Himself leads us to Himself; in this sense, He is the speech and the Speaker and the meaning; and at this stage, we may say that His speech is His person or an attribute of His person.
On Āyat al-Kursī as the Summit of Monotheism
It establishes the pristine belief in the Oneness of God, and then goes on to the attribute of 'standing' which is the foundation of all His names which describe His attributes of action. Then it gives details of those attributes in all small and big things and affairs of the universe, showing that whatever emanates from His authority is a part of that authority.
The Divine Name as a Living Witness
God bears witness — and He is the Just Witness — that there is no god but He. The justice of God is a witness for itself as well as for His Oneness. In other words, His justice is a self-sustaining reality and also proves that God is One. The system found in the universe is pure justice. And if there were any other god besides God, the whole system could not be called all-encompassing justice; the work of each god would have been just only within the sphere of his own activity.
God Who Is Questioned by None
Here is the Qur'an, declaring the glory of the Lord of the universe; it affirms for Him every attribute of perfection, and asserts His freedom from every imperfection; and declares that He is too great to be comprehended by our understanding — beset as it is by limitations and imperfections. And there are the Old and New Testaments describing God in terms which can only be found in the Greek, Indian and Chinese mythologies of the ancient times; and ascribing to Him such things which primitive man imagined and which his superstition led him to believe.
What Is Impossible Cannot Be a Tenet
Many Christian scholars agree that it is an idea that cannot be understood. Still they say that it is a religious tenet, therefore it must be believed without asking for reason — after all, there are many things in religion which the reason says are impossible. But it is one of the invalid ideas which spring from that invalid base. How can there be an impossible principle in the religion of truth? As far as we are concerned, it is through reason and understanding that we accept a religion and discern its truth and validity. How can a true belief contain something which reason invalidates?
The Roots of Religious Gnosis
The son of Adam who was murdered showed with his clean disposition and pure nature that human race was bound to multiply, and their bands would contain individuals of diverse characters, some pious, others unjust and transgressors. However, there is one Lord Who is their Owner and the Owner of all the worlds and He manages their affairs. It is an aspect of His perfect management that He likes and loves justice and beneficence, dislikes and hates injustice and transgression — and this is religion.
God as Creator, Owner, and King
God is the Creator and Originator of all things; there is nothing whose self and its effects do not belong to God. He is the Giver of what He gives and Withholder of what He withholds; He has power to do with every thing as He pleases — and it is the ownership. God is the Owner because everything subsists by Him, and is the King because He is Powerful, neither powerless nor prevented from enforcing His pleasure and will.
God as the Subduer — Infinity Beyond Number
God is the Subduer, not subdued; the Victor whom nothing can subjugate, as the Qur'anic teachings make clear. As such, numerical unity or numerousness vis-à-vis God is unimaginable. He is Existent without any taint of non-existence; He is the Truth that no nullity can touch Him; the Living that death cannot come near Him; the Knowing that ignorance cannot creep to Him; the Powerful that weakness cannot overcome Him; the Owner and the King that nothing can possess Him, and the Mighty Who is far above meekness. He has the essence of perfection.
The Infinite Encompassing the Finite
If you want to understand this Qur'anic reality, then imagine one thing finite, and another infinite. You will find that the infinite encompasses the finite in a way that the finite does not push the infinite away from its perfection; rather, the infinite dominates the finite and is present in every aspect of the finite's perfection; the infinite stands independently, and is the witness over the finite and encompasses it.
The Oneness That Defeats Number
The word aḥad denotes uniqueness. It does not mean one, so that we may start counting, two, three, and so on. This attribute removes the possibility of numbering. The word 'One or Unique' is used in a positive sentence — there is no negation, nor is it qualified with any adjective — and it connotes that in His essence God is such as no like unto Him can even be imagined, be it one or more. Therefore, regardless of its condition in actuality, it is impossible even to imagine it properly.
The Apophatic Summit: Every Attribute Divides
The foremost in religion is the knowledge of Him; the perfection of knowing Him is to testify Him; the perfection of testifying Him is to believe in His Oneness; the perfection of believing in His Oneness is to adhere to Him purely; and the perfection of adhering to Him purely is to deny Him attributes — because every attribute testifies that it is different from that to which it is attributed. Thus whoever attaches attributes to God joins Him to another thing; and who joins Him regards Him two; and who regards Him two recognizes parts for Him; and who recognizes parts for Him is ignorant of Him.
The Bewilderment of the Sincere Soul Before God
These meanings, perceptions, and knowledge fall short of the ability to be applied properly to God, or to express exactly His splendor. A sincere servant, who intends to describe his Lord, inevitably feels the need to confess his shortcomings which are not redeemable, his weakness that cannot be restored. Then he looks again to himself and negates what he had affirmed; and wanders in bewilderment from which he can't come out.
Every Powerful Other Than God Is Weak
Every powerful person other than Him is weak. Every master other than Him is slave. Every knower other than Him is seeker of knowledge. Every powerful other than Him is sometimes imbued with power and sometimes with disability. Every listener other than Him is deaf to faint voices, while loud voices make him deaf and distant voices also get away from him. Every onlooker other than Him is blind to hidden colors and delicate bodies. Every manifest thing other than Him is hidden, but every hidden thing other than Him is incapable of becoming manifest.
Polytheism as Erroneous Attribution, Never True Negation of God
The basic factor is that man proves the existence of God because of the general need felt in the world for the One who should furnish his existence's requirements and manage the affairs of his system. Whatever he would affirm for fulfilling this need — he is God. Then if he affirms another god or more gods, it will be seen that either he has erred in specification of His attributes and apostatized in His names, or has affirmed for Him a partner. But to deny His being and affirm someone other than Him would be a senseless exercise.
God's Absolute Sovereignty: Intellect Cannot Compel Him
God's action cannot compel Him at all, nor would it overpower Him in His person; He is the Subduer and Predominant. How can a thing subdue Him which returns to Him from every direction, and depends on Him in its substance and effect? It is therefore impossible that the intellect — which decides whatever it does by God's bestowal on it — or the realities — whose laws and effects exist by His will — would have any authority over Him or demand something from Him, by the same decision and demand that God Himself keeps them active and subdues them.
The Hidden Name of God
There are some of His names to which no creature has got a way — and it is the name which He has kept hidden. So understand it.
Pride as God's Exclusive Attribute
Takabbur means 'assuming greatness for oneself and expressing it to someone else.' If any being has any advantage or significance with respect to another being, it is through a quality that is due to God and from Him — which means that no one is entitled to express greatness of oneself except God. Hence, this is one of the exclusive attributes of God, Who is absolutely Great and Superior to the entire existence. We can therefore classify two types of takabbur: rightful and praiseworthy pride belonging to God or tracing to Him; and wrong and blameworthy pride found among others, where they claim some baseless greatness for themselves.
The Limits of Reason Before God
Our theoretical reason decides what is necessary, possible, or impossible; and our practical reason discerns what is good or bad. However, all of these qualities are derived from the very act of God Himself — so how could our reason take precedence over Him? If we let theoretical reason make statements about God, it means that God can be defined, which is impossible, because being defined means being subject to external limits. Likewise, we cannot let practical reason make statements about God, because that implies there is some deficiency in God which must be filled with the conventional laws that practical reason assumes.
Why God Cannot Be Questioned
He is 'God,' meaning the Origin and End of everything — therefore, one cannot ask for any other agent or objective to justify God's actions. He is the ultimate agent above all agents, and the final end beyond all ends; that is why He cannot be questioned concerning what He does. Questioning an action means asking either 'where did this come from' or 'for what purpose was this done?' — neither is applicable to God since He is the cause of all causes, and the objective of all objectives.
The Reality of the Greatest Name
The only reality that acts as a cause in the world is God. When we say the divine names — and especially the Greatest Name — effect changes in the universe, it means that they act through their realities. And the reality of each name is God Himself, viewed in the light of a specific attribute that corresponds to that name. Otherwise, it is neither the letters of these names, nor the meanings that we conceive from them in our minds, which act in the universe.
The Concealed Name and the Divine Essence
The name that is 'concealed and reserved' is still a 'name,' which means that it is an expression and determination of the transcendent essence of God. At the same time, it is concealed and unmanifest by the virtue of its very nature and reality — its expression lies in being unexpressed; its determination is lack of determination. This is what is meant by the idea that God is not delimited by any definition, including this very negational definition; He does not fall into any description or attribute, including this very negational description.
Remembrance with Hope and Fear
God is pure good, and there is no evil to be found in Him — any evil that reaches us emanates from our own deficiency. He has some names of beauty (asmāʾ al-jamāl) which attract everything toward Him, and some names of majesty (asmāʾ al-jalāl) which repel and dominate all things. Doing justice to God's remembrance is to remember all His most excellent names, which include both His names of beauty and His names of majesty — this amounts to remembering God with hope and fear both: beseechingly and reverentially.
Divine Pleasure: Never Frozen, Always Contingent on Conduct
When God is described as being pleased, this is an attribute of action (ṣifat al-fiʿl) rather than an attribute of essence (ṣifat al-dhāt). This is because if it was an attribute of essence, this would expose the Divine Essence to changeability or alteration in the event that a person who God was pleased with earned His wrath by disobeying Him, or that a person with whom God was displeased with earned His pleasure by repenting to Him. Therefore, when we say that God is pleased or displeased with someone, we are referring to how He treats them: When God is pleased with someone, this means He treats them in the manner of one who is pleased by admitting them to His mercy and sending down blessings upon them.
Unlimited Existence Belongs to God Alone
Only God Almighty is independent in His essence, for He is utterly self-sufficient, does not lack anything, and loses nothing of existence or perfection, such as life, power, or knowledge. There is no limit to Him by which He can be defined.
God Does as He Wills, None Can Thwart Him
From here, it becomes evident that his saying 'if He wishes' is among the most subtle qualifications in this context. This is insofar as it establishes the perfection and transcendence of God, indicating that nothing governs Him and no one has any power or influence over Him whatsoever. He does as He wills, and no one else except Him has such power.
His Oneness Admits No Second, No Division
God is, in His essence, singular in both His being and attributes. This means He is the sole existence, unique in His essence, without anything comparable existing independently. He's singular in His attributes, meaning there isn't a real attribute of His that isn't intrinsically Him. He is the one who dominates over everything, and nothing can dominate Him.
Adversity as the Path to Honor
What were once causes of humiliation and enslavement became means of honor and authority. Al-Laṭīf ('the Gentle,' 'the Attentive,' or 'the Subtle') is one of God's exalted names. It indicates His omnipresence and encompassment of even the most far removed of circumstances. It alludes to His understanding of the innermost aspects of things.
The Dominant Who Cannot Be Dominated
He is the Dominant one who cannot be dominated, and the Prevailing one who cannot be prevailed upon. He possesses all, yet nothing possesses Him. He decrees over everything, yet nothing can decree over Him.
God Is Not Governed by Rationality
God is not governed by rationality; instead, He is the one who guides reason to its understanding. Neither a perceived benefit nor a detriment compels Him to act or refrain; rather, He is the guide to the outcomes dictated by benefit and harm.
Purpose Belongs to Creation, Not to God
The Exalted is not perfected by the purposes of His actions and their objectives, unlike us, sentient beings with will, whether human or animal. Neither benefit nor harm govern Him, contrary to others.
True Might Belongs to God Alone
God is Mighty (al-ʿAzīz) because He is the Essence that cannot be subdued by anything from any aspect, yet He subdues everything from every aspect. For this reason, true might (al-ʿIzzah) is exclusive to Him. No one else possesses it unless they obtain it from Him and with His permission.
Iblīs Holds No Inherent Authority
Iblīs, by making such a claim, implied his exemption from God's decree, positing himself above God's will concerning human creation, their role as His representatives, and their servitude to Him. Yet, only I preside over this affair and solely I adjudicate it. It only transpires by My decree.
Idols Fail All Three Tests of Divinity
None of them are creators, benefactors, or intrinsically knowledgeable in of themselves. If they possess any of these qualities whatsoever, they do so through the Divine rather than themselves, as it is only the Lord who inherently and independently holds these attributes.
God's Power Knows No Gradations
God's power is inherent in His essential being, which necessarily exists and cannot cease. Therefore, His power is absolute, unrestricted, encompassing everything equally, without any object being more difficult or easier, nearer or farther to Him. The differences lie within the objects themselves, not in relation to His power.
The Hour Is Already Present in the Unseen
The Hour is part of the unseen of the heavens and the earth. God Almighty is the sovereign of the unseen aspects of the heavens and the earth; He possesses a dominion that enables Him to control these unseen aspects in any way He wishes, just as He can control their visible and apparent aspects.
All Things Are Equally Near to Divine Power
Everything in existence relies on God for its being. If we consider all existing things collectively, attributing them to God, they all fall under His power. There is no third factor that could be considered a limiting condition to His power, as that would imply a partnership in influence, which is far above God.
Seeking the Face of God
His Face is His most beautiful names, His supreme attributes through which those turning toward Him turn, those calling to Him call, and those worshiping Him worship. As for His essence, there is no way to reach it.
The Best Names Belong to Him Alone
All grace belongs to Him—there is no essence which is not a sign of His Beauty. All majesty belongs to Him and any splendor is just a sign of His majesty. Thus, there is no god or object of worship apart from Him.
The Essence That Is Always True
God is the very reality Which brings about anything that is real, and Which conducts a system of truth in the universe. He is the essence of reality by which any reality is realized.
Truth Belongs to Him Alone
God is the only being that is really true. Truth is exclusively to be found in Him; there is no other truth except by His grant and validation.
Nothing Unadulterated by Falsehood
There is nothing in existence unadulterated by falsehood apart from God. He is a truth without any mix of falsehood.
God as the Self-Manifest Light
The existence of anything is that which manifests the thing to other things. Hence, existence is the perfect example of light. Meanwhile, contingent beings exist by God’s existentiation of them. Therefore, He is the most perfect instance of light — there is an existence, or ‘light,’ which stands independently, and which existentiates and illuminates other things.
The Imagery of the Niche, Lamp, and Glass
The niche indicates the focus and concentration of the light — it is centered in the niche, and then illuminates the entire house. The oil being from an olive tree that is neither eastern nor western signifies the purity and excellence of its oil, which has a direct impact on the clarity of the light that is produced from it. Finally, saying ‘light upon light’ signifies the strength and intensity of the light.
Glorification as the Path to Gnosis
In order to reach pure gnosis [of God], one only has to negate what does not befit Him and establish His clearness from defects, which is called tasbīḥ. Once that is achieved, nothing remains but Him, and that is the perfection of maʿrifah (gnosis, knowledge of God). That is when one would praise God — only after establishing His clearness from defect and limitation.
God Veiled Yet Encompassing
The bush served as nothing but a veil by which God veiled Himself and spoke to Moses from beyond it in a manner that was suitable and befitting His Sacred Being as well as appropriate and befitting with regards to the meaning of 'veiling Himself.' This is while in reality God encompasses everything.
No Coercion Over God
There is no influencing or effectuating being in existence, in the real sense of the word, other than God. Hence there is nothing that can coerce God to an act.
God Free in Creation and Legislation
Since there is no powerful being that can coerce God to do something, nor is there a being powerful enough to stop God from doing something, then He is free to do what He wishes in the true and real sense of the word 'free'! This is with respect to matters of creation; however, the same holds true for matters related to legislation of rules and regulations.
The Reality Established in Truth
The reality that is established in truth, which shall never perish or become void from among things, is God's noble attributes and His signs which point to His attributes while all else is established due to or by the Sacred and Holy essence of God.
God Possesses Every Attribute in Its Highest Form
Every attribute of perfection represented by any being in the heavens and the earth, whether life, power, knowledge, sovereignty, generosity, kindness, greatness, majesty etc. belongs to God in an even higher and loftier form than that found in those limited beings. God is the one who bestows these qualities out of His grace. But He possesses them in an absolutely pure and unlimited sense.
God Is the Ultimate Intercessor
In reality, this process of mediation outlined above represents the realization of a cause's effectiveness. Or, you might say it brings a thing closer to the cause to actualize its effect. Therefore, from this you might say that God is the intercessor to some of His names via others of His names! In short, He is the ultimate intercessor and, in reality, there is no intercessor except Him.
The Purified Servants Describe God Befittingly
God has purified, sincere servants whom He has purified and selected for Himself. They do not associate anything with Him, and so He has made Himself known to them and made them forget everything but Him. They know Him and know things other than Him by Him. So when they reflect inwardly on Him, they envision Him in a way that befits the divine majesty.
The Incapacity of Praise
When they describe Him in words—even though words are insufficient and limited in meaning—they confess to the inadequacy of their speech and the faltering of the tongue. As the Prophet said—and he is the foremost of God's sincere, purified servants—'I cannot praise you sufficiently; You are as you have praised Yourself.'
The One, the Subduer
God is the One whom nothing resembles. His perfection is infinite, and is the same with His existence as the Necessary Existent. He is intrinsically and absolutely needless; however, other beings are in need of Him in all respects. Nothing enjoys existence or the effects of existence unless God blesses them with it and bestows it upon them.
The Living One Alone
He is the Living One is absolute and unqualified by either rational or textual sources; it also indicates exclusivity. Therefore, the meaning is that God alone is pure and everlasting life uncontaminated by death; He is living in of Himself, while everything other than Him—whatever it may be—depends upon something else for its life.
He Comprehends All Things
He indeed comprehends all things—He knows what will completely eradicate this doubt from their hearts, namely His encompassing of all things in the manner that befits His divinity and greatness, such that no place is empty of Him while He is not restricted to any place, and that nothing is without Him even though He is not contained within anything.
God's Supremacy Belongs to His Infinite Perfection
Supremacy (kibriyāʾ) means a magnificence that lies beyond sense and that ultimately goes back to His perfect being (kamāl wujūdih), whose perfection is infinite. To Him belongs all supremacy in the heavens and the earth means He has supremacy everywhere; nothing in the heavens or the earth can be above him, nor can anything belittle him.
God's Sovereign Omnipresence
He encompasses you fully, so you are never absent from Him, no matter where you go, no matter at what time you lived, and no matter what state you are in. The verse invokes the idea of place by saying 'wherever you may be' not to restrict the meaning of the verse to spatial locality alone, but because the most common way in which one thing becomes separate or absent from another or seeks to be close to another is through moving one from place to another. However, God's relations to different times, places, and states of being are all equal to Him.
The Absolute First and Last
Whatever one supposes is first, He is before it. Therefore, He is the First before all things. And whatever one supposes is last, He is after it, because His power encompasses all things from all angles. Therefore, He is the Last after all things. Whatever one supposes is manifest, He is more manifest than it, because His power encompasses it from above, so He is the Most Manifest above all things. And whatever one supposes is hidden, He is more hidden than it, because His power encompasses it from behind it. Therefore He is the Most Hidden beyond all things.
Divine Omniscience and the Unity of Kingdom
God owns, by Himself, everything, from all its perspectives, and He also owns what everything else owns. Therefore, God's description here as He in Whose hand is the kingdom is more expansive than His description as 'king' in with a most Powerful King, and it is more clear, explicit, and affirmative than His description in to Him belongs the kingdom. The concluding statement and He has power over all things means His power is unlimited and never ending, which feature is a necessary and essential quality of the absoluteness of the kingdom.
The Absolute Oneness of God
Aḥad (the one, the only) is an adjective derived from waḥdah (unity, oneness), like wāḥid (one, unit). However, aḥad can only be applied to something that is not subject to any plurality whatsoever, whether externally or mentally. For that reason, it is not used for counting, unlike wāḥid. For every wāḥid of something, there is a second and a third which either exist presently in the external reality, or can be perceived in the mind and imagined to exist. Meanwhile, if one were to suppose a second for something that is described as aḥad, then that second would reduce to the very first item, without adding anything to it.
Divine Knowledge
Merely knowing the names (in the sense known to us) has no distinction; otherwise, the angels too would have become equal to Adam as soon as they heard those names from him. Such favoritism could not have silenced the angels. Surely, it was something deeper than merely knowing all the names.
The named ones were substantial realities, actual beings that were, at the same time, hidden behind the curtain of the unseen secrets of the heavens and the earth. This especial knowledge could be learnt only by an earthly human being, but was quite incomprehensible by a heavenly angel.
God as All-Seeing: Honor Puts a Veil on Human Eyes
When persons, other than God, bestow an honor to a group, it puts a veil on their eyes, which prevents them from seeing any defect or drawback in that group. But God is not like that; He is the All-Seeing; He sees all aspects and facets; an outward appearance does not hide other inner layers from Him. God ends the verse on the clause: 'and God is well seeing what they do' — it proves that nothing can make God oblivious of realities.
Man's Knowledge Like a Candle in the Dark
Man has not been given knowledge in this universe — the universe thinking on whose vast dimension leaves him flabbergasted, looking at the magnitude of its stars and galaxies makes him scared, if he observes its minute items his reason is bewildered, and if he wants to walk between these two extremes he becomes giddy — except a little that is needed by him in the journey of his life, just as a walker in utterly dark night carries a small candle which gives him only enough light to see where to put his next step.
True Knowledge Belongs to God Alone
Knowledge, in its true meaning, cannot be attached to anything except when it is connected to all its unseen factors of existence, and this is not possible for any limited creature, be it human or something else, except God, the One, the Subduer — with Him are the keys of the unseen, none but He knows them. The verse shows that man's nature is ignorance, and he is not given knowledge except to a limited measured quantity.
Everything Is 'Unseen' Before God Alone
Everything in this creation has an existence separate from the others' being. As such it is 'unseen' vis-à-vis the others, because its existence is limited and foreordained; it does not comprehend except what God wills it to comprehend. God comprehends everything, and knows every unseen; thus nothing knows anything except through God. Now, we understand that division of the things into unseen and seen actually means their division into an unseen which God wills that we should comprehend, and an unseen which He has kept hidden from us.
God as the Ultimate Witness Encompassing All Things
God is the witness over the individual things and their activities, including the deeds of His servants together with the deeds of the people of Jesus as long as he was among them and after his death — and He is the witness together with other witnesses, and the witness without other witnesses. The restriction is true concerning God even when other witnesses offer their testimonies, because Jesus has restricted the testimony after his death to God, although God had His other witnesses after Jesus's death among His servants and messengers.
Transcendence Beyond All Comprehension
No vision comprehends Him, but He comprehends all vision. Since God encompasses all things in the real sense, He witnesses everything; neither the outward nor the inward aspect of anything escapes from Him. At the same time He knows the outward and inward aspect of everything without anything engaging Him or veiling Him from another. Thus He comprehends both the faculty of sight and what the faculty sees, as opposed to ordinary vision which only beholds the seen.
The Hour and the Limits of Knowledge
The real reason why God is the only being with knowledge of the unseen is that all other beings — without exception — are limited in their existence; their being is defined by some boundaries, a corollary of which is that they do not have access to what lies beyond their existential boundaries. God is the only being that is unlimited, infinite, and encompassing of all things. Hence, He is the only One Who knows the unseen.
Prophetic Knowledge Is Dependent, Never Independent
A person might affirm some knowledge of the Unseen or supernatural power for beings other than God from among His prophets and awliyāʾ. However, this person could also simultaneously deny that such knowledge or power exists independently of God or originates from anyone other than Him. Therefore, this knowledge and power belong to God, and whatever appeared from it only appeared by His making the prophets and awliyāʾ intermediaries.
God Sees What Eyes Cannot Reach
The essential factor, especially regarding divine honors and rewards, is the state of the soul and its adornment with virtues and moral values. Neither you nor I have access to the inner realities of souls and the secrets of hearts except God. Therefore, it is not for you or me to decide that they are deprived of goodness and happiness.
The Unknowable and the Known Are Equal to God
God Almighty knows the Unseen because He, the Exalted, is not limited in existence by any boundary, and He encompasses all things, so nothing is screened from Him by a boundary. Therefore, not a single thing is unseen to Him, even if it is posited to be unseen to all others.
The Mother Book and the Unchanging Decree
God, the Exalted, has a decree — or a ruling and judgment — for every moment and term. He erases these decrees, rulings, and judgments as He wills and establishes them as He wishes. Yet, relative to every moment, He has a decree that is unchanging and does not admit any erasure or confirmation. It is the foundational decree to which other decrees return and emanate from.
Worship Demands an All-Knowing Lord
The authenticity of worship hinges on the intent behind it, and an act qualifies as true worship only if it stems from a sincere intention, which resides within the inner consciousness of the servant. The genuine fulfillment of worship's purpose is acknowledged only when the Lord fully grasps both the external actions and the internal intentions of the servant.
True Knowledge Belongs to God Alone
True knowledge — namely, comprehending the essence of things and events themselves — is God's alone. He encompasses and witnesses everything. A monotheist who acknowledges the position of the Lord has no choice but to surrender to Him and attribute all knowledge to Him without attributing any perfection — like knowledge or power — to himself apart from what he is forced to.
Lordship Entails Perfect Knowledge
It is impossible to assume someone to be a lord yet be ignorant of what he owns. A lord (rabb) is the owner of something and the director of its affairs. The assumption of God's Absolute Lordship of everything necessitates that all things are owned by Him and depend on Him in every aspect of their existence, and that He is the director of their affairs. This suffices to show that all things are known to Him.
Nothing Blocks Things from God
Any being that can be assumed anywhere is owned by Him, depends on Him in its existence, and is directed by His regulation. Nothing blocks or separates it from Him, and this is the very presence (ḥuḍūr) that we call knowledge.
Knowledge of the Unseen Belongs to God Alone
God is the only one who knows about the unseen inherently and by virtue of His essence. This does not contradict the possibility of others knowing about the unseen through His teaching, as indicated in these verses: The Knower of the unseen! He does not reveal His secrets to any, except to him whom He chooses as a messenger ().
God Is Closer Than the Soul
God is closer to us than we are to our own souls; this is the position described as the mirṣād ('watch-tower') in . So how could a person think they could flee Him? How could they even think they could escape the honoured angels who take orders from Him directly, with no veil or intermediary between them and Him?
God Nearer Than the Jugular Vein
This means that we are nearer to the human being than the veins that spread throughout his body and into his limbs, so how can we not know everything about him and his soul? The truth of God's nearness to us is much more exalted than this; it is He, after all, who made it a soul and bestowed its powers upon it. He mediates between the soul and itself and between it and all of its powers and actions.
God's Knowledge as Companionship, Not Commingling
The meaning of God being the fourth of three secret conferrers and the sixth of five secret conferrers is Him being with them from the perspective of knowledge. It does not negate the absoluteness of His transcendence or indicate any kind of spatial or numerical proximity to them. It does not mean a similarity or identicalness with them in completing the number.
The Creator's Knowledge of His Creation
Does He, Who Created, not know while He is the Knower of the subtleties, the Aware? The deeds of creation include the deeds of human beings done with their free choice and volition. These are attributed to their doers, yet it is God who intends and creates them via the free choice of the human being and via the requirements of all the rest of the relevant causes and factors. Thus He is the Creator of the substances/realities of things, and the One who determines and measures the effects of things, however they may be. He is the connective between things and their effects, and the One who conveys the things to their effects.
The Concealed and the Manifest Are Equal Before God
The manifestation of speech and its concealment are alike for God. This is because surely He is Cognizant of what is in the hearts. The context testifies that the intent is to convey that the concealment of deeds and their manifestation is alike for God, and that He has mentioned the concealment of speech and its manifestation from the perspective of the manifestation of the meaning of concealment and manifestation of it by manifestation and concealment.
The State of All Things Is Not Beyond Their Creation
This verse contains an indication that the states of things and their deeds are not beyond their creation. This is because God has sought to prove by means of His knowledge of who He has created, that He has knowledge of the particularities of their states and deeds. Had it not been that the states and deeds of subjects were part of the existence of their subjects, such proving would be incomplete. However, the states and deeds are from the necessities of their subjects, and the one to whom the existence of a thing is attributed has the effects of its existence attributed to him too.
God's Unseen, Exclusively His
He is the Knower of everything unseen, with such knowledge that exclusively belongs to Him. Thus he does not let anyone find out about the unseen which belongs to Him alone. God's knowledge of the unseen is intrinsic and primary (bil-aṣālah), while the knowledge of others would be extrinsic and secondary (bil-tabaʿ). That is, they would only know by His teaching.
Divine Mercy
The guidance, total guidance is begun with the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful; He is God, Whom the servants return to; He is Beneficent, Who has opened the way of His All-encompassing mercy for believers and disbelievers alike; He is Merciful, Who has reserved His special mercy for the believers, ensuring their happiness in the life hereafter and their nearness to their Lord.
Adam knew, through his own experience, taste of many of the beautiful attributes of God: His forgiveness, turning mercifully to the servants, covering their mistakes, putting them in the shadow of His compassion and grace — these are some of the divine attributes which He has especially reserved for the sinners. Adam could not know and understand them without passing through the stages which God had decreed for him.
al-Tawbah (repentance) of man is flanked on both sides by two tawbahs (mercy) of God. Man can never do without the mercy of God. He needs mercy and help of God to turn away from sins; only then he may return to God; then again the mercy of God comes forward, and his repentance is accepted.
A man who might have committed sins need not despair of the mercy of God as long as he is in a position to turn to God, to submit to Him, and to follow His commandments. There is a vast difference between this conditional mercy and the all-encompassing, unconditional mercy reserved for the Prophet — who himself was a mercy for all of mankind.
This mercy of ours is a manifestation of the imperfect compassion put in our nature by the Creator. How can we understand the mercy of the Lord of the worlds, in a place where the magnanimity of the compassionate, merciful prophet and the mercy of the Most Merciful of all have to decide about the indiscretions of a powerless human being?
Love That Erases the Curtain of Sin
When God loves a servant, He comes nearer to him and removes the curtains which hide the sublime reality. There is no curtain except sin, and removing it means forgiving the sins. Once that hindrance is removed, there is no obstacle in the way; and Divine munificence will take over from there. Ponder on the verse: 'Nay! rather, what they used to do has become like rust upon their hearts' — in conjunction with the verse: 'Allah will love you and forgive you your sins.'
Grace Cannot Be Monopolized
One may imagine only three ways for it. Either the grace of God would fall under the influence of someone else, who then would manipulate the Divine Will — but 'Surely grace is in the hand of God, He gives it to whom He pleases.' Or, the bounty is in short supply, insufficient to reach all the aspirants — but God is Ample-giving; All-powerful, Whose grace knows no limit. Or, the grace could not reach a certain group because that group was hidden from God — but God is All-knowing; ignorance cannot reach Him; nothing can be hidden from Him.
Pardon as the Wind Effacing Traces
al-ʿAfw (pardon) originally means to proceed straight away to get something … ʿafati al-rīḥu al-dār (the wind proceeded to the house taking away its traces or vestiges). They say, ʿafati al-dār when they want to say that the house has become effaced, obliterated; probably there is a fine literary point in this usage: It is as though the house itself came to cover its traces and decorations, got hold of them and disappeared from sight. It is in this meaning that al-ʿafw is attributed to God; as though God goes to His servant and takes away whatever sins he might be having — thus the servant is left without any sin.
Repentance as the Qurʾān's Exclusive Discovery
Repentance, in its full significance as laid down in the Qur'an, is among those positive teachings which are exclusive property of the Qur'an. It appears from the foundations on which Christianity was built as an independent religion, that repentance is useless and man cannot gain any benefit from it. Nevertheless, the Church went so far in the matter of repentance that it was selling indulgence certificates turning it into a merchandise; and the priests were pardoning sins of those who confessed before them.
The Threefold Architecture of Repentance
The servant's return to his Lord with feelings of servitude and dependence needs first a return of his Lord to him with help and support; and it is a return of God to the servant that precedes repentance of the servant to his Lord. But repentance and return to God is of no use unless God accepts it by forgiving his sins and cleansing him of the pollution of separateness; and this is the second returning of God that follows the servant's repentance.
Repentance as Cosmic Mirror of Social Reform
If you contemplate on human felicity and infelicity, goodness and wickedness, you will not get any result other than repentance. The same process takes place in the matters of collective good of society in which man lives according to natural dictate. All the rules and effects which the religion considers important in matters of repentance are applied in individual and social context too, according to the natural trait which God has created in man.
Hope as Repentance's Hidden Function
Repentance is the only cure for this disease; it revives his heart even when he has reached the brink of disaster and perdition. One of its benefits, apart from the above, is this: It preserves the spirit of hope, lest it be overwhelmed by desperation. Man cannot proceed straight on the path of life unless there is a perfect balance between hope and fear. It is this equilibrium that attracts him to what is beneficial to him and repulses him from what is harmful; otherwise he would have perished.
The Door of Prayer and the Door of Acceptance
God was not to open the door of prayer and shut the door of its acceptance, because He says: 'Call Me, I will answer to you.' And He was not to open the door of repentance and shut the door of forgiveness, while He says: 'And whoever does evil or acts unjustly to his soul, then asks forgiveness of Allah, he shall find Allah Forgiving, Merciful.'
What God's Love for the Believer Means
Love is unrestricted with any attribute or adjective; thus this mutual love is for 'person' only without any condition. They love God; it follows that they give preference to their Lord over anything else, be it wealth, honor, family, or other such things. As for His love to them, it means that they are free from every injustice, clean of every spiritual uncleanness, be it disbelief or sin.
God's Legislative and Existential Will
God's will applies to the existence of a being or event whenever its causes are present, its conditions are met, and its impediments are removed. The same custom applies to the field of legislation and guidance: if one seeks God's mercy, then God will show mercy to him; and if one turns away, God will deprive him of His mercy. God's guidance is available to everyone — it is a divine breeze of mercy that embraces anyone who exposes himself to it.
The Expansion of the Breast
When God wills to guide a servant, He expands the person's breast in a way that it will embrace every true belief and righteous act, accepting these instructions due to softness as opposed to rejecting them because of hardness. This is a kind of spiritual light that illuminates true speech and righteous acts, thereby helping the person to adopt what he discerns in this light. Hence, submission (islām) is a light from God, and those who submit to their Lord are riding on a light from their Lord.
God Turns First; the Servant Follows
As we have mentioned on numerous occasions previously, the tawba (repentance) of a servant to God is actually encompassed by two acts of tawba (turning clemently) by God to them. The first of these is that God turns towards them by granting them success and extending to them the mercy of guidance. Through this act of tawba, the servant is guided to seek forgiveness for his sins from God. The second act of tawba by God towards His servant is that He turns towards him by accepting his repentance and forgiving him for his sins.
Grace Unceasing, Forgiveness Without Boundary
When God says, then Allah shall turn clemently…, this is to show that the door of repentance is always open and that the divine outpouring of grace, clemency, and forgiveness is unceasing and available to all people. This is the opposite of what is indicated by the previous verse, when it says, then Allah sent down His composure, as this points to something exclusive and restricted to a few.
Charity as Financial Repentance, Repentance as Spiritual Charity
Note how the giving of charity is associated with repentance, as repentance is a form of purification and paying charity is also a form of purification. Therefore, when one pays charity, this is like an act of financial repentance and, by the same token, when one repents to God, this is an act of charity with one's deeds and movements. Hence, when God adds a second part to the question in this verse, and that it is God who is the All-clement, the All-merciful? He reminds His servants of His two divine names of the All-clement and the All-merciful, under whose purview both charity and repentance fall.
Divine Turning: Grace Precedes the Servant's Return
When the act of tawba is applied to God, this means that He turns to His servant, first with grace and the success of repentance, and then with forgiveness and clemency. On the other hand, when the act of tawba emanates from God's servant, this means that He turns to His lord in regret and repentance, and God does not turn to the one who has not yet turned towards Him.
When the Earth Grows Narrow, God Remains the Refuge
When they repent in order to seek refuge in which to feel safe from God's wrath, and God has shown them the way to it through repentance, and then they repent in accordance with His guidance, it is unthinkable that God would turn them away from His door when He is the All-clement and the All-merciful.
Creation Issued Forth as Mercy, Not Destruction
God's mercy, by which I mean humankind's guidance, is the primary purpose of creation because of its connection to humankind's ultimate goal, which is happiness and felicity (saʿāda). What emanates from Him is mercy and guidance, while the malice, discord, and oppression stem from people's own selves.
God Takes Charge of the Sincerely Devoted Soul
The goal of this chapter is to expound God's guardianship over the servant who has sincerely dedicated his faith to Him and become so filled by His love that he seeks no substitute and never turns to anything besides God. God takes charge of his affairs, nurtures him with utmost care, brings him near, quenches his spiritual thirst from His nearmost source, chooses him exclusively for Himself, divinely grants him life even when all apparent causes appear to have resolved upon his destruction, elevates him even when circumstances seem to belittle him, and empowers him even when the vicissitudes of time seem to diminish his stature.
Every Obstacle Made a Means of Elevation
Whenever any adverse circumstances befell Joseph or obstructed his path to perfection, God made that very obstacle the means of guiding him rightly and rendering him successful in his endeavours. God continuously transitioned him from one state to another until He granted him governance and kingship, made him one of the elect, taught him the interpretation of events, and completed His grace upon him, just as his father had promised him would be the case.
To Be Chosen Is to Be Gathered Wholly to God
When God chooses a servant from among His servants, it means He directs His mercy towards him, distinguishes him with grace and honor, consolidates his affairs, and protects him from straying onto the deceptive paths laid for him by Satan. God then sets him on the straight path, taking charge of his affairs and making him exclusively devoted to Him.
The Soul Prompts to Evil; Mercy Alone Redeems It
It is ignorant to claim immunity from inclining toward evil, when one can only refrain from following its malign instincts and temptations by virtue of mercy granted by God, who diverts it from wrongdoing and guides it toward righteous deeds.
God's Subtle Care Turning Harm into Blessing
Even though his brothers had thrown him into the well and sold him and tried to erase his memory and deprive him of a decent life in his father's house, God had replaced his tent and nomadic life with a royal palace and a sophisticated urban life. Thus, God elevated his status precisely when they wanted to degrade and belittle him.
Despair of God's Mercy Is Disbelief
One should never despair of the Spirit of God or lose hope in His mercy, as this would be tantamount to denying His omnipotence and disbelieving in His all-encompassing mercy.
God's Forgiveness as Cosmic Principle
With His forgiveness or maghfira — which means to conceal — He covers the shortcomings and deficiencies of things, and with His mercy or raḥma, which refers to the completion of what is lacking and the removal of need from another, He manifests the goodness and perfection of each thing and adorns it with the ornament of His beauty.
The Heart's Luminous Knowledge
Just as this individual possesses unique knowledge and perception, they are also endowed with a unique ability to revive truth and dispel falsehood. This knowledge and perception pave the way for the individual to see things as they truly are, dividing them into two categories: enduring truth and vanishing falsehood.
The Cave's Tender Sleep
The phrase implies how He tenderly and lovingly eased them to sleep for many years like a nursing mother would do with her suckling infant.
The Barrier: Mercy That Will End
He said: 'This (the barrier) is a mercy from my Lord, that is, a mercy and protection by which the evil of Gog and Magog are held back from nations of people.' This mercy will remain until my Lord's promise comes. When my Lord's promise comes He will make it flat — level with the ground.
God Increases the Believers in Guidance
God will provide those who go aright, the believers, with further guidance. He increases them in guidance upon their guidance, granting them the success to perform the unperishing good works that earn the best recompense, lead to a final abode that is Paradise, and afford perpetual comfort.
The Light of Faith and Gnosis
This is the light of Īmān (faith, belief) and maʿrifah (gnosis, divine knowledge). It is the light that God gives to His believing servants, which illuminates their path toward Him. Light, in this verse, does not mean the Qurʾān, contrary to what some exegetes have said, because the verse describes the state of all believers, including those who were before and after the revelation of the Qurʾān.
Ṣalāḥ — Goodness of Essence
The goodness of essence is when a being is at full potential to receive God's mercy and every good and felicity that it can receive, without being mixed with any false belief or evil act that would corrupt it. Evidently the righteousness of one's essence is a higher stage than righteousness of actions.
The Praise That Concludes All Things
Glorious praise is due to God for how He runs His kingdom. He has called the people to what ensures their good and felicity. Then He follows that up based on how they respond to Him: He guides those who believe in His signs and submit to Him.
Fear Tinged with Hope
'The Merciful' is used with 'fearing' to show how mercy attracts hope; when people fear, that fear is tinged with hope. This is the ideal situation of the servant [of God]—to neither feel secure from God's wrath, nor despair of His mercy.
Do Not Despair of Mercy
God's use of the expression O My servants to address His audience does two things: It calls to mind the arguments He has already used to call them to worship Him, and it encourages them to respond to this summons—the fact that He describes them as His servants using the first-person singular pronoun My suggests kindness and concern, which encourages them to take hold of His mercy and forgiveness.
All Sins Are Forgivable through Repentance
God explicitly states that He can forgive all sins, even idolatry, through repentance. As we have already established, these seven verses are all part of the same passage and share a single context. Taken together, they forbid God's servants from despair—as a prelude to what follows—and bid them to repent for their sins, submit to God, and do righteous deeds.
The Ultimate Goal: The Felicity of Divine Knowledge
And this means that the ultimate goal of creation is the special kind of divine mercy that is realised through worship, and that is the unique felicity of knowledge of the divine.
Writing as a Divine Blessing Traversing Time and Space
God swears by the pen and what they write with it. A prima facie reading of the verses lends itself to an unconditional sense of 'pen' and 'what they write'; that is, it refers to anything written, since writing is one of the greatest divine blessings, through which, God guides humankind. Throughout writing, people accurately tell of far-away things and thoughts. Through writing, people can traverse the veil of time and space, and be present in far-off times and far-off places.
Divine Mercy and the Transgressors' Self-Exclusion
Al-Raḥmān (the All-Merciful) is an intensified and exaggerated derivation from raḥmah (mercy, compassion). It is used here as an attribute of God's Lordship, meaning that His Lordship embraces everything with mercy. Hence, nothing is left out of His mercy unless that thing deprives itself from it due to its insufficiency and wrong choice. It is a sign of utmost wretchedness for the transgressors to have disqualified themselves from God's infinite mercy by opting out of His servitude.
Creation
The only true attribute of the universe is that it is created and owned by God. Nothing in the creation can hide the divine presence, nor should looking at these things make one forgetful of God. He is ever present.
The wonders of the creation are unfathomable; every solved enigma brings in its wake a lot of fresh, previously unthought of enigmas. Do not forget that this is the unfathomable of this physical world — the smallest in range, the narrowest in scope, the lowest in rank. How can we pass judgment about other worlds beyond this one — the worlds of light, spaciousness and abundance?
On God as the Originator Who Imitates Nothing
He originates every thing; no creature of His resembles any fellow creature. His creation is not like others' production inasmuch as He does not make anything by imitation; He does not create gradually, nor with the help of the secondary causes; when He decides an affair, He only says to it, 'Be', and it is — without any need of any previous model or gradual development.
On the Universe as a Single System Under One Cause
The universe is one, and its arrangement and management inter-related; all its parts — no matter how diverse and multiple they may be — are managed under a single system. It is not that we ascribe some things to Allāh and some others to their material causes. The whole universe, taken as a composite unit, needs and requires a Cause, above all other causes; all actions and reactions, all causes and effects, interacting amongst its countless components, rely and depend on that Cause of the causes.
On Intercession as the System of Cause and Effect
These causes are intermediaries in such affairs — in other words, they are intercessors who cause the bringing of a thing or effect into being, by the permission of God. Every cause draws its effectiveness only from the decree of God Himself. There is no cause and no instrument which is independent of the will of God. Every cause is a cause, because God has made it so. Therefore, whatever effect it has on anything is in fact done by God. Ultimately, there is no authority except that of God, and no 'standing' except His.
The Unconquerable Chain of Cause and Effect
These people have overlooked the most obvious reality — that the universe, with all sorts of creatures and all kinds of components, is a single entity, whose parts are finely aligned together. Not only that — its components are often interchanged: Today it is a human being, tomorrow it will change into dust and the day after tomorrow will grow as grass; one's life is the other's death. An apparently insignificant alteration in the position of a small link affects the positions of all other links on both sides.
Angels as Limbs of God
The actions and words of the follower are counted as the actions and the words of the leader himself. It is not different from the activities of our own powers and limbs which are counted as our own activities without there being any duality of doers. We say: My own eyes saw it, my own ears heard it; and the same idea is conveyed when we say: I saw it and heard it. Likewise the deeds and words of the angels of higher ranks are counted as the deeds and words of those of lower rank who follow the former's orders, and vice versa. And similarly the actions and words of all the angels — the leaders and the followers — are attributed to God Himself.
The Word That Became a Man
No doubt every man, nay, every thing, comes into being by the creative word, 'Be'; but every man is conceived and born according to the well-known normal system. But conception of Jesus did not follow this course; many usual and gradual causes were simply missing. His existence was just by the creative word, 'Be', and no usual causes intervened. And in this way, he became the 'Word' itself.
The Perplexity God Cannot Share
As for her astonishment, it could only be in place if the matter was beyond the power of God, or very difficult for Him to do. So far as His power is concerned, it is unlimited, He does whatever He pleases. And as for difficulty, it is imaginable only where the matter depends on preliminaries and causes — the more numerous and more formidable the causes and preliminaries, the more difficult that matter. But God does not create, what He creates, with the help of the causes; 'when He has decreed a matter, He only says to it, Be, and it is.'
Instant Creation and the Vanishing of Graduality
Many of these things come into existence gradually — when they are seen in the framework of their gradual causes. But when they are seen in relation to God, then there is no graduality in their existence, no gap between the command, 'Be,' and their 'being'; God says: 'And Our command is but one, as the twinkling of an eye.' God is not dependent on causes when He creates a thing. Things which He intends to create have equal relation with Him. Whatever He intends, He says to it, 'Be,' and it comes into being.
Truth Begins From God
The sentence, 'The truth is from your Lord,' is one of the finest expressions of the Qur'an. It uses the preposition, 'from,' which shows beginning point. The truth starts from your Lord. If you were to change it to some other particle — 'with,' saying, the truth is with your Lord — it would give a hint of polytheism; and would actually show God as helpless, in need of that truth. Man finds out these self-evident truths from the really existing things; and existence — all of it — is from God. Therefore, the truth — all of it — is from Him.
The Divine Test: Push, Pull, Accompany
Everything is encompassed by divine forces: There is a force to push it, another to pull it, and a third to accompany it and bring it up. As the measures drive them from behind, the appointed term — the last point of a thing's existence — pulls them from the front. When one of the two related things dominates the other, then its relationship with the weaker partner is called attraction; and as the appointed terms are decisive and unalterable, they obviously pull and attract the things from the front.
Polytheism Hidden in the Hearts of Believers
If someone thinks that the true religion could not be overpowered in its advancement … then surely such a man entertains thoughts of ignorance about God. He has taken a partner for God, and idolized the Prophet as a deity who has been given domain over victory and war booty — while in fact God is One Who has no partner. It is God Himself Who has established the system of cause and effect. The stronger the cause the surer the appearance of its effect, no matter whether that effect is right or wrong, virtue or vice, guidance or misguidance, justice or injustice — making no difference whether the person involved is believer or unbeliever, beloved or hated.
To Exist Is to Belong to God
Everything that is in the heavens and the earth belongs to God. It is impossible for anyone to take away anything from God because it exclusively belongs to Him. All that is in the heavens and the earth is by nature a property of God who has no partner or colleague. To say that a thing exists is exactly the same as saying that it belongs to God. This verse is a comprehensive and all-encompassing speech; the deeper you contemplate it, the finer the points come before your eyes.
Jesus as the Word and the Spirit
Everything is the word of God; however, other things come into being through the agency of normal causes, while Jesus was born without some of the normal causes. That is why he was called 'the Word.' And a spirit from Him: the spirit is from the command. God says: 'The soul is from the command of my Lord.' As Jesus was the creative word—'Be'—and it is a command, therefore, he was called 'the spirit.'
No Cause Controls Its Effect Independently
No cause in the universe has an independent control on its effect; nothing can stop or overwhelm the Divine control on anything; nobody owns anything except God alone who has no partner or colleague; when He makes us owner of a certain thing, His ownership and His authority on it continues as before.
The Metaphysics of Divine Being: Refuting Atheism
Whoever denies any beginning for this wonderful system and rejects any causality and effectiveness — in spite of the clear decision of his nature — he indeed affirms that there is a world firmly fixed which is not subject of denial or non-existence at all; the world has an essential existence. Now, the protector of its existence and permanence is either the world itself — which cannot be, because its parts are subject to change and cessation — or another one; and He is God who has His attributes of perfection. It is thus clear that God does not admit negation in any way, except in apparent wording that is devoid of any understandable meaning.
Beings Never Cease to Need God
The beings are not needless of God even after they are created — existentiation is not like heating, where something retains warmth even after the fire is removed. If we assumed the same thing about existence, it would mean that once something is given existence, it all of a sudden turns into a necessary being which subsists by itself. Therefore, just as beings receive existence from God at the onset of their creation, they continue to receive existence from Him as long as they subsist.
The Divine Adornment of Creation
God has fashioned humankind in such a way that they pursue certain activities for the sake of pleasures. Meanwhile, the world is designed so that the achievement of these pleasures is concomitant with the achievement of God's goal in the creation of humankind, such as the subsistence of the individual through eating and the subsistence of the human race through mating. Had it not been that there is some desirable pleasure in eating, drinking, and mating, humankind would not endure the difficulties associated with these acts, individual life would perish, and the human race would become extinct.
God's Purpose in Creating Humankind
The wisdom in the creation of humankind is to take the abject earthly material and make a special composition of it which will be able to journey toward a degree of perfection that is above the perfection of all other beings in existence. He has created a being of dust which can reach a degree of proximity to his Lord that cannot be achieved by anything else. This creature is made of earthly material which inherently consists of opposites; it grows in a realm of multiplicity and conflict, such that only a subset of its members will come to fruition and succeed in making it to their desired happy end.
The Throne as God's Direction of Affairs
The expression 'then He settled on the Throne' is a metaphorical expression referring to God's command of His kingdom and His direction of all affairs in the world of creation. It refers to His all-encompassing authority which extends to anything big or small — the source from which the order of every affair in the universe issues, through which every being is directed toward its goal and meets its needs. The verse means that the Throne represents the divine direction of affairs in the universe.
The Fiṭrah Guides Even When the Intellect Strays
Since this divine guidance that leads the human species towards happiness and goodness and assigns it towards the benefits of its existence is a guidance embedded in his genesis and creation — and it is impossible for a mistake to occur in creation — it is inevitable and necessary for a person to achieve the happiness of his existence in a manner in which there is no doubt. Undoubtedly, all created species proceed to the good of its existence and the benefits of its person, without negligence in it in terms of their nature. However, confusion occurs in what happens in terms of the influence of other factors and counter-causes that affect it in a different way.
The First Cause Above Which Is No Other Cause
'O people, your Lord is God who created all of this world that you can see, its heavens, and its earth, in six stages, then settled on the Throne of divine power, took up the reins of divine governance, to which all the affairs of His creation devolve, and began to govern the created cosmos. When He governs everything without seeking the assistance of any helper or supporter, there is nothing that can intervene in the affairs of His creation — which is the meaning of intercessions (shafāʿa) — without His permission, for He is the First Cause above which is no other cause, and all the causes that exist beneath Him are caused by Him and are intercessors only by His leave.'
Dominion That Cannot Deviate to Any Other
God has dominion over His creation in the sense that the existence of everything depends on Him, is created and disposed by His command, and is subject to His will. Whatever control is exercised over anything, it is done by Him alone, not due to any external condition or the absence of an obstacle hindering His action. Nothing is attributed to Him or anyone else except by His leave, to the extent that He allows. So how can anything deviate from His will and devolve to someone else, when there is no one else for it to devolve to or be attributed to? God's actions necessarily indicate His intent, so how can falsehood, which is external to His nature, be attributed to Him, when there is no falsehood in the external reality?
A Single Lordship Revealed in Every Alternation
The first verse contains a complete proof for His oneness in Lordship, as the alternation of night and day and all of God's creation in the heavens and the earth are governed by a single unified cosmic order that prevails over all existent beings in the earth and the heavens, and most especially the human world, in the best possible way. This reveals that there is a single divine lordship that rules over all things, including human beings. Therefore, there is no Lord except God, and He has no partner in His lordship.
God's Will Moves the Whole Universe
God Almighty created the different parts of the universe and interconnected them, then He set events in motion according to the system of cause and effect. On this basis, everything operates within an existential order. Therefore, if anything deviates from the path outlined by the rest of the causes, this leads to a disruption of the cosmic order and represents a challenge to it.
Divine Guardianship as the Origin of All Things
God's divine guardianship (wilāya) — by which I mean His sustaining of everything in its essence, attributes, and actions — stems from His creation and manifestation of all things, and from bringing them into manifest existence from the hiddenness of non-existence. Thus, He is the originator of the heavens and the earth.
The Heavens Sustained Without Pillars
Indeed, the stability of the heavens in their high position without pillars is no less astonishing than the stability of the earth in its position, as both require Him, the Exalted. They maintain their position by His power and will, through specific causes assigned to them by His permission. Even if the heavens were elevated and supported by erected pillars, this would not render them without need for God Almighty, or free them from being dependent on His power and His will.
Multiplicity Emerging from Divine Unity
The argument proceeds from the perspective of multiplicity in unity and the difference in effects and properties in things that have a single origin, which reveals that the initiator who brings forth these diverse and scattered effects and properties is something that exists beyond their natures and a cause above these causes that return to a single origin. He is the Lord of all, and there is no lord save Him.
The Parable of Rain and the Nature of Existence
The existence that is bestowed upon all beings by God Almighty is in reality akin to the rain that descends from the sky to the earth. It is a divine mercy that is conferred upon all creatures by their Lord. Furthermore, this existence is devoid of any specific form, limitation, or measure, and it is from the side of the creatures themselves that it becomes limited and determined by boundaries and dimensions, just like rainwater.
Creation Built Upon Truth
An action is considered 'true' (ḥaqq) if it serves a purpose for its doer, directing towards a meaningful end. Each type of creation has its purpose from the moment of its inception. Creation continually evolves, moves through stages and reaches objectives until it returns to the ultimate end.
Divine Treasuries Beyond Measure
Each treasure is beyond our tangible realm, for God has portrayed them as being with Him. Thus, it becomes clear that what's with God is eternal, unchanged, and undecaying. In contrast, entities in our perceivable realm are transient and mutable.
The Realm of the Angels Is Pure Truth
Concerning the realm of angels and their existential state, it is a realm of pure truth, untainted by any falsehood. The verses imply that the angels are distinguished beings: noble and radiant, untainted by deficiencies or imperfections. They stand beyond the realm of evil, misery, corruption, and disobedience.
Everything Descends in a Known Measure
The statement 'there is nothing' encompasses everything that can be described as a 'thing.' Nothing is excluded from this term unless the context itself makes an exception. The verse affirms that humans possess treasures with God.
God Encompasses Before and After
The orchestration of your affairs is within Our purview, and We envelop you in all aspects. We breathed life into you when you were nonexistent, thus We precede you. And We cause you to die and inherit all that was yours, thereby We remain post your existence.
Creation and Governance Are One
God Almighty is the creator of all things. Thus, He is the one who has bestowed countless blessings, without which the order of the universe cannot possibly be maintained, and is the One who knows everything about humankind's outward and inward aspects. Therefore, He is the sole Master of everything, the sole Governor of all affairs, and He is the Sustainer of all.
The Transient and the Enduring
That which is with you will be spent but what is with Allah shall last; and what is enduring is better than what is fleeting, as is evident from rational judgement. Understand that this saying, due to the generality of its phrasing, is a universal axiom, under which many particular instances of true knowledge fall.
The Three Modes of Knowing God's Signs
The first argument is composed of simple premises, where mere reflection is sufficient to draw conclusions. However, the second is made up of scientific premises, which can only be understood by scholars who are knowledgeable about the celestial bodies and the secrets of the Earth. The third is composed of general and philosophical premises, from which only those who are mindful of universal principles can deduce and thereby affirm the unity of God in His lordship.
The Bounty of God Is Not Confined
The limitations, measures and confinements that are found in various places are only on the part of the recipient and the extent of its capacity and potential to receive effusions, not on the part of the One effusing.
The Sun's Single Light upon Different Surfaces
The preparatory cause has a single absolute effusion. However, the receptacles are many according to their different receiving capacities. It is like the sun which radiates one light with uniform parts, but then the bodies receiving its light dispose of it according to their capacity and potentiality.
Decree as Determination of One Side
Decree is an attribute of divine actions. It is derived from an act's relationship with its complete cause that necessitates it. The necessity specific to each contingent being is a particular decree by Him, for by decree we mean nothing but the determination of one of the two sides, as opposed to a state of indetermination and uncertainty.
The Effect Is Nothing but Its Relation to the Cause
The very essence of an effect is need and attachment. This means that the existence of an effect is the very connection that it has to its cause, and it is not independent of it. The independent existence that the effect seems to have at first sight is really the independence of its cause, because the existence of the effect reflects the existence of its cause.
The Existence of Things as Reflecting Mirrors
The existence of a sign, inasmuch as it is a sign, is a reflecting existence, like a mirror. The image in the mirror is not independent of the real object that stands in front of the mirror and which the mirror reflects. If something were to be independent in its existence or in some aspect of its existence, then in that aspect it would not be a sign that indicates and points to Him.
The Spirit Is of God's Command
God's command is His existentiating word, which is an act of Him that exclusively belongs to Him without the involvement of any physical means and their gradual effects. The spirit has the same nature of existence as this command which belongs to the malakūt of things.
The Sea as Ink for God's Words
There is not a single thing which exists which is not a word from Him on account of its being a sign indicative of Him. If the hypothetical were realized, each atom of the sea would not be able to record its own indicativeness of His beauty and sublimity let alone if it were required to record anything else.
God Gives Everything Its Creation Then Guides It
The verse is referring to the connection that God has made between the properties and faculties of everything and their effects which allow it to journey towards the purpose of its existence. All things are guided towards their perfection through the provisions it has been given.
The Qurʾān as Reminder of What Human Nature Already Knows
The inherent nature (fiṭra) of the human being instinctively grasps the existence of God, His Unity and necessary existence, His divinity and Lordship, the universal truth of religion, Prophethood, resurrection and the day of judgment. It is due to humanity's attachment to the earth and the preoccupation with the world's embellishments, which makes the hearts forget what was ingrained in their nature.
His Act Is the External Reality
His action is the external reality itself — to which other acts are expected to correspond. There is no other external system to correspond to.
The Origination of the Soul
In the last stage of man’s creation, what God makes to grow is a soul that has life, knowledge and power. This is the substantial essence of humankind, which we refer to by saying ‘I.’ There is nothing in those stages [of the drop, the clot, the lump of flesh, and the bones] that would have attributes of life, power and knowledge. Hence it is a new origination that is made to grow from non-existence.
Body and Soul: Two Distinct Realities
This new creature has a kind of attachment and union with the previous matter; it uses the body as a tool and instrument to achieve its objectives, the way a writer uses a pen. What is fully captured upon death is the reality of the person, while what is lost and disintegrated in earth is the body.
The Senses and the Intellect as Divine Bounties
God starts describing His blessings upon the audience by referring to ears and eyes, two organs that are unique to animals. Then He mentions the ‘heart,’ which refers to the faculty of intellection and understanding in humankind — a bounty that is specifically given to humankind out of all animals.
The Intellect Transcends the Senses
The creation of heart [that is, intellect] in human beings marks another plane of existence that is much higher and loftier than that of the senses. Human beings can employ their hearing and sight to comprehend things that are absent from them and things that are present with them, things that happened before and things that exist at present. Then, they can rise higher by their power of intellection, above sensory and particular comprehensions, to derive universal laws and think deeply about theoretical knowledge and absolute facts.
Truth Cannot Follow Desire
The human being is an existential reality that is connected in its existence with the entire world of creation. This path is called religion (dīn), and it is founded on the general system of creation of the entire universe and the particular creation of humankind, which is called fiṭrah (primary nature, innate disposition).
The Corruption of the Universe by Desire
If the truth were to follow the desires of the disbelievers and legislate any vain and baseless law that they wish, that would necessitate a change in the entire system and creation of the universe. The causal connections and the ordered links between different events and entities would have to change to a vain and baseless set of links that are incompatible and disagree with one another, only to match their whimsical and baseless desires.
The Malakūt: God’s Exclusive Kingdom
The malakūt of everything is its existence as given by God. Therefore, saying that ‘the malakūt of all things are in His hands’ is a metaphorical way of saying that the creation of all that can be called a ‘thing’ is exclusively by Him. Thus His kingdom encompasses everything, His authority is binding upon everything, and He maintains an irrevocable rule over everything.
Creation Is Not Vain
Given that He is True, what emanates from Him is naught but what is true. What emanates from the Truth qua being True is purely true, without any vanity or falsehood in it. In short: God is the One from Whom every rule issues and everything comes to existence — anything that He rules is true, and anything that He does is true.
The Single Director of All Realms
There is a Single Director and Lord for the entire universe. Those who have certitude—that is, those who pursue the path of certainty (yaqīn) by intellection and intuition—see this reality.
Creation and Direction Are Inseparable
It does not make sense for them to be created by someone but directed by someone else. Since creation and origination are from God, direction of affairs is also by Him.
No Extinction of Existence
One of the subtle Qur'anic realities that this verse implies is that there is no extinction of existence whatsoever. Rather, what God brings to existence by origination returns to Him by His returning of it. What we observe as 'extermination of something' is rather our missing it after having it for a while.
The Creature's Existence Traced to God
If such a supposed thing is God's creature it means the granting of the grace of existence to it originated from God and is traceable to Him whereby the creature's very existence and the effects of its existence are traceable to God.
Governance Is Creation
Governance (tadbīr) is nothing other than creation (khalq); if their gods truly govern the world, then that means they create what they govern, and if they have not created anything, then they govern nothing. So, there is no god except Allāh and there is no lord except Him.
Human Nature Confesses Divine Unity
Not only is it human nature (fiṭrah) to believe in divine unity, but the polytheists themselves confess to this without realizing it because if they are asked who created the heavens and the earth, they readily acknowledge that it was God. And if God is the creator of the cosmos, then He is also its governor because governance is inseparable from creation.
All Things in a Known Measure
He directs the affair (amr) from the heavens to the earth. There is not a thing but that its sources are with Us, and We do not send it down except in a known measure (). And He also says: Indeed We have created everything in a measure ().
The Originator Who Never Ceases
The expression originator of the heavens and the earth (fātir al-samawāti wa al-arḍ) is one of the divine attributes. Thus, it implies a continual act of creation, rather than a single act of creation in the past. For He is continually bringing things into being and bestowing existence upon them, without interruption; were this process to be interrupted, things would cease to be!
Upholding the Universe
Causing a thing to persist after its creation is thus similar to one act of creation after another. Thus is the management of a thing. If you look keenly, you will see a continual order in creation, continuing from the moment of creation throughout its perpetuation. The one who brought it into being, and its creator, are God, exalted be He.
The Creational Word
This verse is one of the gems of the Qur'an. It tells of the creational word and clarifies that God does not need anything else when bringing anything He wills into being. No one and nothing but His exalted essence is necessary to bring something into being or to prevent something from existing.
Existence Springs from the Divine Essence
The creation of things springs immediately from God's essence, with no need for anyone or anything to intervene and no delay. Bringing something into being is a matter between the thing and God without any intermediary.
Creation Opens a Thousand Doors
From this, it can also be deduced that what is bestowed by Him is not described by pause or lapse and would not undergo change and variation. Nor does bringing something into being require stages. This is a door [of knowledge] that opens one thousand other doors.
The Pairs of All Things
From We created pairs (zawjayn, ), it can be deduced that everything in the world is paired or coupled, whether or not the two members of the pair are identical, have an opposing interface, or are compound, and nothing in the world is free from one type of combination or the other. Half of zawj cannot reach its full potential without its other half.
Angels Lined in Ranks
There is no one who lacks an assigned place: a specific post. It does not mean that God has delegated control over parts of the universe to the angels and granted them free reign in how they administer it. Instead, they have been fashioned to obey God, to carry out His commands, and to worship Him.
The One Who Watches Over All Things
Nothing that exists besides God actually possesses anything for itself, God is himself the one who watches over it and directs its affairs—and this is true of all things in the chain of cause-and-effect; God is the one true Lord of all of them.
The Keys of the Treasuries
The keys of the heavens and the earth are the keys to their treasuries. These treasuries are their hidden aspects from which appears everything that exists within them and the system that governs them; therefore, the keys are that which brings them out of their hidden state and into the visible world.
The Knowledge of All Things
There is not a thing but that its sources are with Us, and We do not send it down except in a known measure (). To claim possession of the keys of the heavens and the earth is to claim possession of their treasuries from which come the existences, provisions, durations, and appointed ends of things, as well as whatever they might face in the course of their journey from Him until such a time as they return to Him.
Creation Is Inseparable from Governance
The creation of the world and its governance combine both the creation of the world and its governance, because—as we have already mentioned—the idolaters did not believe that there was any contradiction between asserting the oneness of the creator and believing in a multitude of lords and deities. Therefore, when God presents His argument for His singularity in lordship and divinity, He combines creation with the governance of the cosmos to show that governance (tadbīr) is not extraneous to creation (khalq) but rather is an aspect of creation, just as creation is an aspect of governance.
The Speech of All Things
The exchange that takes place between God on the one hand saying: Come!, and the heaven and the earth on the other saying: We come willingly … presents an allegorical representation of the creative act that is intended to make this comprehensible to ordinary folk in everyday language. However, it also reflects the deeper reality that all entities possess some degree of knowledge and that all beings can be endowed with speech in a way that befits their condition and, as a result, God can converse with them.
The Cosmic Order Points to Unity
This order that governs the cosmos, by virtue of its unity and the harmony of its constituent parts, points to the unity of its originator and the singularity of its director and sustainer, who must be outside the constituent parts of the world that this order maintains. And this originator is none other than God.
Origination Is Inseparable from Lordship
The act of bringing things into being is inseparable from looking after the affairs of those originated beings. Therefore, the One who originated everything must also be the Lord who manages everything, and therefore He alone is worthy of worship.
The Living Soul Belongs to the Realm of Dominion
The signs in God's creation of the human being and all living, sensing creatures, they are—at least from the aspect of their living and sensing souls—from a realm beyond that of matter, and this is called the realm of dominion (malakūt). The Qur'an restricts the comprehension and perception of this to the people of certainty, as it says: Thus did We show Abraham the dominions of the heavens and the earth, that he might be of those who possess certitude ().
God Governs Only Beautifully
He is the creator of the heavens, the earth and everything in between, that He is the governor of everyone's affairs, and that one of the marvellous aspects of His creation is the fact He has created everything with a purpose, in order to return to him and be recompensed for their deeds. In all of this, God will only govern beautifully, and He will only act in a manner that is praiseworthy. So His is the praise in its entirety!
The Religion of Innate Nature
The True Religion is the religion that is in harmony with the innate nature (fiṭrah) upon which God created mankind. This innate nature only entails that which contains its only felicity and perfection, so believing in what God has sent down of the religion of nature (dīn al-fiṭrah) and acting upon it will inevitably set right that condition of the faithful in their worldly society.
The Hosts of the Heavens and the Earth
To God belong the hosts of the heavens and the earth: the context indicates that this refers to the immediate causes (asbāb) that exist in the world, of both the visible creation and the invisible creation. These are the intermediaries interposed between God and the object of the Divine Will; they always obey Him and never disobey Him.
The Signs Within the Self
Each faculty in the human being is different, with its own functions and system, yet they all fall under the governance of a single agent, which yokes them together and places them at its own disposal. Included also are spiritual signs that dwell in the realm of souls which are visible to those who look for them; God has placed signs therein which open the door of certainty for the one who comes upon them and admit him to the circle of those with conviction.
Creation Has a Purpose That Returns to the Created
This means that the goal of creation is for them to be worshippers, not for God to be worshipped. Any goal, whatever it may be, is something that necessarily completes its possessor and addresses some need he has. However, God is without deficiency or need such that something else could complete Him or address this need. In short, worship (ʿibādah) is the purpose of the human being's creation, and the perfection that results from it is worship itself.
The Terminus of All Things
There is no entity that exists save that its existence and the effects of its existence ultimately devolve to and end with God, whether directly or indirectly. Equally, there is no affair pertaining to the governance and order of the cosmos, whether universal or particular, save that it devolves to Him. After all, there is no organization or order between existing things save by virtue of the connections that exist between them, and the Originator of all things is also the Originator of the connections between them. Therefore, God Almighty is the ultimate end of all things.
Perpetual Divine Act
At every moment, God is engaged in some work that is different to what came before it and what will come after it. He does not perform any action He takes more than once, nor does any work He undertakes resemble any other work He has undertaken from any angle. He only acts without prior example, and the term for this is ibdāʿ (origination). That is why God describes Himself as: The originator of the heavens and the earth (). The verse says 'every day' to show that God's agency and His direction of things is all-encompassing; He is present at every time, but He is never contained by time; He is present in every place, but He is never contained by place; He is with everything, but He does not approach anything.
The Gift of Articulate Speech
Speech does not mean merely the process of bringing a sound into being using the lungs, trachea, and throat, nor even the variety of sounds that can be produced in the throat through the use of the various articulation points found in the mouth. On the contrary, the human being, having been granted innate inspiration by God, can take one of the sounds produced by one of these articulation points in their mouth—which is called a letter—or combine several of these letters and make them into a sign that refers to a particular concept, which represents something that is absent from the listener's senses or perception. In doing so, the speaker can summon to the mind of the listener any object in the visible world, no matter how great or how miniscule, whether or not it exists, and whether it is in the future or the past.
The Universe as a United, Singular System
God has arranged the different parts of creation in such a way that they bring about their aims and purposes without one of them causing the other to miss its goal or purpose, or without the necessary quality of one thing, which is necessary for it to obtain its required goal and purpose, being lost. The meaning of the negation of incongruity in creation is the connectivity in the organization and management of creation, and the connectivity of things with each other in terms of goals and benefits that result from the interaction of one with the other.
The Self That Has Always Been
Instead of an unconditional negation of man's existence, what the verse negates is the person being mentioned. This means that the person was something, but not a thing to be mentioned. For instance, the person was clay or sperm, but was not yet qualified to be mentioned as a person so-and-so. Later they become who they are. Hence, the Qurʾan's view is that the oneness of the human being is real.
Directing Affairs Reduces to Creating Beings
What does it mean to direct the affairs of the entire universe, including humans which are part of it? Directing is in fact nothing but creating the constituent stages and elements of this order one after another. In other words, direction of affairs boils down to the creation of beings. Since God is the Creator of everything, it follows that He is also the Owner and Director of the world. This means that He alone is the Lord, and there is no lord beside Him.
Religion as Living According to One's Fiṭrah
The growth and perfection of any being hinge upon the qualities and actions which are congruent with its nature, and match its innate disposition and faculties. That is why human happiness and perfection lie in following the divine religion, which is the same as living according to one's fiṭrah, as confirmed by the rule of reason, and is endorsed by the message of the divine prophets and messengers.
Creation, Proportioning, and Equilibrium
God's tadbīr (direction of affairs, management, regulation) is elaborated in three stages: (1) He creates the human beings with all their organs. (2) He proportions them by placing each organ where it belongs based on a wise plan. (3) He balances them by creating harmony and synergy between their organs and faculties. As a result, when an organ cannot perform a certain function, it is covered by another organ. A similar interdependence and equilibrium can be found in the functions of thousands and thousands of other organs and faculties that are beyond count. All of these are part of God's direction of affairs.
Divine Guidance as Cosmic Ordinance
God has designed His creation according to specific measures and precise limits which pervade their entire beings, attributes and functions. Furthermore, He has equipped them with the necessary faculties that are harmonious with the functions and perfections that He has ordained for them. That is His guidance of them. Accordingly, every creature pursues what God has determined for it through its Lord's guidance. For instance, an infant finds its way to its mother's breast; a fledgling finds its way to its parents' beaks; the male goes after the female; and any creature seeks its interest.
The Night of Destiny as Annual Cosmic Decree
God has named this night the night of qadr, where qadr apparently means taqdīr (measurement, ordainment, predestination). Hence, it is the night in which God decrees the events of the coming year, such as birth, death, sustenance, felicity and wretchedness. This implies that the special night of qadr is repeated annually. Every lunar year, in the month of Ramadan, there is a night in which the matters from that year to the same night of the next year are decreed. Otherwise, it does not make sense to have only a single night ever, when all the events before it and after it are decreed.
The Fairest Stature and the Human Capacity
The human being refers to the human species as a genus. It means that the human archetype is created with an excellent structure. By the virtue of their creation they can rise to the highest record, win eternal happiness with their Lord, and be saved from damnation. God has equipped them with beneficial knowledge, and has enabled them to act righteously. If humans have faith in what they know and persist in righteous deeds, God will uplift them. There are other similar verses which show how humans can be elevated through faith and righteous actions, as a perpetual gift from God.
The Spirit as Divine Command
The best Qurʾanic definition for the spirit can be found in the verse: They question you concerning the Spirit. Say, 'The Spirit is of the command of my Lord' (). The spirit is mentioned in an unconditional form in this verse, and is described as being from God's command. Elsewhere God defines His command as follows: All His command, when He wills something, is to say to it 'Be,' and it is. So immaculate is He in whose hand is the dominion of all things (). Therefore, God's command (amr) is the existentiating word of God.
Worship
The true worship, therefore, is that in which the worshipped and the worshipper both are present. God should be worshipped as the One who is present before the worshipper. The worshipper should be present before his Lord, not only with his body but also with his soul; otherwise, the worship would be a body without soul, a form without life.
A man strives 'in the way of God'; and another strives 'for God.' There is a great difference between the two. The first tries to keep the way safe and free from all dangers; the second's attention is fixed on God only. He strives hard for God; thereupon God helps him and guides him on the way most suited to his ability — and thereafter keeps guiding him from one way to another until He exclusively attaches him to Himself.
The relation of the straight path to the ways of God is that of the soul to the body. Likewise, the ways of God are one with the straight path; but sometimes a way suffers from some kind of deterioration, although the straight path is immune from all defects and imperfections.
On the Difference Between Being a Slave and Being Accepted as One
It is one thing that someone is a slave or servant of Allāh, and a quite different thing that he is taken or accepted by Allāh as His slave. Being a slave of Allāh is a concomitant of existence and creation; anyone who is created and has perceiving faculties is inescapably a slave of Allāh; this servitude does not depend on Divine acceptance. There is no one in the heavens and the earth but will come to the Beneficent Allāh as a servant.
On the Dyeing of Allāh
They have dyed the religion of Allāh — the religion of Unity, the religion of Oneness — with colours of their bias and prejudice, their desires and ambitions. But the religion is not divided; it is one, in the same way as God, Who is to be worshipped, is One. 'The dyeing of Allāh — and who is better than Allāh in dyeing?' The Imām explained: 'The dyeing is Islam.'
On Remembrance as Knowing That One Knows
Inattention is 'not knowing that one knows — although the original knowledge is present in memory.' 'Remembrance', as its opposite, means 'knowing that one knows.' Obviously, Allāh cannot be known, or remembered, in any way like this — He is beyond the description of describers. If we were to say that the words, 'Remember Me', have been used here in their real sense, then we will have to say that man has, or can have, a knowledge whose definition would be quite different from the one known to us.
On God as the Companion of the One Who Remembers
Allāh, the Blessed, the High, says: 'Whoever is too preoccupied with My remembrance to be able to ask Me for his needs, I give him the best of what I give to him who asks Me.' And He has said: 'I am the companion of him who remembers Me'; and further: 'You remember Me with obedience and worship; I will remember you with bounties, and beneficence, and comfort, and My pleasure.'
On the Divine Command to Let Remembrance Absorb All Concern
Allāh says: 'Make your concern one concern, and make your tongue one tongue, and make your body alive — alive with a life that is never oblivious of Me. When I know that the predominant trait of My servant is to be engrossed in Me, I transfer his desire to My invocation and My secret conversation. Whoever is oblivious of Me, I do not care in which valley he perishes.'
On Love as the Attraction of Every Faculty Toward Its Perfection
Love is a special emotional attachment, a particular conscious attraction between man and his perfection. Each faculty loves its activity and is attracted to it — and it is only because its activity is its perfection, makes up its deficiency, and fulfils its natural need. In this way, we know the significance of the love of wealth, power, and knowledge. Man seeks his perfection through each of these. As love is a subsistent relationship between the lover and the loved, there exists a positive connection between them.
On God Receiving No Benefit from Worship
God is All-holiness. No want, need, emotion or grievance can be attributed to Him even in imagination. In short, He is free from every shortcoming. So, all the good effects of the worship — whatever the act of worship and whatever the good results — return to the worshipper himself, not to the Lord. The same is the case of sins. God has said: If you do good, you do good for your own souls, and if you do evil, it is for them only ().
On Fasting as the One Act of Worship Only God Witnesses
The fast is an act of worship in which one has just to abstain from lust and desire and restrain oneself from worldly matters. This negative aspect is a thing which nobody can know except God. It is a dealing entirely between the servant and his Lord, and therefore this worship is purely for God; others can have no share in it.
Love — The Root Beneath the Religion
Sincerity in religion can truly be achieved only when man's heart is not attached to anything other than God — be it another deity, a worldly ambition, or even some other worldly goal like entering the Garden or protection from the Fire. When the heart cuts all links with such things and attaches itself exclusively to God, then the man attains the sincerity of religion, and the love of God. Looking from another angle, religion resolves into submission, and submission into monotheism.
Jesus Could Not Be His Own Slave
Jesus' service and worship is the first and foremost proof that he was not God and that he had no share in Godhead. How can a man put himself in the position of servitude to himself? How can he be the slave of himself? How can a thing be self-sufficient in the same framework in which it is dependent on someone else? The answer is clear: In no way. Likewise, the worship of the angels clearly shows that they are not God's daughters. In the same way as Jesus' worship of God proves that Jesus was not God, his call to the people to worship God proves it.
The Grateful Beyond Satan's Reach
Absolute gratitude means to remember Him without forgetting Him, and to obey His command without spoiling it with disobedience. The grateful ones are those who are purified, sincere servants of God — those in whom the Satan can have no hope, who are beyond the Satanic designs and plans. The Satan's design is to make man forget his Lord and to call him to sin and disobedience; but he cannot ensnare the purified and grateful servants in this trap.
Monotheism Ascending Into Deeds
The spirit of monotheism permeates all the virtuous characteristics and ethics which this religion invites to; and the spirit of good character is spread throughout the deeds which the society members are obligated to perform. Thus all the components of Islamic religion, in final analysis, return to monotheism; and monotheism on exoteric level becomes noble ethics and good deeds. When monotheism comes down, it becomes ethics and deeds; and when they ascend, they become monotheism. To Him do ascend the good words; and the good deed lifts them up.
The Sinless Servant's Singular Station
God has portrayed His pure-hearted servants, those who are free from sins and evils, in a way that cannot be equalled by all praises revealed for the others: Satan said: 'My Lord! because Thou hast left me to stray, I will certainly make evil fair-seeming to them on earth, and I will certainly cause them all to go astray. Except Thy servants from among them, the freed ones.' So, these sinless people have an especial prestigious position in the circle of servitude that is not shared by other good repenting servants.
Fear of God as the Mark of Knowledge
The son of Adam who was murdered was pious and God-fearing and had gnosis of God. As for his knowledge and gnosis, it is inferred from his speech, 'surely I fear God, the Lord of the worlds.' Here he openly claims that he feared God; and God says in another place: 'verily fear Allah only those of His servants endued with knowledge.' So when God endorsed his claim that he feared God, it was as though He also confirmed that he was a man of knowledge.
Religion as Submission in All Conditions
The favor in this verse means the religion — not in the sense of its particular beliefs and commandments, but in the meaning of submission to God in all conditions and situations. This entails acceptance of God's authority over His servants in whatever He obligates them to do. That authority will be completed if the shariah covers all religious commandments, the small parts of which are the various types of purification.
The Outer Shariah Leads to the Inner Reality
Behind the external aspect of the shariah there are realities that are its hidden or esoteric meanings. It is also correct to say that man has a way to reach that reality. But that way is to diligently follow and obey the external aspect of the shariah — nothing else. Far be it from us to think that there was any esoteric idea which the external practices did not lead to; it is the external which identifies the hidden or esoteric realities, and leads to them.
Heart's Disease: Faith Contaminated by Doubt
Heart's disease means its involvement with a sort of suspicion and doubt that pollutes the faith in God and removes confidence in His signs; it blends faith with polytheism. That is why such a heart experiences conditions that have affinity with disbelief in God. Conversely, heart's health and freedom from disease means its being steadfast in straight nature and its adherence to the right path; it leads man to sincerity in monotheistic belief and reliance on God, discarding all things to which his low desires are attracted.
Al-Wasīlah: The Spiritual Link to God
Al-wasīlah is a sort of joining together — a spiritual joining which connects the slave with his master; there is no link that connects man with his Lord except the submissiveness of worship and veneration. Therefore, the means of nearness means ensuring the reality of veneration and turning the face of humility and poverty to His direction — this is then the connecting link that joins the servant to his Lord. As for knowledge and good deed, these are obviously its tools and concomitants.
The Cord Between Man and God
The means of keeping up the natural religion is to return to God and keeping the cord intact which attaches him to the divine presence, and not letting that cord be cut or severed at all. God has pointed to this clearly: 'then set your face upright for religion in natural devotion to truth, the nature made by Allah in which He has made men; there is no altering of Allah's creation; that is the right religion, but most people do not know.'
Human Nature and the Universal Intuition of a Creator
Although the human nature through its secret inspiration has united all men together in believing that there is a Creator, yet there is a great difference and vast chasm between one mind and the other in grasping its meaning. Some people's intellect led them to idol-worship: he carves idols and statues from wood and stone, even from cheese and clay — then he declares these to be partners and colleagues of God.
Divine Pleasure with the Servant's Soul
The words 'God is well pleased with them' denote that God likes their selves; and this pleasure cannot take place unless there appears the purpose for which God has created them: 'I have not created the jinn and the men except that they should worship Me.' God shall be pleased with a servant's soul only when he shall become an exemplary worshipper — when his soul will be only a slave of God Who is the Lord of everything; he does not see his own soul, nor anything else; but he is only a slave of God, submissive to His Lordship, who does not turn except to Him and does not return but to Him.
Monotheism as the Form That Permeates All Action
The only general objective is the belief in one God in both stages of faith and action together — that man should believe that there is a God, from Whom is the genesis of everything and to Whom everything is to return. Then this monotheism runs throughout the life and lives in the actions, it manifests in itself the servitude of man and all that he has to God. In this way the monotheism permeates in its esoteric and exoteric, and the pure servitude is manifested from his words, deeds and all aspects of his existence — a manifestation where there is no veil over it, nor any cover to hide it. In short, the divine manner — or prophetic manner — is the form of monotheism in action.
Adam's Prayer: The Eloquence of Need Without Petition
It was enough to only describe their condition, and to display the need and poverty that had afflicted the servant; there was no need to ask for its remedy in words — rather, describing only their need was a most eloquent imploration and most fluent proposition. And that is why Adam and his wife did not say clearly what they wanted; they did not say 'so forgive us and have mercy on us.' As they had placed themselves in the station of abasement and wretchedness because of the disobedience they had done, their only course was the total and pure submission to whatever order was issued from the arena of divine power.
Jonah's Imprisonment: There Is No Fleeing from God
All of this served a singular purpose: to enlighten him, contrary to his previous condition, that God possesses the power to capture and detain him wherever He wills, and to act upon him according to His wishes. There is no fleeing from God, except to Him. This experience in the belly of the whale led him to the realization that only God is worthy of worship, with no equal, and none can escape His servitude. Thus, he proclaimed: 'There is no god but You.'
The 'Sin' of Inattention in the Station of Divine Love
Some one might say: it is merely the lovers' delusion or poetic imagination which is not based on any rational reality. But they do not realize that these imaginations, although they are delusions and notions in the path of sociological life, they exactly turn into realities in the path of servitude, emanating from the divine love which melts the heart and distracts the reason; and it does not leave any perception to the man to perceive any other than his Lord, nor any will to wish except what He wishes. At this stage, he realizes that even a slight attention to his self or to his desires is a great sin and a thick curtain, which cannot be raised except by the divine forgiveness.
The Straight Path Has No Contradiction
The straight path is a consistent way without any contradiction between its parts, and without any disagreement amongst its travelers. It has no violation in guiding its travelers to their destination, and no difference or disagreement between its various parts or between its travelers. The way of God is based on the innate human nature and creation: 'There is no altering of Allah's creation; that is the right religion.'
Three Proofs for Monotheism
The final verses of Sūrah al-Anʿām are comprised of three proofs that incorporate all the arguments in this chapter for monotheism: one based on the beginning of creation, one based on its end, and one based on the state of humankind between the two. In other words, there are three arguments relating to the realm of life in this world, the realm prior to it, and the realm after it. If God is the Lord of all things, then obviously all things would be His servants and subject to His Lordship — hence there is no lord besides Him that one could rightfully serve.
God's Way as the Natural Path of Humanity
The way of Allah — the path which leads to Him and ends in Him — is the path of humanity, meaning a path that is according to the innate nature of humankind (fiṭrah), toward which they intuitively incline based on their makeup as a species. The difference is in how one pursues this path: if one treads it in an upright fashion as called for by one's fiṭrah, the path will lead to happiness. However, there are those who go through the path of life in other manners, and either way, this amounts to an attempt to make God's way crooked.
The Empty Names of False Gods
You and your fathers are the same in that you all claim something for which there is no proof — and that is the divinity of your gods. Hence, what remains of their divinity is only an empty name and title which you have attached to these gods, calling them 'the god of fertility,' 'the god of war,' 'the god of sea,' and 'the god of land.' These labels do not correspond to any reality except in your imagination — a most clear argument that if one does not provide a rational proof for what one claims, what remains of it will be only a label and appellation.
Nearness to God and the Veil of Heedlessness
One's degree of nearness to God is as much as one's remembrance of Him — it is mindfulness which removes the veil from between a servant and their Lord. Otherwise, all beings have an equal relation to God, without any difference in terms of nearness or distance. From the point of view of God, He is impartial and equidistant from all beings. The difference is on the part of the beings, which may not realize the nearness and presence of the Absolute due to their veil of inadvertence.
True Life Is the Spirit That Walks Among People
The human being has a type of true life which is nobler and more perfect than the worldly life which he can don, if he readies himself for it by ornamenting himself with religion and entering the throngs of the righteous friends of God (al-awliyāʾ al-ṣāliḥīn). This is similar to how he readies himself for the worldly life as a fetus. Thus, this applies to the verse in question: O you who believe! Answer the call of Allah and His Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life.
Taqwā Bestows the Power to Distinguish Truth from Falsehood
A furqān is something which distinguishes between one thing and another. The context and the fact that the furqān is mentioned as a succedent to having reverence (taqwā) indicates that this furqān distinguishes between truth and falsehood, whether it be in matters of belief — that is to say, distinguishing between faith and rejection — guidance and misguidance, acts of obedience or disobedience, or anything that would please or displease God. All of this is the fruit of the tree of reverence (taqwā).
Remembrance of God Is the Highest Form of Battle Preparation
This is the strongest contextualization to show that the intent behind 'remembering God much' is to say that the faithful remember what God taught them of the understandings connected to this matter — that is, that He is their God and Lord in whose hand lie death and life, who is able to assist them, and who is their guardian — the best guardian and the best ally. Fighting will end up with one of two good outcomes: either victory over the enemy, raising the flag of Islam, and purifying the atmosphere for religious fruition; or being killed in the way of God, and, through martyrdom, being brought towards God's mercy, entering the confines of His generosity, proximity with His awliyāʾ near Him.
Faith Made Whole in Word and Limb
God begins by listing their qualities as individuals, namely penitence, devotion, travelling, bowing, and prostrating. Then, He mentions those qualities of theirs that are specific to their collective faithfulness, namely that they enjoin the good and forbid the evil. Finally, He praises them for the quality that combines both their individual and communal existences, namely that they preserve God's bounds. The use of the word 'preserve' (ḥifẓ) shows that not only do they not transgress them, but are actively mindful of them and guard them.
Divine Satisfaction Surpasses Paradise Itself
The essence of divine servanthood to which the Book of God calls people means to serve God out of love for Him, not because one desires paradise or fears hellfire. On the contrary, the greatest happiness and greatest success for the one who loves God is to win the satisfaction of his Beloved rather than seeking anything to satisfy himself. And, as if as a reference to this, God concludes the verse with the words, that is the great success. The phrasing of this sentence conveys a meaning of exclusivity, namely that God's pleasure is at the heart of every great success, including the great success of attaining Paradise. After all, were there nothing of the reality of divine pleasure in the blessing of Paradise, these would not be blessings but misfortunes instead.
Divine Composure Is a State Beyond Mere Courage
From the above, it is evident that sakīna refers to something beyond mere steadfastness and tranquillity. However, this not in the sense that the word sakīna signifies a meaning in language or customary usage beyond that of a psychological state, but rather in the sense that what God means by sakīna in the Qurʾān is something more than the quality we find in any brave warrior on the battlefield. Instead, it signifies a tranquillity of the soul with qualities and attributes that are unique to it. Therefore, sakīna in the Qurʾān refers to a divine state in which God's servant does not forget the station of his Lord.
Only the Sincere Heart Can Receive God's Composure
Notice that God says that He only sent down composure upon them because He knew what was in their hearts. This shows that, in order for God to send down this composure, a person's heart must already be in a state of purity to receive it, and the context of the latter verse shows that this refers to truthfulness and sincerity, such that the person will not break their pledge. God also says: It is He who sent down composure into the hearts of the faithful that they might enhance their faith. To Allah belong the hosts of the heavens and the earth (). And He mentions that one of the effects of this composure is to increase a person's faith.
Sovereignty Restricted to God Alone Abolishes Fear
If we ponder on monotheism in its fullest and most complete sense, we see that it means that true sovereignty and dominion belong only to God Almighty. There is no scope for any other being to act independently of God in any matter, such that they could claim it for themselves and rightfully feel love, hate, fear, grief, happiness, sorrow, or anything else. Therefore, when a person has delved deeply into monotheism and realized its meaning, they will only fear, grieve, love, and hate for the sake of God.
Every Description of Things Becomes Praise of God
These pure hearts will not turn towards anything without finding God's blessings in it and witnessing it as a manifestation of His attributes of beauty and aspects of perfection, and bespeaking His grandeur and tremendousness. Therefore, whenever they describe a thing, they see it as a blessing from God and they witness in it God's beauty in His names and attributes. They do not forget or neglect their Lord in any part of their description thereof. Therefore, when they describe a thing, they are also attributing beauty to God in His actions and attributes and praising and magnifying Him for it.
The Natural Law Written into the Fabric of Creation
The true religion is the judgment of God and there is no judgment aside from His. This is in accordance with the divine nature of creation, and any judgment besides His is necessarily a falsehood and, as such, it will only lead humans toward misery and destruction and guide them to nothing but the torment of the blazing fire. Since judgment belongs to God alone, every rule circulating among people is either a true judgment from God, derived from revelation or a divine message, or a false judgment that has been attributed to God. There is no third category or middle ground.
He Said Only "God Forbid!" — Nothing More
Joseph clung to the principle of monotheism, seeking refuge in God alone. His heart was occupied by none but his Lord, and his gaze was fixated solely on Him. This is the pure monotheism to which divine love had guided him, overshadowing all externalities, even causing him to forget himself. He did not say, 'I seek refuge from you in God' or anything of that implication, but simply stated, 'God forbid!'
Fear, Hope, and Love — The Three Paths to God
A third group, the ones who truly know God, do not worship Him out of fear of punishment or in anticipation of a reward. They worship Him because He is worthy of worship. They know Him through attributes and names that befit His greatness, understanding that He is their Lord, controlling their existence, desires, contentment, and everything else, and that He alone governs all the affairs of reality. They see themselves as mere servants of His, and a servant's duty is to worship his Lord, prioritizing His wishes and desires over his own.
Love for God Purifies the Heart of All Else
As for the love of God, it purifies the heart from attachments to anything other than Him, be it worldly allurements or its adornments, one's children, one's spouse, wealth, prestige, even one's own self with all its aspirations and desires. This love restricts one's heart to connect only with God and what is attributed to Him, be it a religion, a prophet, a saint, and everything that traces back to Him — because when you love someone, you naturally love everything associated with them.
Joseph's Complete Surrender to the Divine
The submission which he asked God to grant him represents the utmost level of submission and the highest rank of divine servanthood, for it is the act of total surrender to God. This means that a servant should not see in himself, nor in anything that he does, any form of independence, to the extent that nothing of his own being, his attributes, or his actions should distract him from his Lord.
Everything Prostrates — Willingly or Not
The humility and submissiveness of all creatures before the expanse of their Sustainer is an intrinsic humility, from which no creature is disconnected or exempt. Therefore, it is certain that the submission of creatures will be voluntary and without direction. How can it be by command and compulsion when no creature possesses anything of itself to be assumed reluctant, or to refuse and rebel?
To God Alone Belongs the True Invocation
An invocation is only a true invocation if the one being called has attention that can be directed to the caller and has the earnestness and capability with which to respond to it. As for calling on someone who does not understand, or understands but does not possess what is needed to meet the caller's needs, this is not a true call, even if it takes the appearance of one.
Hidden Polytheism in the Believer's Heart
Faith in God and associating partners with Him are two distinct realities. The essence of faith is to connect one's heart to God with submission to His ultimate reality. On the other hand, polytheism is attaching one's heart to entities other than God, entities that have no power except by His permission.
Hearts Find Rest Only in God's Remembrance
Every heart, in the collective sense indicated by the Arabic word al-qulūb ('the hearts'), finds tranquility and relief from anxiety through the remembrance of God. Indeed, this is a general rule that applies to all hearts, except for those that have degenerated to such an extent that they can no longer be called hearts due to the loss of their insight and growth.
All Praise Is His Due
Every creation sings His praises through its mere existence. This includes even those who overlook His benevolence, as He affirmed: 'There is not a thing but celebrates His praise.' He stands esteemed and worthy of admiration, regardless of whether humans express their reverence or withhold it. Ultimately, every ounce of praise is His due, regardless of whether it's directly attributed to Him or otherwise.
The Good Word as a Living Tree
The declaration of monotheism and remaining steadfast upon it is the true word, having a firm root, preserved from all changes, decay, and falsehood. From it sprout subsidiary true beliefs, pure morals, and righteous deeds with which the believer enlivens his wholesome life and constructs the human world in its truest form.
The Sincere Are Beyond Satan's Reach
Being so engrossed in God, they remain impervious to Shaytān's temptations. Any attempts by Shaytān to ensnare them only serve to reinforce their connection with God, drawing them closer to His remembrance.
The Straight Path Leads Only to God
Just as the course of a ship on the open sea informs its passengers of the inescapability of preparation and the necessary precautions for a maritime journey, similarly, the route of a caravan traversing mountainous terrains necessitates readiness to navigate its towering heights and challenging routes. Hence, this straight path is inherently bound to God's edicts and mandates, for it is a direct path towards Him, and He is the alpha and omega of all.
Worship Until Certainty Descends
The emphasis in this phrase suggests that certainty is something one seeks and will eventually grasp. Thus, one should worship their Lord until they attain it and reach this state of clarity. This refers to the realm of the afterlife, which is the world of universal certainty concerning what exists beyond the unseen veil.
Patience Perfects Deeds Before God
Patience inherently demands that the deeds are not scrutinised or judged based on their specific qualities that might otherwise render them inferior. The verse implies that patience for the sake of God leads to the perfection of one's deeds.
Their Declaration Before Tyrants
God's words, And We strengthened their hearts, show that what they said, Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, was not whispered in the absence of the idol worshipers; rather, it was declared openly and loudly in a place where hearts melt away, souls are terrified, and skin crawls in the face of obstinate, bloodthirsty, sadistic, trying rulers.
The Idolaters Had No Proof
They refuted what the idolaters claimed by showing that they had no proof supported by clear evidence for their claim. Their people said that God was too sublime to be grasped by His creation, so it would not be possible to turn to Him in worship; but this was against them, for no one can ever fully comprehend Him — neither a human being nor one of His close servants whom they were worshiping.
Sincerity: The Only Acceptable Worship
I am the best partner. I will not accept (the work) of anyone who associates a partner with Me in his work apart from what is for Me alone. The work of anyone who acts for Me and another is for the one he did the work for, not Me.
The Highest Level of Servitude
The meaning of the word mukhlaṣ is one [who is] rendered by God to be exclusively for Him. In a servant that is mukhlaṣ, there is no share in himself or in his deeds for anyone other than God. It is the highest level of servitude.
God's Favored Are Known for Submission
These individuals, whom God favored, were known for their submission and humility to their Lord. Regrettably, they were succeeded by those that turned away from that path by becoming heedless to their Lord, following their base desires instead.
Sincere Devotion as the Goal
Indeed, this is the goal of all the obedient devotees to God alone who have cut themselves off from all but Him.
The Soul's Contentment Through Remembrance
Repetition of remembrance of Him by declaring His action to be free of any flaw or disgrace, remembering Him with beautiful praise and persisting at it makes the soul take comfort in doing so. The soul is naturally disposed to be pleased with what it loves, and loves only that which is beautiful—free of all ugliness and disgrace.
The Life of the One Who Remembers His Lord
If only he knew the status of his Lord and remembered Him without negligence, then he would be certain that he has a life with his Lord that is unadulterated by death, a dominion that is not afflicted by evanescence, a power that is unsullied by humiliation, and a happiness, joy, honor and dignity that have no end.
The Sincerest Deed Is Done for God's Sake Alone
Most people only serve Him in the hope of reward or out of fear of His punishment—reward for obedience or punishment for disobedience. The sincerest deed is that which is done for the sake of God not out of desire for Heaven or out of fear of hell.
Honor Through Perfect Servitude
God has honored them by bestowing perfect servitude upon them. This is similar to when a servant chooses to be purely for God — making him mukhliṣ, sincere — to which God responds by choosing him purely for Himself.
Only Piety Reaches God
None of their flesh or blood reaches God because He is free from physical properties and all need. It is only taqwā — self-restraint, piety — that reaches Him spiritually.
Piety Is of the Heart
Respecting and honoring the signs of God is a result of piety. Taqwā is not about the outward acts in terms of movements and postures — it is the condition of the heart.
Jonah's Prayer from Darkness
He called out in the darkness: 'There is no god but You, glory be to You; indeed I have been of the wrongdoers.' So We responded to him and delivered him from the grief.
One Nation, One Lord
Indeed this community of yours is one community, and I am your Lord, so worship Me.
The Outward Signs of Genuine Belief
Prayer is when one who has nothing but need and humiliation turns one’s attention toward the Threshold of Magnificence and Greatness, and toward the Source of Might and Glory: God.
Houses of God’s Remembrance
He has permitted that His name may be remembered in these houses, and this raises the value and status of these houses. To give idhn (permission) for some act means ‘declaring that there is no problem in doing it,’ and ‘to be raised’ (rafʼ) in this verse means the elevation of status, which is equivalent to honor and high regard.
The Believers Who Are Never Distracted
Nothing distracts them from their permanent remembrance of their Lord with their hearts, nor from their temporary remembrance of Him through their actions, such as prayer and almsgiving. The meaning of the verse can be reduced to: ‘They are not distracted by any means of diversion, whether permanent or temporary, from God’s remembrance, whether permanently or temporarily.’
Ulūhiyyah Follows Lordship
Ulūhiyyah (divinity, the quality of being worthy of worship) is a consequence of lordship, and a lord is one who directs the affairs of what he owns. A lord is to be served and worshiped as a means of showing gratitude for his blessings, or as a means of securing oneself from his punishment.
A Sound Heart Belongs to God Alone
Imam al-Ṣādiq said: 'A sound heart is that which meets his Lord while there is no one else in it. Any heart in which there is some partner [for God] or doubt, shall fail.'
The Greedy, the Fearful, and the Lovers
Imam al-Ṣādiq said: 'One group serves Him desiring His reward. This is the servitude of the greedy. Others serve Him fearing the Fire. This is the servitude of the slaves. But I serve Him out of love for Him. This is the servitude of the noble, and it is tantamount to security.'
Worship Must Be for God Alone
When Muslims pray, they direct their face toward the qiblah, but they do not direct their worship toward it. The idolaters, on the other hand, used to direct both their face and their worship toward the idols in devotion. In other words, in the case of qiblah, one's face is directed toward that object, but his worship is for the sake of the Lord of the qiblah, that is God.
Remembrance of God in Every Act
Imam al-Ṣādiq said: 'What I mean is remembering God when one comes across what He has made lawful or unlawful, then doing it if it is an act of obedience, and refraining from it if it is an act of disobedience.'
The Syllogism of Worship
Every perfection that exists in the world and the hereafter is a blessing and a boon from God due to which He deserves the best of praise. Every beautiful and excellent thing from these blessings and boons granted by God comes forth from the perfection of His being which is from the attributes of His essence due to which He deserves all praise. Conclusion: God is the being singularly worthy of worship.
Prayer as Soul-Formation
When the human being persists for a while in offering prayers with sincerity, this creates a fixed habit (malaka) in his soul in the form of an aversion to all kinds of indecency and wrongdoing. And had you been left to your own devices, who could have nurtured your soul to be so righteous or to be adorned with the etiquettes of servanthood, without expecting or asking more of you than what mere prayer requires?
The Essence of Thanksgiving
The essence of thanksgiving (shukr) is to make proper use of a blessing in such a way that points to the Source of this blessing. Accomplishing this in the manner God deserves depends on one having both knowledge of both the Source and the blessing, namely in what sense is it a blessing and how to make proper use of it in this way.
Gratitude Returns to the Giver
God says He does not need people to give Him thanks, because the benefits of the act of thanksgiving actually return to the person giving thanks. Equally, ingratitude only harms the one who is ungrateful—it does not harm God in the slightest. Therefore, whoever gives thanks only does so for his own benefit, as God does not benefit from it.
Continuity of Gratitude
The Qur'an uses the present tense for thanksgiving to show that it is something continuous and the past tense for ingratitude to show that it happens on occasion. This implies that thanksgiving is only of benefit if it is continuous but that ingratitude is harmful even if it only happens once.
The Rarity of True Gratitude
Although few of My servants are thankful: Meaning, thankful to God, thanking Him again and again. This sentence either exalts the status of those who are grateful by declaring them rare and unique, or provides further explanation, as if it is saying, 'The grateful are few, so increase their number!'
Darkness of Heedlessness, Light of Remembrance
From darkness here is the darkness of forgetfulness and heedlessness of God, whereas light is the light of remembrance of God. And if they remember God abundantly, and glorify Him morning and evening, He blesses them abundantly, enwraps them with light, and keeps them away from the darkness.
Secret Remembrance Is Abundant Remembrance
Whoever remembers God secretly has remembered God abundantly. The hypocrites remember God openly but do not remember God secretly. God, the Mighty and Glorious, said: They do it to be seen by people, and they but remember Allah little ().
Surrendering the Countenance to God
To 'surrender one's countenance' (islām al-wajh) to God means for the human being to turn to God with the entirety of his being and to turn away from everyone except Him. 'Virtue' (iḥsān) means to do righteous deeds based out of certainty regarding the hereafter. The 'firmest handle' means a hold that will never break.
Worship Because He Is Worthy of It
God is referred to as the One who created me to indicate causality; that is, because God has fashioned the human being out of nothingness, God has true ownership over the human being in all aspects—his person, characteristics, and deeds. The human being will return to Him. Therefore, the human being must necessarily and absolutely worship God. It is upon the human being to set himself to worshipping God and demonstrate it to God. This is worship in act—to worship God because He is worthy of it.
The Light of Faith in the Heart
What is important is pondering upon his share of faith in the stance he stood up for, in supporting and aiding the messengers. His speech reflects the light of God in his heart, preceded by the light of faith—to believe in God and sincerely worship him, not just out of a desire for Heaven or out of fear of Hell, but rather because He is worthy of being worshipped.
Those Who Know Fear Allāh
ʿUlamāʾ ('those who know') here refers to those who have knowledge of God. They are the ones with a deep understanding of God through His names, attributes, and acts. It is a complete understanding which makes their hearts certain and removes any splotch of doubt or disquietude from themselves. The effects of this are seen in their deeds, for their deeds match their words.
Abraham's Sound Heart
'Coming to his Lord' is a figure of speech indicating that he believed in Him and had faith in Him. 'Soundness of heart' means that it is devoid of anything that would hinder its belief and faith in God—such as associating partners with Him openly or secretly, unbecoming behavior, the effects of sins, or anything else that would incline a human being to other than God or interfere with purely turning to Him alone.
The Purified Servants Have No Will but God's
In calling them 'the purified servants of God', God, the Exalted, has established that they are His servants, and a servant has neither his own will nor his own deeds. They only want what God wants and only work for Him. Then it establishes that they have been purified—meaning that God has purified them, and so they do not associate anything with Him.
Glorification as Salvation
The verse indicates that the intent behind his glorification here is his calling out in the darkness: 'There is no god but You! I was wrong.' There is no god but Allāh comes first as a clear reason for his glorification. It is as if he is saying, 'There is nothing truly worthy of worship or turning to other than You. You are above what might have been implied by my deed.'
Knowledge of God as the True Knowledge
Based on the context of the verse, what is meant here by knowledge (ʿilm) and the lack thereof is the knowledge of God, for it is through knowing God that the human being becomes complete. This is a knowledge that a human being benefits from in the truest sense of the word and whose absence is harmful to him. Other forms of knowledge are like wealth; a person benefits from them in the life of this world, but they pass away with this world.
The Etiquette of Supplication
From these verses that relate the supplication of the angels to God on behalf of the faithful, the following becomes clear: First, that the proper etiquette of supplication (duʿāʾ) is to begin by praising and glorifying God, followed by asking Him for one's needs, and then invoking the Beautiful Names of His most relevant for one's request to intercede on your behalf. Second, that one should ask for forgiveness before one asks for paradise, as occurs on many occasions in God's speech when they are mentioned together.
The Unanswered Prayer and Why
If a supplication is offered genuinely, then it will never be left unanswered, but what the wording of this promise indicates is that in order for this to be a genuine supplication or plea to God and for it to genuinely reach God, there are conditions that must be met: Namely, the supplicant must call on God and make an earnest request and, in this request, the supplicant must depend upon God alone and not take recourse to any other means except Him.
Whoever Obeys Desire Has Taken Desire as a God
Worship is nothing other than a demonstration of submission and an illustration that the worshipper is a servant who neither wants anything or does anything except that which his object of worship is pleased with. So whoever obeys a thing has taken it as a god and worshipped it, so whoever obeys his desires has taken his desires as a god. But obedience belongs only to God or to someone for whom God has enjoined it.
True Dignity Is Godwariness
These features of material existence are illusory. They contain no nobility, no dignity; they merely cast their possessors into perdition. True dignity is that which leads the human being to true happiness, which is the good life that never ends in the vicinity to the Almighty Lord. This nobility and dignity is none other than Godwariness (taqwā)—the only means anyone has to attain felicity in the abode of the Hereafter.
The Goal God Has Chosen for Mankind
This is the goal and the prize that God in His infinite knowledge has chosen for mankind. But there is no competition or antagonism between the people who seek this goal—they can all attain it. This is unlike every other goal or honour which people pursue based on their false notions, whether wealth, leadership, fame, lineage or anything else.
Obedience as Entering God's Guardianship
This kind of obedience encouraged by the present verse, Do not venture ahead of God and His Messenger, means to enter God's guardianship (wilāyah), stand in the position of servitude and follow its course. The servant does this by bringing his will into accordance with God's will at the level of legislation (tashrīʿ) just as it accords with His at the level of creation (takwīn).
The Essence of Worship Is Turning Toward God
The essence of worship is that the servant places himself in a position of abasement and servitude, and turns his countenance toward the station of his Lord. This is what they mean when they say that 'worship' (ʿibādah) means 'knowledge' (maʿrifah); it means the knowledge that comes from worship. So the essence of worship is the highest goal of the creative act—that the servant should turn away from everything else, even from his own self, and remember his Lord.
The Fear That Belongs to the Truly Devoted
However, the fear mentioned in this verse appears to be distinct from the kind of fear we have just mentioned, as the fear of punishment is not the same as the fear of God standing over His servant with what they have done or fearing His position in relation to His servant, as this is a special kind of feeling that belongs to those who harbour only humility and submissiveness before God's greatness and tremendousness, and who display their lowliness and abasement before His absolute might and majesty. Worshipping God while fearing Him in this sense means humbling oneself before Him because God is the Lord of majesty and honour, not because you are afraid of His punishment or desirous of His reward, but because you are acting out of sincere and heartfelt devotion, seeking only His countenance.
Those Brought Near and the Apex of Servanthood
Those brought near (al-muqarrabūn) represent the highest rank of the people of felicity, as indicated by the verse, And the Foremost Ones are the foremost ones, they are the ones brought near (). This can only be attained through reaching the apex of divine servanthood, as God says, The Messiah would never disdain being a servant of Allah, nor would the angels brought near (). And one cannot reach the apex of divine servanthood except by aligning one's will and one's deeds completely with the will of his Master, so that he will neither act nor want anything other than what He wants. This is what it means to be under God's allegiance (wilāya)—these are God's allies and friends (awliyāʾ).
Lordship as the Sole Ground of Worship
God's Lordship means His sovereignty over all beings, and His direction of all their affairs. Since He is the only Lord and there is no lord but Him, thus He is the only object of worship, and there is no object of worship but Him. Taking God as trustee means seeing all affairs as belonging to God and ending in Him. One should seek one's objectives through the means that God has made known, without relying on them as independent sources that can bring anything into effect.
Feeding for the Face of God
Doing something for God's face means seeking to benefit from His mercy and trying to please Him. This should be done through focusing on His mercy and pleasure alone, and relinquishing any hope or desire for any reward from any other source. On a second level of meaning, God's face would be His essential attributes, which are the source and origin of His attributes of action along with all the good that emanate from them in the world. At this level, acting for God's face means performing an act out of love for God because He is the Beautiful, without any qualification.
The Apprehensiveness That Does Not Contradict Obedience
Their apprehension of God's punishment, despite their good deeds and efforts, shows that they are not confident of their righteous deeds. Despite their numerous virtues, they are still concerned about God's punishment. God has promised to deliver His obedient servants from His punishment, and He would never break His promise. However, these promises do not restrict His omnipotence. Therefore, no one may feel secure in the sense that He would no longer be able to act otherwise. Despite His promises, one should still maintain a sense of awe with respect to His absolute power.
The Night as the Way to God
God has described the night prayer as a path to Himself: This is indeed a reminder. So let anyone who wills take a way toward his Lord (, ). In addition to the promise mentioned in this verse, He says elsewhere: And keep vigil for a part of the night, as a supererogatory [devotion] for you. It may be that your Lord will raise you to a praiseworthy station (). The night prayer is a path that leads to such an exalted station, preparing one to be blessed with more proximity to God, to advance to a higher level of presence, and to receive a weighty revelation.
Glorification as Complete Monotheism
This is the meaning of tanzīh (glorification, proclaiming God's transcendence, deeming God incomparable): To refine, filter and abstract one's speech from anything not befitting the name and mention of God. That is a verbal glorification of God, which is consonant with practical glorification. It is also part and parcel of complete monotheism, which requires negating explicit polytheism. One should not ascribe to others the qualities that exclusively belong to God, such as creation, existentiation, provision, giving life and causing death. None of this suits His sanctity.
Fear of God's Station as the Root of Virtue
The inhabitants of paradise are characterized by fearing (khawf) the station of their Lord. Khawf is the impression of someone who is weak and dominated by someone who is strong and overpowering. It involves the humility and awe of the former before the latter. It follows from this that the dwellers of hell are characterized by transgression (tughyān), which means violating and exceeding the limits. That is, they have no regard for the station of their Lord due to their arrogance and pride. They are not humble and obedient toward their Lord but transgress the limits of servitude.
Human Dependence on God
The covenant obliged man that he should never forget that God is his Lord, the Ruler and Master of his affairs. The error that stands opposite to this remembrance is forgetfulness — man forgets his Lord and His All-encompassing Mastership; he becomes engrossed in his own self, getting bogged down more and more in the mire of this world's attractions.
On the Fourth Stage: Total Surrender When Man Owns Nothing
Sometimes, when a man reaches the third stage of surrender, the Divine Grace takes him under its wing; he is shown the reality, and sees with his heart's eyes that the Kingdom belongs to Allāh, nothing else owns anything at all — except when Allāh bestows it to someone; there is no Lord other than He. This realization, this unveiling of reality, is a Divine Gift, a bestowal by Allāh to whom He pleases; a man cannot reach this sublime stage by his own will or effort.
On the Man Who Sells His Soul to God
On one side there is a man priding himself in his sins, boasting and self-exalting, hiding his hypocrisy behind a mask of charming words. On the other side is a man who has sold his soul to God; he wants nothing except what God wishes; his honor and strength come only from God. The decadence brought upon the religion and the world by those who love nothing but their own selves cannot be removed except through the good overflowing from those who have sold their souls to God.
On God's Kingdom Belonging to None Else — and the Silence of 'Why'
The kingdom belongs to God alone; nobody has any right in it, except what God bestows from it on anyone. Even then it really belongs to God only. When you keep this reality in view, you will know that God has full authority to do in His kingdom as He pleases and as He wills. Nobody has any right to say 'why' or 'how' — one cannot ask why God did this or that, because He is the Real cause; nor can one enquire by which means He did it, because God is the Perfect cause and He does not need any supplementary causes.
The Absolute Good Is in One Hand Only
The sentence 'in Thine hand is the good' has a semantic value of restriction: the definite article in 'the good' makes it cover all and every good; and the adverbial clause of place, 'in Thine hand,' coming at the beginning of the sentence, puts all the good exclusively into the hand of God. Whatever good emanates from others' hands is, in fact, bestowed by God. Every sustenance is good and created; and every creation is a sustenance and good.
Honor Is Life; Abasement Is Death
To exalt someone is similar to giving him a new life; he would have remained unknown and unrecognized, if God had not bestowed honor upon him. Likewise, abasing and bringing forth the dead from the living stand face to face. Honor is life; and dishonor, death. God has exclusively reserved the honor and might to Himself, and to His Messenger and the believers — and it is these who, according to the Qur'an, are alive.
Sustenance — The Gift Requiring No Exchange
Whatever a man gets in this life, it comes from God and is good and beneficial for him. Suppose you wanted to give to God something as the price of the sustenance; well, what could you give Him? Whatever you may think of, it already belongs to God; you have no right whatsoever on any thing. It is just a mercy of God that He has undertaken to give sustenance to every one — yet it is in fact a free gift from Him, because no creature is in his own right entitled to get it.
Nearness to God: Gift or Striving
Man presses forward leaving others behind in the way that leads one back to God, then he comes nearer to God. Proceeding on this way is prescribed for every man, nay, everything. God says: 'O man! surely thou art striving to thy Lord, a hard striving, so that thou art to meet Him.' There is another aspect to this reality. Nearness to God is an attribute of some angels. It means that this nearness is not necessarily a thing to be acquired by one's endeavors; whatever it is, it is a gift from God. It may therefore be said that it is a rank which the angels get by Divine bestowal and the men by their striving.
Eating Food and the Collapse of Divinity
Eating food has been specially selected for mention in preference to other activities, because it rather more forcefully proves his materiality and shows his neediness and wants, which cannot be combined with Godhead. Obviously, a person who by his nature feels hunger and thirst and satisfies it with a morsel of food and a cup of water, is nothing but an embodiment of poverty and need — a need that cannot be removed without help of some extraneous agent. How can such a man be God? A man surrounded by needs, depending for their fulfilment on something outside his own being, is deficient in himself, and managed by some other than himself.
All Creation Submits, Willingly or Not
Do they seek to follow a religion other than Islam? But it is the religion of God; whoever is in the heavens and the earth submits to Him and obeys His order. If these People of the Book would accept it, their submission would be done willingly; if they disliked what God has decreed for them and tried to seek something else, the Divine Decree would nevertheless be enforced, however they might dislike it. The alternatives point to their willing acceptance of what God has decreed for them of the things they like; and their resentment of Divine Decrees in matters they dislike, for example, death, poverty and sickness.
Trust Connects to the Unconquerable Cause
When man intends to do something and produces its necessary material causes, then the only thing that can prevent his realization of his wishes is some shortcoming in its psychological causes — like weakness of will-power, fear or sorrow, recklessness or covetousness, foolishness or distrust. But when a man relies on God, he is connected to the unconquerable cause that can never fail — the cause above all the causes. This connection strengthens his will to such an extent that no adverse psychological cause can overpower it — and it spells success and triumph.
Man's Utter Poverty Before God
The Qur'an has analyzed man's condition seeing that he has been invited to God and provided with guidance; and looking at the perfection, honor and felicity he is entitled to in the hereafter near God — and that analysis has found the man utterly poor in his person, empty-handed in his entity. God says: 'O men! you are the ones who stand in need of Allah, and Allah is He Who is the Self-sufficient, the Praised One.' Therefore, man has fallen in the pit of unhappiness, away from divine proximity, isolated in his neediness.
No Man May Declare His Own Purity
A man may possibly acquire excellence and achieve a sort of spiritual superiority. But he cannot rely on it, cannot be self-complacent on its account, unless he thinks that he is totally independent and needs no help from God. This is tantamount to the claim of divinity; he associates himself with the Lord of the universe. But how can poor man, who does not control any harm or benefit for his own self, nor has any say about his death or life, be independent of God in any good or excellence? Man in his own self and in all his conditions belongs exclusively to God — without any exception.
The Right to Purify Belongs to God Alone
No man should attribute to himself any praiseworthy characteristic, no matter whether the claim be true or false. It is not he who owns those characteristics for himself; they actually belong to God. God is the real owner of all that He has entrusted to man; it is He Who bestows superiority to whomsoever and in whatever way He pleases. In short, the right to purify someone is reserved for God. Nobody shares it with Him; anyone trying to do it starts from injustice and ends at injustice, while God purifies with truth and justice in true measure without excess or shortfall.
All Things Submit to God Alone
These are the happenings and misfortunes arranged by the highest authority of this universe, that is, God alone, Who has no partner or colleague, inasmuch as all things submit to God only—and to no one else—in their existence, continuity and all forthcoming events and incidents. This is what the Qur'an teaches us.
Abraham: The Man Who Asked His Needs of God Alone
God took Abraham as a friend because he never returned anyone empty-handed and never asked anyone for his needs other than God. This is the most correct tradition about the meaning of Abraham as the friend of God because it fits perfectly with the literal meaning of the word; al-khullah means need—therefore your khalīl is the one from whom you ask your needs alone.
All Knowledge Is Divine Guidance
Contemplation of man's condition and meditation on Qur'anic verses show that man's theoretical knowledge — all knowledge of things' characteristics and the resulting intellectual cognition — emanate from the senses, and God through it teaches him the things' characteristics. The son of Adam did not perceive that there was a planner who had arranged the matter for his thinking and learning. However, it is God Who has created mankind and led him to perfection of knowledge.
The Three Channels of Divine Guidance
Whatever knowledge is gained by man is a divine guidance and through divine guidance. However, there is difference among various types of knowledge: as for the characteristics of things found outside human mind, God gives him their knowledge through the five senses; the general comprehensive intellectual knowledge is given by God through His subjugation; the knowledge related to action which decides what is good for it and what is bad — this comes from divine inspiration, thrown into the heart, knocking on nature's door.
Mortality and Need as Proof Against Divinity
Both Messiah and his mother used to eat food; and eating food, with all that it entails, is based on the foundation of 'need.' 'Need' is the first sign of transience, and the 'needy' is something made and transient. In other words, Messiah was a transient, born of a transient; he was a servant and messenger of God, born from his mother — both mother and son worshipped God and proceeded in their lives on the path of need and dependence; in short they were not Lords.
The Psychology of Worship: Affliction Drives Man to God
Man by nature thinks that whatever blessings and benefits he has got are owned by him, are his to remain; he does not imagine that these benefits might be lost. But as for the harm which he presently experiences, and the benefits and blessings which are lost and he presently feels the pain of that loss, the nature alerts him to take refuge in a Lord Who would ward off that loss and harm, and would restore the lost blessings.
The Messengers' Humble Reply Before Divine Majesty
This reply of theirs emanates from their humility before His Grandeur and Majesty; it is a confession of their personal neediness and essential nullity vis-à-vis their True Master; keeping the manner of His audience and displaying the truth of the matter.
God's Creative Ownership: The Metaphysical Foundation of Servitude
God, the Sublime, is their owner in the creative ownership which makes them His slaves, submissive to His decree, no matter whether they knew Him or not, obeyed His commands or disobeyed. He is also their owner in the legislative ownership which obligates them to listen and obey. Nothing owns — neither by itself nor through something else — any harm or benefit, nor death, life or resurrection; and nothing becomes independent in existence by its person, attribute or action except what God has made it its owner — an ownership which does not negate God's ownership, nor transfer it from Him to someone else; rather He is the Owner of what He has made them the owner of.
The Illusion of Independent Means
The apparent means and accessories in human life have no share of reality other than toys that people play with, and illusions that occupy their lives. This is what God says: 'And this life of the world is nothing but a sport and a play.' When people take off the robe of servitude to God, they forget their Lord, which in turn leads them to forget themselves: 'Those who forgot Allah, so He made them forget their own souls — these it is that are the transgressors.'
Arrogance Against the Lord
All sins can be analyzed and reduced to a claim of egoism and conceit, where one assumes some greatness for oneself before the grandeur of God. However, all greatness belongs to Him, and He has no partner in that. Since everything is humbled before God, the entire world of existence is subservient to Him — a servant that is created by God is in no position to say 'I' before God's existence. Satan's problem was that he looked only at himself and saw his being alone as an independent entity, and failed to look up and see the Lord Who is standing above him.
The Inner Nature Perceives Truth Before the Heart Does
Since God is closer to the human being than all things, even his heart, which he uses to perceive the oneness of God before all things, He is more knowable to the human being than his heart which is his organ of perception and the way to understand Him. Thus he understands God alone, with no partner, as a deity, before comprehending that he has a heart or anything that he comprehends via his heart. While it may doubt or waver on some matters, it does not doubt that there is a single Lord over all things, and so it will never misguide anyone in identifying the true Word.
God Is the True Owner of Every Human Faculty
Since God has created the human being, and has created each and every part of it, along with their varying capabilities, His knowledge encompasses each and every part of its existence and its subordinate. He possesses all of them in the truest sense, meaning that he can employ them however he wills. He disposes of it as He likes, and a person possesses whatever of it as He likes. Thus He is the intermediary between a human being and his body parts, and every single subordinate related to him. He stands between the human being and his heart, between the human being and his hearing, between the human being and his sight, between the human being and his body, and between him and his self.
The Heart Is Held in the Fingers of the Merciful
It would be ignorance for a human being to rely only on what he finds in his heart with respect to faith in the truth or lack thereof, resolving to do good, or concern over goodness and piety. That is, it would be ignorant for him to see himself as the master of his heart. For the heart is held in the fingers of the Merciful, who turns it wheresoever He pleases. He is the true owner, in the truest sense; He encompasses it in the truest sense of the word.
God Intervenes So None May Despair or Grow Complacent
Thus, you can see that this verse is one of the most comprehensive verses of the Qur'an, and contains veritable divine truths on the topic of God's intervention with the human being. This topic cuts short the excuses of the rejectors and polytheists who disregard cognizance of God. It plucks out the weeds of hypocrisy from the root by turning the hypocrites' souls towards the status of their Lord — for He knows best what lies in their hearts. It presents a psycho-spiritual reality to the Muslims who are on the path of faith in God and His signs: they are not independent owners of their hearts, separate from their Lord in that regard.
Neither Despair Nor Complacency Can Defeat the Trusting Soul
Similarly, if a human being finds that his heart is not amenable towards the truth, or if he finds that his heart is not set upon goodness and right acts, he must hasten to respond to God and His Messenger in what they call him to that will enliven him. He should not be defeated by despair or hopelessness which assaults him from his heart. For God intervenes between the human being and his heart. He has the power to rectify what is inside him and to direct His heart towards what is best for him, to enwrap him in divine succor and mercy. The matter rests with Him.
The Two Levels of Cause: Human and Divine
By attributing these acts to God rather than to the conventional chain of cause and effect, the verse conveys divine care and oversight. This, however, does not mean that natural or known causes were not involved; that is, the faithful were actually fighting, and those who felled enemies did so themselves. Similarly, the Prophet himself threw the handful of gravel. There is no conflict between these two levels of cause and effect.
Tawakkul Is Not the Abandonment of Natural Causes
Previously, we said that 'trust in God' (tawakkul ʿalā Allāh) does not mean to abandon visible, natural causes. Rather, it means that one should not rely absolutely on the visible, natural causes, since the human being only sees part of the picture, not all of it. The fullest cause (al-sabab al-tāmm) involved in an effect is everything that exerts the divine will. Trusting in God means relying on the fact that universal causes (asbāb ʿāmmah) rotate around the axis of His will. This does not mean that the one who is trusting in God should neglect the natural causes; that would be embarking on ignorance.
Victory Comes Only from God, Not Numbers or Strength
Victory comes only from Allah alone. Allah is Mighty, Wise: This pronounces that victory, in truth, lies in God, regardless of having great numbers, strength, or valor. On that day, the idolators had greater numbers and strength than the Muslims, who were really quite a meager force. Allah is Mighty, Wise: This principle underlies everything in this verse and the related parts of the previous verses. God aids them through His might and assists them in this way through His wisdom.
The Hypocrite Mistakes the Faithful's Resolve for Delusion
The hypocrites — who made a pretence of faith but hid faithlessness — and the diseased-hearted — who had weak faith and retained doubts — mocked the faithful by saying, 'Their religion has misguided these poor things. Otherwise, they would never have marched forth to a clear defeat.' But whoever trusts in Allah — Allah is Mighty, Wise: This is the reply — that they are the ones who are deceived. These hypocrites and sick-hearted folk spoke wrongly, for the faithful trust in God and revert all matters back to Him, even if they have material causes. They unite themselves with His power and might.
Numbers Avail Nothing; God Is the Cause of Causes
Numerical superiority is only an apparent cause (sabab ẓāhirī), which will have no effect without God willing it so, for He is the Cause of Causes. You took your numerical superiority as a means of victory that was not dependent upon God, so you forgot God and you forgot to rely upon Him, relying instead on your numbers. However, it soon became apparent that your great numbers were of no avail to you and did not help you against your enemies.
True Reliance Is to Turn Away from Apparent Means
The term tawakkul (relying on God) means that the servant takes his Lord as a trustee to act on his behalf and take control of all of his affairs. In other words, the servant turns away from relying on outward causes and means at his disposal, not least because these means are not sufficient to produce the desired result by themselves. By contrast, tawakkul means relying on the one true cause in existence, to which all other causes ultimately return. This illustrates why God concludes this formula with the coda, and He is the Lord of the Great Throne, as it signifies that all authority and sovereignty belong to Him and that He rules over all things and governs all affairs.
Forgetting the Lord the Moment Relief Arrives
When a calamity or distressing hardship befalls a person, an individual consistently and unceasingly calls upon Us for relief from their suffering and persists in their supplications. However, as soon as we alleviate their affliction, they completely forget Us, and their hearts return to the same pursuits they had indulged in previously. Indeed, the deeds of those who extravagantly and excessively enjoy worldly adornments seem so alluring to them that they entirely overlook the aspect of divine lordship.
Turning All Affairs Over to God
'If my stance — in calling for monotheism or the status of prophethood — be hard on you and my reminding you of Allah's signs — which doubtless makes you want to kill me and inflict harm upon me as much as you can to free yourselves from me — I have put my trust in Allah — to guard me against the hatred towards me that coils in your chests, by turning my affair over to Him and making Him my trustee who will look after my affairs without me needing to look after anything — So conspire together, along with your partners — who you claim come to your aid in times of hardships, and resolve to do whatever seems best to you (and this is a challenge that is intended to reveal their impotence) — leaving nothing vague in your plan.'
No Contingent Being Stands Independent of God
Definitive rational arguments clearly demonstrate that existential poverty is all-pervasive and that all contingent beings stand in need of God in their essences and the traits of their essences. If their need for God is at the level of their essence, then independence from Him and isolation from Him become impossible.
The Servant's Power Is Nothing Without God
Whatever I can accomplish through my ability in managing your affairs and securing the means to guarantee your happiness, all of this is only from God. He is indispensable, and there is no escape from His grasp, and no independence from Him. He is the one who granted me whatever capability I have. He is the one who aligns the external causes by means of my ability. Therefore, both my ability and success are from Him.
Patience Is the Fortress; God Is the Driving Force
Patience is like a fortress behind which one seeks protection from an attacking enemy. However, if one wishes to truly regain the blessings of security, peace, and freedom in life, one might need another factor, a driving force towards victory. In the monotheistic belief, this force is God, in all His majestic authority. When a believer faces trials or adversities, they should first arm themselves with patience to maintain their internal spiritual order and prevent the disintegration of their faculties and emotions.
He Left Himself Out, Naming Only His Lord
He does not mention himself in the present verse: He does not say 'I will be patient', or 'I will seek God's help against what you allege.' On the contrary, he leaves out himself and mentions only the name of his Lord, showing that he believes the matter is solely in God's hands. This represents the perfection of his monotheism. He's engulfed in his sorrow and grief for Joseph, but he does not love Joseph, nor feel loss for him, except for the sake of God and through God.
The Prison Is Dearer Than What They Invite
Due to his divine upbringing, he considered the hardship of prison preferable to the pleasure of sinning and distancing himself from God. His words mirror what he told Potiphar's wife when she was alone with him and tempted him, saying, 'God forbid! Indeed He is my Lord; He has given me a good abode. Indeed the wrongdoers are not felicitous.' In both statements, there's a denunciation of sin and an affirmation of trust in God.
Apparent Causes Obedient to the One Who Commands All
God is dominant over these immediate causes; by His decree, they carry out His intentions. They have no choice but to listen and obey. However, most people are unaware, mistakenly believing that apparent causes operate independently of Him in their effects, presuming that if events head in a certain direction, nothing can divert them from their course. In this, they are utterly mistaken.
God Alone as the Perfect Trustee
Placing one's trust in God's protection is superior to relying on the protection of anyone else. This is because God, the Most High, is the most merciful of those who show mercy. He would never betray His servant, especially when the servant has entrusted something to Him with full confidence, unlike human beings.
True Reliance Is Not Denial of Means
True reliance is not about denying the role of oneself or the means one uses to achieve the outcome, but about negating any claim of independent power from oneself and the means one uses, attributing all independent and original power to God, while maintaining the basic, dependent relationship that exists between oneself and the means employed.
The Essence of Tawakkul
The verse thus clarifies firstly the essence of reliance (tawakkul), which means to entrust another with a matter related to the one relying on Him and the One on which they rely. Secondly, that ordinary means, because they are not independent in their effect and are not self-sufficient without needing what lies beyond them, necessitate that anyone who appeals to them for vital objectives must rely, along with the appeal to these means, on a cause beyond them for these means to take effect.
The Sovereignty That Cannot Be Averted
He acknowledged that the preventive measure he relied on to avert the feared disaster is not truly independent or foundational. In actuality, only God Almighty has any real effect on existence.
Complaint Only to God
I do not complain about my suffering and grief to you, my sons and family. If I did, it would have ceased in the shortest time, as is the norm for people when they express their distress and sorrow during calamities. I only complain of my suffering and grief to God, the Exalted. For He is never weary or bored by the pleas of His servants.
The Good Life Belongs to the Believer
Such a person is protected from evil and loss in whatever lies ahead, and how could it be otherwise when they have leaned on a pillar that cannot be destroyed? They have placed themselves under the protection of Almighty God — whatever is destined for them is a source of their happiness. If they are granted something, it is for their good, and if something is withheld, it is still for their good.
Iblīs and the Illusion of Self-Sufficiency
At the core of all this was his tactic to make them oblivious of their Lord's position, presenting the immediate causes in their lives as independent influencers and creators of their effects. He portrayed their souls as self-sufficient, dominating over all other causes, and managing them as they wished. This illusion led them to rely on themselves instead of God.
The Hidden Truth Revealed in Crisis
In moments of profound isolation, the human heart gravitates towards this enduring truth, recognizing it as the ultimate source, the cause beyond all causes — and that is God, the Exalted. This fundamental truth resides within individuals, deeply rooted in their inherent nature, though it may be obscured by external influences or the allure of the material world.
Hope as Proof of God
The existence of hope and expectation within the human spirit amidst severe trials, even when all visible supports fail, is itself a testament to a prevailing cause beyond these broken links. This enduring cause remains untouched by life's upheavals and consistently connected to humanity, immune to vanishing, fading, or being forgotten.
Patience Through God Alone
So be patient, and you cannot be patient except with Allah. And do not grieve for them, nor be upset by their guile.
There Is No Refuge Except Toward You
Among what I shall give you are two statements from under My Throne: 'There is no movement and no power save in God,' and 'There is no refuge from You except toward You.'
The Primordial Nature Always Points Toward God
'Turning aside' is only perceivable when there is something present but the person turns aside from it. Saying that 'mankind call God in distress but then turn aside from Him after His removal of the distress' is equivalent to saying that mankind's primary nature is always pointing to His direction.
The Soul's Illusion of Permanence
The human soul does not cling to something ephemeral because it expects it to change or disappear. The human heart only clings to what seems eternal in it — in whatever form that appears — and that is what allures people; the heart does not incline toward a thing's mortal aspects.
The Root of All Corruption
So he forgot God and relied on the causes — and this is polytheism — then turned to himself and thought that he could act without restriction upon and in control of the means. He thought that all he had was an honor for himself alone. Thus he became conceited and displayed arrogance toward his companion.
When the Embellishment Crumbles
When doom is all around, when causes fail to exert their effects, it becomes clear that to man — who used to consider himself autonomous and independent — God alone is in charge of man and everything else; He has directorial ownership because He is the True God.
Power Established in God's Name
Dhū l-Qarnayn had no need for the tribute they offered him in exchange for his erecting a barrier. He says: 'The abundance and strength in which my Lord has established me and settled on me is better than the money you promise me so I have no need for it.'
Divine Encompassment of the Angels
It is one of the most original and elegant expressions. It is in this fashion that they [the Angels] are entirely contained by divine encompassment. Indeed, the verse ultimately refers back to God Who is the Owner (Mālik) of our existence and everything pertaining to it, be it past or present.
The Magicians' Conversion: Certitude Dispels Illusion
Their hearts were overcome and the vices of cowardice, adulation, following desire and infatuation with the mirage of the embellishment of life in this world were taken away and replaced by attachment to the truth, entering under God's authority and feeling empowered by His Might. They only wanted what God desired and only wished for what God wished.
Real vs. Apparent Authority
The authority that is found in anything other than God is an apparent, notional authority that God has given that being, while at the same time He possesses the real authority over that thing in the truest sense.
God's Absolute Ownership
God is the Lord and Owner of everything; all things are His absolute property. He is entitled to do as He pleases and rule as He wishes, while no one else has such right.
Lowliness Reveals Divine Greatness
The more favored a servant is, the Master's greatness, grandeur, strength and glory will be more manifest to him, and he will feel his own lowliness, wretchedness and need more.
All Creatures Bow in Essence
All creatures, whether celestial or earthly, and whether intelligent or unintelligent, are prostrating humbly in their essence toward God's might and grandeur.
Human Life as a Divinely Planned Arc
In these three verses, we can see an outline of how human life is planned from their creation until their return to their Lord. God is their Lord Who directs their affairs, and to Him they shall return.
Universal Glorification as Proof of Divine Light
Every being in the heavens and the earth is a proof [by its very existence] that there is something beyond it, which is far from the darkness that has covered it, free from the need which is concomitant with it, and clear from the imperfection that is inseparable from it. This is God’s tasbīḥ (glorification, declaration of purity) within everything in the heavens and the earth.
Distress Opens the Gate of True Prayer
As long as one is not entrapped by distress—when he has other choices to resort to for his need—true request and petition do not emanate from him. It is only then that one's heart clings to his Lord alone.
Guidance Rests With God Alone
The meaning of guidance mentioned in this verse is to convey someone to the desired and intended destination, to convey him to a state where the heart overflows with faith. It is known that this role is reserved for God, and none shares in this role with Him.
Everything Perishable, Save God's Grace
Everything is perishable and essentially void in and of itself. It has no reality save what it possesses of God's grace which is granted to it.
The Human Being's True Poverty
The human being has no reality to him or her save what creation has entrusted it of a soul and a body and what the human being may achieve of the attributes of perfection. Instead, all of these are attributable to God while what the collective social intellect attributes to the human being of power, authority, leadership, nobility, wealth, dignity, glory, progeny and support are naught but mirages that shall perish and fade away.
Nothing Enjoys Independence From God
Nothing enjoys independence from God in anything and none deserves worship save Him.
Idols Offer No True Guardianship
Their taking-up guardians besides God, namely their gods to whom they entrust their affairs, is like a spider taking a home which is the frailest of homes, as it bears no semblance to a home save in its name; it neither repels heat nor cold, nor does it endure or protect its occupant from harm.
Wealth Credited to Self, Not God
One of them thinks that what he possesses of dignity, might, and temporal power is what divine providence and the coming together of beneficial circumstances and factors has brought to him; rather he believes that it is his own self which was the effective cause responsible for it; that it was his own knowledge that led him to it and that it was his own competence and experience which led him to take advantage of opportunities and achieve and secure his destiny.
The Divine Trust Is the Wilāyah
The trust is a matter related to the true religion (al-dīn al-ḥaqq). It is through sincerity in faith and total submission to God where a human being does not associate with any other than God that he may reach this pinnacle. So He becomes the walī (complete guardian, full authority) of the human being through ceding the management of one's affairs to Him; this is the divine wilāyah (al-wilāyah al-ilāhiyyah, full divine authority). Therefore, the trust is the divine wilāyah.
Full Dependence, Full Needlessness
For God is existentially, essentially 'rich'. He can dispense with them or obliterate them. They are the ones who are existentially, essentially 'poor'. They cannot use others to make themselves independent of God. The basis of God's being needless from them, and for them being needful towards Him is that He is the one who created them and manages their affairs.
The Inner Poverty of the Ungrateful
In short, this is because you are God's servants over whom He has dominion and who are immersed in His blessings. This is a relationship of masterhood and servanthood—which is a relationship between a master and a slave—and, as such, it does not allow for the servant to be ungrateful for the kindness of his master, to forget his master's authority, to choose other masters for himself, to disobey his own master and obey His enemy, while in truth he belongs to his master and has no ability to benefit or harm his own self.
The Human Being Forgets
The human being seems naturally predisposed towards ingratitude. This is despite his knowing God through his innate nature (fiṭra) and not hesitating to return to God in his hour of need and beg Him to alleviate his suffering.
Entrusting One's Affair to God
To entrust one's affair to God means devolving it to Him. Therefore, this approaches the meaning of tawakkul (relying on God) and taslīm (surrendering to God's will). Therefore, tafwīḍ, tawakkul, and taslīm are three of the stations of servanthood (ʿubūdiyya): First comes tawakkul, followed by tafwīḍ, which is more refined than tawakkul, followed by taslīm, which is more refined than tafwīḍ.
Signs in the Horizons and in the Soul
Is it not sufficient that your Lord is witness to all things? This is a rhetorical question that is intended as a rebuke. It means: Is it not sufficient to demonstrate the truth of the matter that your Lord is seen with all things, for there is no thing in existence save that it stands in need of Him from every aspect of its being, while God Almighty is the one who gives it subsistence and rules over it. He is known to all things, even if some things are not aware of Him.
Tawakkul and Inābah: The Two Aspects of Taking God as Guardian
From the cosmic aspect, taking God as a lord and a guardian means entrusting the matters of the universe to Him. This is by not placing one's hope in the apparent causes of things and relying solely on Him as the ultimate cause behind all causes. This is the meaning of relying on God (tawakkul). From the moral aspect, it means referring to His judgement in every situation we face in our daily lives. And this is the meaning of turning towards God frequently (inābah).
God Intervenes Between a Man and His Heart
God is closer to the human being than everything; He is even closer to him than the contents of his own soul. But this concept is not easy for most minds to assimilate, so God instead illustrated His nearness by saying: We are nearer to him than his jugular vein. This is similar in meaning to the verse: God intervenes between a man and his heart ().
Glorification of God and the Acknowledgment of Causation
When they swore that they would harvest the fruit in the morning, but did not say 'God willing,' they did not acknowledge God as a cause or as having any effect. Rather, they saw only themselves and other material causes as pertaining to cause and effect. This is an assertion of shirk. Had they but said, 'We shall harvest the fruit tomorrow, unless God wills,' they would have denied that God has any partners, for if they had not harvested successfully, it would have been due to the will of God; and if they had harvested successfully, it would have been due to the permission of God, since God alone possesses the Divine Command, with no partner.
God as the Ultimate Recourse
If God is the One Who gives existence to all other beings, it follows that any being which can be called a 'thing' (shayʾ)—other than Him—would entirely depend on Him: not only for its original essence and existence, but also for all its properties and traits. He says: Look! All creation and command belong to Him (). He also says: And the end of it all is your Lord (), where the word al-muntahā (the end, the terminus, the goal) is stated in an unqualified form. This means that He is the ultimate end that is sought (al-ṣamad) in every need and desire. Whatever is sought, the search ultimately ends in Him. It is He Who brings every search to fruition and fulfills every need.
God's Lordship as Direction of All Affairs
God—the Glorious—is at once the lord of humanity, the king of humanity, and the god of humanity. He encompasses these three aspects alone. Therefore, when confronted by an impending danger, if one wants to resort to a lord, then the Almighty God is the Lord; there is none other. If one wants to resort to a king, then the Almighty God is the King in truth, for all sovereignty and rule belong to Him. And if one wants to resort to a god, then He is the god; there is no god other than Him.