Kashani Tafsir

The sending down of the book is from God, the Exalted, the Wise. These words are sent down by the Lord. They are His book and message, His sweet talk and blessed speaking. They are from a Lord whose name is Exalted, which means “exalter.” The name means that He exalted the faithful by making them the object of His address and worthy of His book and message. He made their hearts the quarries of the lights of His secrets. For seven hundred thousand years the pure ones of the Empire and the proximate ones of the Exalted Threshold had put down the prayer carpets of obedient acts in the station of generous gifts. In the khanaqah of sinlessness they leaned in service on the prayer grounds of reverence: We are those in rows, We are the glorifiers [37:165-66]. At the Exalted Threshold they never found the proximity that these dust-dwellers saw, for they were mere servants, but the latter were both ser- vants and friends: He loves them, and they love Him [5:54]. We are your friends [41:31]. Those angels were flying birds, standing, devoted, and prostrating. Their subtle makeups were adorned with sinlessness and trimmed of slips. But the nests of birds are one thing, and the oyster shell of the night-brightening pearl is something else. The Adamite's makeup is the shell for the pearl of the heart, the heart is the shell for the pearl of the secret core, and the secret core is the shell for the pearl of gazing on the Real. You say, “Dust is the cause of ruin.” I say, “Their saying is 'Ruins are the homeland of the Real.'” You say, “That homeland is unknown.” I say, “The unknown homeland is the place of the sultan's treasure.” That exalted man said, “Seek the religion from the poor, for reigning kings have the custom of keeping treasures in ruined places.” [DS 466]

The sending down of the book is from God, the Exalted, the Wise. These words are sent down by the Lord. They are His book and message, His sweet talk and blessed speaking. They are from a Lord whose name is Exalted, which means “exalter.” The name means that He exalted the faithful by making them the object of His address and worthy of His book and message. He made their hearts the quarries of the lights of His secrets. For seven hundred thousand years the pure ones of the Empire and the proximate ones of the Exalted Threshold had put down the prayer carpets of obedient acts in the station of generous gifts. In the khanaqah of sinlessness they leaned in service on the prayer grounds of reverence: We are those in rows, We are the glorifiers [37:165-66]. At the Exalted Threshold they never found the proximity that these dust-dwellers saw, for they were mere servants, but the latter were both ser- vants and friends: He loves them, and they love Him [5:54]. We are your friends [41:31]. Those angels were flying birds, standing, devoted, and prostrating. Their subtle makeups were adorned with sinlessness and trimmed of slips. But the nests of birds are one thing, and the oyster shell of the night-brightening pearl is something else. The Adamite's makeup is the shell for the pearl of the heart, the heart is the shell for the pearl of the secret core, and the secret core is the shell for the pearl of gazing on the Real. You say, “Dust is the cause of ruin.” I say, “Their saying is 'Ruins are the homeland of the Real.'” You say, “That homeland is unknown.” I say, “The unknown homeland is the place of the sultan's treasure.” That exalted man said, “Seek the religion from the poor, for reigning kings have the custom of keeping treasures in ruined places.” [DS 466]

We did not create the heavens and the earth and what is between the two except with the rightful due. This means except for the sake of the rightful due and establishing the rightful due. “When I created the seven heavens and the seven earths, I brought the engendered beings and newly arrived things from nonexistence to existence. I created them so that you would recognize the rightful due of My lordhood and enactorship against yourself and you would acquiesce to My command and bow your head.” O chevalier! Doing servanthood is easy work, but being a servant is a tremendous work and a great trait. For seventy thousand years Iblis the abandoned was doing servanthood, but he was not able to be a servant for one breath. “Servanthood is to abandon free choice in all apportionments that appear.” “Servanthood is to abandon self-governance and to witness predetermination.” In the flow of apportionments you must pull out the thorn of free-choice from the foot of your own work. You must wash your hands of mortal governance in the alterations of the Lordly pre- determination. You must be a praiser beneath the burden of the decree and put a stop to gratifying the soul that seeks its own share. Only then will you reach the station of servanthood. He who worships Him for his own share is the servant of the share, not of Him. Pir Bū ʿAlī Siyāh said, “If you are asked, 'Do you want paradise, or two cycles of the prayer?,' take care not to choose paradise. Choose the two cycles of the prayer, for paradise is your portion, but the prayer is His rightful due. Whenever your portion is in the midst, even if it is a generous gift, it is permissible for it to be the ambush of deception. But performing His rightful due has no mischief or deception.” When Moses came to Khiẓr, he protested to him twice: once because of the rightful due of the boy, and the second time because of breaking the boat. Since his portion was not in the midst, Khiẓr was patient. But, in the third state, when his own portion appeared, he said, “If you wanted, you could have taken a wage for it” [18:77]. Khiẓr said, “There is no way for me to be your companion: This is separation between me and you [18:78].”

We did not create the heavens and the earth and what is between the two except with the rightful due. This means except for the sake of the rightful due and establishing the rightful due. “When I created the seven heavens and the seven earths, I brought the engendered beings and newly arrived things from nonexistence to existence. I created them so that you would recognize the rightful due of My lordhood and enactorship against yourself and you would acquiesce to My command and bow your head.” O chevalier! Doing servanthood is easy work, but being a servant is a tremendous work and a great trait. For seventy thousand years Iblis the abandoned was doing servanthood, but he was not able to be a servant for one breath. “Servanthood is to abandon free choice in all apportionments that appear.” “Servanthood is to abandon self-governance and to witness predetermination.” In the flow of apportionments you must pull out the thorn of free-choice from the foot of your own work. You must wash your hands of mortal governance in the alterations of the Lordly pre- determination. You must be a praiser beneath the burden of the decree and put a stop to gratifying the soul that seeks its own share. Only then will you reach the station of servanthood. He who worships Him for his own share is the servant of the share, not of Him. Pir Bū ʿAlī Siyāh said, “If you are asked, 'Do you want paradise, or two cycles of the prayer?,' take care not to choose paradise. Choose the two cycles of the prayer, for paradise is your portion, but the prayer is His rightful due. Whenever your portion is in the midst, even if it is a generous gift, it is permissible for it to be the ambush of deception. But performing His rightful due has no mischief or deception.” When Moses came to Khiẓr, he protested to him twice: once because of the rightful due of the boy, and the second time because of breaking the boat. Since his portion was not in the midst, Khiẓr was patient. But, in the third state, when his own portion appeared, he said, “If you wanted, you could have taken a wage for it” [18:77]. Khiẓr said, “There is no way for me to be your companion: This is separation between me and you [18:78].”

So be patient, as the messengers possessed of resoluteness were patient. And seek not to hurry it for them. On the day they see what they were promised, it will be as if they had not delayed for an hour of daytime. God's Messenger heard so many insults and ill words from the unbelievers and underwent so much suffering from them that he became anguished. Because of that anguish he wished in his heart that a punishment would reach them and they would taste chastisement. The Lord of the Worlds sent this verse: “So be patient... and seek not to hurry it. O MuḤammad, be patient with the torment and insults of the associaters and do not hasten to chastise and punish them. Emulate your brothers the prophets. They were patient with the sufferings and repellant things from their people. They knew that all of it was Our decree, so they did not complain or become anguished. You do the same that they did. O MuḤammad, so emulate their guidance [6:90]. Do you not know that one of My names is the Patient? The patient is he who does not hurry to punish: 'He gives respite but does not disregard.'” When the faithful servant believes that the Real is the Patient, he must make patience his own holdfast and support in order to increase in faith. MuṣṬafā said, “Patience is half of faith, and certainty is all of faith.” The station of patience is the station of the worshipers, and the station of certainty is the station of the recognizers. MuṣṬafā said to Ibn ʿAbbās, “If you can act for God with approval and certainty, do so. Other- wise, there is great good in patience with what you dislike.” First he called him to certainty, which is the great station and all of faith. Then he said, “If you do not have the capacity and do not reach this station, keep your feet fixed in the station of the patient, for in patience there is good aplenty. Surely the patient shall be paid their wage in full, without reckoning [39:10].” A great man was asked about the meaning of patience. He said, “Swallowing down trial with- out making claims.” It is to taste the poison of trial and then not to voice any claim.

So be patient, as the messengers possessed of resoluteness were patient. And seek not to hurry it for them. On the day they see what they were promised, it will be as if they had not delayed for an hour of daytime. God's Messenger heard so many insults and ill words from the unbelievers and underwent so much suffering from them that he became anguished. Because of that anguish he wished in his heart that a punishment would reach them and they would taste chastisement. The Lord of the Worlds sent this verse: “So be patient... and seek not to hurry it. O MuḤammad, be patient with the torment and insults of the associaters and do not hasten to chastise and punish them. Emulate your brothers the prophets. They were patient with the sufferings and repellant things from their people. They knew that all of it was Our decree, so they did not complain or become anguished. You do the same that they did. O MuḤammad, so emulate their guidance [6:90]. Do you not know that one of My names is the Patient? The patient is he who does not hurry to punish: 'He gives respite but does not disregard.'” When the faithful servant believes that the Real is the Patient, he must make patience his own holdfast and support in order to increase in faith. MuṣṬafā said, “Patience is half of faith, and certainty is all of faith.” The station of patience is the station of the worshipers, and the station of certainty is the station of the recognizers. MuṣṬafā said to Ibn ʿAbbās, “If you can act for God with approval and certainty, do so. Other- wise, there is great good in patience with what you dislike.” First he called him to certainty, which is the great station and all of faith. Then he said, “If you do not have the capacity and do not reach this station, keep your feet fixed in the station of the patient, for in patience there is good aplenty. Surely the patient shall be paid their wage in full, without reckoning [39:10].” A great man was asked about the meaning of patience. He said, “Swallowing down trial with- out making claims.” It is to taste the poison of trial and then not to voice any claim.