Kashani Tafsir

When heaven is split open.

When heaven is split open.

“O Man! Thou art toiling to thy Lord with toil, and thou shalt encounter Him.” Some commentators have said that there is a transposition here, so the meaning is this: O Man! Thou art toiling to thy Lord with toil, and thou shalt encounter Him when heaven is split open.” In other words, “O child of Adam! The Day of Resurrection is the day of uprising and upstirring, the day of decision and judgment. God's awesomeness and harshness and the resurrection's hardness and tremendousness will split open the heavens. In humility and submissiveness the heavens will come under and acquiesce to the Real's command, and so also the earths. On that day, O Adamite, you will see whatever you did in this world-the troubles you took and the good and the evil you stored away-and you will find a recompense appropriate to your own doing and speaking.” O indigent man! If you want not to have wasted your life and not to be disgraced before witnesses tomorrow at the greatest gathering place and most tremendous courtyard, then put into practice today the advice that the Pir of the Tariqah used to give to his disciples: “Yesterday passed you by in your ignorance, and you cannot know what you will find tomorrow. Take advantage of today, for this is where you are and where you can act. Then tomorrow there will be no regrets.” A man must be the owner of the present moment. The owner of the present moment is some- one whose occupation at the moment goes by with neither thought of the past nor reflection on the future. Reflecting on days past and pondering days future are to waste the moment. Anyone who recognizes his own present moment and accepts his moment will at once keep himself so busy with the religion that he will have no concern for yesterday and tomorrow. The great ones have said, “The Sufi is the child of the moment.” The man who is a Sufi, that is, in a state of “limpidness” [ṣafāÌ], is the child of his own moment, far from everything familiar to his nature. Ḥasan Baṣrī said, “I have found people who were chevaliers and generous with this world. They would give away the whole world without reminding anyone of the favor, but with their own present moments they were so stingy that they would not give one breath of their own days to their fathers or children.

“O Man! Thou art toiling to thy Lord with toil, and thou shalt encounter Him.” Some commentators have said that there is a transposition here, so the meaning is this: O Man! Thou art toiling to thy Lord with toil, and thou shalt encounter Him when heaven is split open.” In other words, “O child of Adam! The Day of Resurrection is the day of uprising and upstirring, the day of decision and judgment. God's awesomeness and harshness and the resurrection's hardness and tremendousness will split open the heavens. In humility and submissiveness the heavens will come under and acquiesce to the Real's command, and so also the earths. On that day, O Adamite, you will see whatever you did in this world-the troubles you took and the good and the evil you stored away-and you will find a recompense appropriate to your own doing and speaking.” O indigent man! If you want not to have wasted your life and not to be disgraced before witnesses tomorrow at the greatest gathering place and most tremendous courtyard, then put into practice today the advice that the Pir of the Tariqah used to give to his disciples: “Yesterday passed you by in your ignorance, and you cannot know what you will find tomorrow. Take advantage of today, for this is where you are and where you can act. Then tomorrow there will be no regrets.” A man must be the owner of the present moment. The owner of the present moment is some- one whose occupation at the moment goes by with neither thought of the past nor reflection on the future. Reflecting on days past and pondering days future are to waste the moment. Anyone who recognizes his own present moment and accepts his moment will at once keep himself so busy with the religion that he will have no concern for yesterday and tomorrow. The great ones have said, “The Sufi is the child of the moment.” The man who is a Sufi, that is, in a state of “limpidness” [ṣafāÌ], is the child of his own moment, far from everything familiar to his nature. Ḥasan Baṣrī said, “I have found people who were chevaliers and generous with this world. They would give away the whole world without reminding anyone of the favor, but with their own present moments they were so stingy that they would not give one breath of their own days to their fathers or children.

He shall surely be called to account with an easy accounting and he shall return joyful to his folk. The unseen subtleties will appear to you from behind this curtain:

He shall surely be called to account with an easy accounting and he shall return joyful to his folk. The unseen subtleties will appear to you from behind this curtain:

He shall surely be called to account with an easy accounting and he shall return joyful to his folk. The unseen subtleties will appear to you from behind this curtain:

He shall surely be called to account with an easy accounting and he shall return joyful to his folk. The unseen subtleties will appear to you from behind this curtain:

You shall surely ride stage after stage. You will be taken to this elevated place:

You shall surely ride stage after stage. You will be taken to this elevated place:

They shall have a reward unfailing. A reward that is not cut off and not curtailed. It has also been said that you shall surely ride stage after stage alludes to the stations of MuṣṬafā. Before the Exalted Lord placed his pure and luminous spirit in the oyster of dust, He kept him in three stations: the station of proximity so that he would find familiarity, the station of gentleness so that he would find expansiveness, and the station of awe so that he would find cour- tesy. He took care of his business with His gentleness, He caressed him with His proximity, and He melted him with His awe in the crucible of fear. Then, when he came into the world, whoever gazed upon him found fear from his station of awe, hope from his station of familiarity, and love from his station of proximity. Some of the commentators have said that stage after stage alludes to the degrees and way sta- tions of his elevation and proximity on the night of the miʿrāj. The Real attracted his secret core, his secret core attracted his spirit, his spirit attracted his heart, and his heart attracted his soul. The engendered being began to seek the soul, the soul began to seek the heart, the heart began to seek the spirit, the spirit began to seek the secret core, the secret core began to seek the contemplation of the Real. The engendered being shouted out, “Where is the soul? I have no rest without the soul.” The soul began to shout, “Where is the heart? I have no rest without the heart.” The heart began to shout, “Where is the spirit? I have no rest without the spirit.” The spirit began to shout, “Where is the secret core? I have no rest without the secret core.” The secret core began to shout, “Where is the contemplation of the Real? I have no rest without the contemplation of the Real.” Then he drew close in his soul, and he came down in his heart, until he was two-bows' length away in his spirit or closer [53:8-9] in his secret core. This is the meaning of His words, “You shall surely ride stage after stage.”

They shall have a reward unfailing. A reward that is not cut off and not curtailed. It has also been said that you shall surely ride stage after stage alludes to the stations of MuṣṬafā. Before the Exalted Lord placed his pure and luminous spirit in the oyster of dust, He kept him in three stations: the station of proximity so that he would find familiarity, the station of gentleness so that he would find expansiveness, and the station of awe so that he would find cour- tesy. He took care of his business with His gentleness, He caressed him with His proximity, and He melted him with His awe in the crucible of fear. Then, when he came into the world, whoever gazed upon him found fear from his station of awe, hope from his station of familiarity, and love from his station of proximity. Some of the commentators have said that stage after stage alludes to the degrees and way sta- tions of his elevation and proximity on the night of the miʿrāj. The Real attracted his secret core, his secret core attracted his spirit, his spirit attracted his heart, and his heart attracted his soul. The engendered being began to seek the soul, the soul began to seek the heart, the heart began to seek the spirit, the spirit began to seek the secret core, the secret core began to seek the contemplation of the Real. The engendered being shouted out, “Where is the soul? I have no rest without the soul.” The soul began to shout, “Where is the heart? I have no rest without the heart.” The heart began to shout, “Where is the spirit? I have no rest without the spirit.” The spirit began to shout, “Where is the secret core? I have no rest without the secret core.” The secret core began to shout, “Where is the contemplation of the Real? I have no rest without the contemplation of the Real.” Then he drew close in his soul, and he came down in his heart, until he was two-bows' length away in his spirit or closer [53:8-9] in his secret core. This is the meaning of His words, “You shall surely ride stage after stage.”