Surah 113: al-Falaq
113:1 Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of the daybreak.
The road of the common servants, in keeping with the outwardness of this verse, is continually to seek refuge in the Lord of the world's folk from the evil of the bad, the deceit of the deceivers, the envy of the enviers, and the bad things that happen in the world. This is why Muṣ?afā said, “Seek refuge in God from the effort of trial, the grasp of wretchedness, the ugliness of the decree, and the schadenfreude of enemies.” He also used to say, “O God, I seek refuge in Thee from incapacity, indolence, cowardice, miserliness, senility, and the chastisement of the grave. O God, I seek refuge in Thee from poverty, paucity, and abasement, and I seek refuge in Thee from wronging and being wronged. I seek refuge in Thee from dissension, hypocrisy, and ugly character traits.”
Such is the path of the common faithful: putting the outwardness of the Shariah into practice and, at the time of trial, lifting up the hands in supplication and pleading and asking for well-being from the Real. As for the road of the chevaliers of the Tariqah and the lords of the Haqiqah, it is surrender and approval. To this He alludes with His words, “Except for him who comes to God with a sound heart” [26:89].
It has been said, “Leave the governance to Him who created you and you will be at ease.” Leave the governance of the work to the Lord of the work. Surrender intervention in created things to the Creator. Put aside the road of protest. Do not oppose and meddle. Do not turn away from His threshold. Consider Him your trustee, guarantor, and care-taker. Then you will have acquiesced to this command: “Take Him as a trustee” [73:9].
Whenever surrender to Him and approval of Him come together in a heart, that person will be joined with soundness as hard cash and that breast will be exempted from the blights of mortal nature. Surrender is the degree of Ishmael and Abraham. Abraham was addressed with the word “Submit!,” and he answered, “I submit” [2:131]. His son saw the mark of surrender from his father and, by his father's teaching, he put on the garment of surrender. The splendorous Qur'an reports the surrender of father and son: “When the two of them submitted” [37:103]. In this world surrender is the peg of the religion and in that world it is the key to the Abode of Peace. Approval is that you be a servant who is pleased and happy with everything that happens, and you await God's decree. Surrender is that you turn over the work of the created things to the Creator.