2:185 The month of Ramadan is that wherein the Qur'an was sent down as guidance.
In other words, the month of Ramadan has come to you. He is saying, "Now the month of Ramadan has turned to the friends. It is a month that both washes and burns. It washes the hearts of the sinners with the water of repentance and burns the bodies of the servants with the fire of hunger."
The word Rama?ān is derived either from ram?āÌ or rama?ī. If it is from ram?āÌ, it means hot stone, which burns whatever is placed upon it. If it is from rama?ī, it means rain, which washes whatever it meets. Muṣ?afā was asked, "What is Ramadan?" He replied, "In it God burns the sins of the faithful and forgives them for them."
Anas Mālik said that he heard God's Messenger say, "Ramadan has come. In it the gates of the Garden are opened, the gates of the Fire are shut, and the satans are fettered. If someone reaches Ramadan and is not forgiven, then when?"
He also said, "Were God to give the heavens and earth permission to speak, they would give those who fast during Ramadan the good news of the Garden."
Poor man, you do not know the worth of this blessing. You are caressed everywhere in the world, and eminence has been put down next to you, but you are unaware. The submission, which is higher and better than all the creeds, is your religion. The Qur'an, which is more exalted than all the books, is your book. Muṣ?afā, who is the master of Adam's children, the eyes and lamp of the empire, the leader of the world's folk at the resurrection, is your messenger. The Kaabah, which is the most eminent of spots, is your kiblah. The month of Ramadan, which is more excellent and eminent than all others months, is your month and the season of your practice. It is a month in which all acts of disobedience are forgiven, the satans subjugated, paradise embellished and its doors open, and the doors of hell shut. In it the bazaar of the workers of corruption is broken, the deeds of the obedient are joined with self-purification, and past sins and recorded defilements are burned.
The Commander of the Faithful ʿAlī said, "Had God wanted to chastise Muḥammad's community, He would not have given them the month of Ramadan, nor the surah, 'Say: He is God, One' [112]."
Here the lords of recognition see another intimation. They say that it is called "Ramadan" because in this month the Exalted Lord washes other than Himself from the hearts of the recognizers, then He burns them in His love. Sometimes He keeps them in fire, sometimes in water, sometimes thirsty, sometimes drowning. The drowning are not quenched, the thirsty have no sleep. The tongue of their state is saying,
"If He burns you, say 'Burn!', if He caresses, say 'Caress!'
The man of passion had best be in the midst of water and fire,
first to be burned by the one, then to be drowned by the other.
Once selfless of self, his Beloved will be in his arms."
This is why the Pir of the Tariqah, having been asked about togetherness, said, "It is that someone falls into the grasp of the Real. When someone falls into the grasp of the Real, he is incinerated there, but the Real is behind him."
In passion for You I'm headless and perplexed,
the thread has slipped from the hand of my hope,
Like a candle in the early morning-
melted, burned, and killed.