50:1 Qāf! By the splendorous Qur'an!
Ibn ʿA?āÌ said, "God swears an oath by the strength [quwwa] of the heart of His beloved, Muḥammad, inasmuch as he carried the Discourse that left no trace in him, because of the elevation of his state."
When someone has a dear friend, in every state he seeks his approval. He always looks at him, he whispers his secrets to him, and he swears his oaths by his spirit and secret core. He speaks of him much, and he watches out for him at home and while traveling, in sleep and in wakefulness. He considers whatever he does beautiful, and he never holds back talk and "Peace!" from him. The generous Lord, the ever-merciful king, showered the realities of these meanings on His beloved, the Seal of the Prophets, so that the world's folk would know that in the Exalted Threshold, no one has the rank, level, and distinction held by that paragon. The engendered beings and existent things are all for his sake, and His love for all is love for him.
Your creation and your upraising are as but one soul [31:28]. It has been said that this means, "for one soul," and what is meant by this soul is Muṣ?afā's essence. In all states, He sought his approval, as He says, "And in the hours of the night glorify, and at the ends of the day, that perhaps thou mayest approve" [20:130]. He sought his approval in the kiblah: "Now We shall turn thee toward a kiblah that thou shalt approve" [2:144]. He sought his approval in intercession for the community: "Thy Lord shall bestow upon thee so that thou shalt approve" [93:5]. He swore by his life: 'By thy life' [15:72]. He swore by the strength of his heart: "Qāf! By the splendorous Qur'an!" He swore by the limpidness of his love: "Sād! By the Qur'an possessing the remembrance!" [38:1]. He swore by the place of his feet: "Nay, I swear by this land!" [90:1]. He swore by his face and hair: "By the bright morning! And by the night when still!" [93:1-2].
He never veiled him from His gaze: Surely thou art in Our eyes [52:48]. Who sees thee when thou standest [26:218]. In sleep and wakefulness He kept him protected: And God will protect thee from the people [5:67]. He was his sufficiency in all of his states: Does God not suffice His servant? [39:36].
He joined him with the revelation everywhere and in every state. He was asleep when revelation came: "O enwrapped in thy cloak! [74:1]. O enwrapped in thy robe! [73:1]." He was on a camel when revelation came: "Today I have perfected your religion for you" [5:3]. He was in the road of battle when revelation came: "O people, be wary of your Lord-surely the quaking of the Hour is a tremendous thing" [22:1]. He had come out of Mecca to Juhfah when revelation came: "He who made the Qur'an obligatory upon thee shall restore thee to a place of return" [28:85]. He was in the cave when the Exalted Lord disclosed him as the second of two, when the two were in the cave [9:40]. He was grieving when revelation came: "We indeed know that thy breast is straitened by what they say" [15:97]. He was happy when revelation came: "Surely We have opened up for thee a clear opening" [48:1]. He was in Jerusalem on the night of the miʿrāj when revelation came: "And ask those We sent" [43:45]. He was in the presence of Two Bows' Length on the carpet of joy when he heard without intermediary, "Then He revealed to His servant what He revealed" [53:10].
Passion came and gave spirit and heart to the Beloved.
The Object of passion gave me a spirit from His own spirit.
Such were the wines that He gave in concealment
that one drop will not be given for a hundred thousand spirits.
The chevaliers of the Tariqah and lords of recognition have voiced another secret in the meaning of Qāf. They say that Mount Qāf, which is known to surround the world, is the work of the Qāf with which He has surrounded the hearts of the friends.
In this world, when someone wants to pass beyond Mount Qāf, his feet are held back and it is said to him, "There is no road beyond Qāf and no way to pass over it." In the same way, when someone has stepped into the realm of the heart and the desert of the breast and wants to take one step outside the attributes of the heart and the world of the breast, his foot is held in the heart's station. It is said to him, "Where are you going? I am right here with you. 'I am with those whose hearts are broken for Me.'"
The Pir of the Tariqah said, "O God, if I have, why don't I catch a scent? And if I don't, to whom shall I voice this longing? O God, when someone is given one look, his intellect takes flight. How can he who sees You constantly with the eye of the heart have any rest?"
This is a marvelous work-someone who gazes on Him and also seeks Him from Him. He is together with His seeker, so what use is seeking? This is why the Lord of the Worlds says, "We are nearer to him than the jugular vein" [50:16]. This verse alludes to the Real's proximity to the servant. As for the servant's proximity to the Real, that is as He says: "Prostrate yourself and draw near" [96:19].
Muṣ?afā said, reporting from the Real, "The servant never ceases drawing near to Me through supererogatory works until I love him." At first the servant's proximity to the Real is through faith and assenting to the truth, and at last it is through beautiful-doing and realization.
"Beautiful-doing is that you worship God as if you see Him, for if you do not see Him, He sees you." This report alludes to the heart's encounter with the Real, the secret core's convergence with the Unseen, and the spirit's contemplation during hidden, whispered prayer.
The Real's proximity to the servant is of two sorts. One is proximity with all creation through knowledge and power, like His words, "And He is with you wherever you are" [57:4]. The other is proximity with the elect of the Threshold through the characteristics of kindness and the marks bearing witness to gentleness, like His words, "We are nearer to him."
First He gives the servant proximity to the Unseen so as to keep him back from the world. Then He gives him proximity through unveiling so as to keep him back from the world's folk. Then He gives him true proximity so as to keep him back from water and clay. He decreases the marks bearing witness to the servant and increases the marks bearing witness to Himself such that, just as he was at first, so also he will be at last-attachments cut, causes dissolved, traces nullified, limits come to nothing, allusions ended, expressions negated, reports effaced, and the one Real subsisting in His rightful due. And God is better and more subsisting [20:73].
I saw my beloved with the eye of my heart.
He said, "Who are you?" I said, "You."
You have passed beyond every limit
by effacing "where," so where are you?