[1:7] the path of those whom You have favored,
It means the way (?arīq) of those whom You have favored with guidance to the straight path and these are the friends (awliyāÌ) and chosen ones (aṣfiyāÌ). It is said it is the way of those whom You have annihilated from themselves and raised up through You for You. They do not stop along the way and the secrets of the divine ruse (makr) do not keep them from You. It is said it is the path of those whom You have favored with upholding Your rights (ḥuqūq) without being moved towards the seeking of their worldly fortunes (ḥuẓūẓ).
It is said it is the path of those whom You have purified from their [human] traces (āthār) so that they reach You through You.
It is said it is the path of those whom You have favored to the point that they are wary of the tricks of Satan and the errors of the lower selves and the imaginings of opinions and conjectures about arriving before the extinguishing of carnal human traces (āthār al-bashariyya).
It is said it is the path of those whom You have favored with discernment and seeking help through You, and with declaring themselves free of power and strength, and with witnessing the felicity that has been already been determined for them, and with knowledge through the affirmation of Your unity of that which will come to pass causing happiness and harm.
It is said it is the path of those whom You have favored with being mindful of refined behavior (adab) at the times of service and being filled with the quality of awe (hayba).
It is said it is the path of those whom You have favored by causing them to be mindful in the good manners (ādāb) and precepts (aḥkām) of the law [even] under the sway of onslaughts of realities (bawādih al-ḥaqāÌiq), so that they do not go beyond the limit of knowledge and do not violate any of the precepts of the law.
It is said it is the path of those whom You have favored so that the suns of what they have come to know will not extinguish the lights of their scrupulousness (waraʿ) and they will not neglect any of the precepts of the law.
It is said it is the path of those whom You have favored with servanthood (ʿubūdiyya) at the time of the manifestation of the authority of reality.
[1:7 cont'd] not [the path] of those against whom there is wrath, nor of those who are astray.
Those against whom there is wrath are those hit by the blows of withdrawn assistance (hawājim al-khidhlān) and overtaken by the afflictions of deprivation (maṣāÌib al-ḥirmān). They suffer the attack of rejection (sa?wa al-radd) and are overwhelmed by the onslaughts of repulsion (bawādih al-ṣadd) and banishment.
It is said they are those afflicted by the ignominy of abasement (hawān) and the calamity of loss (khusrān) for they are occupied in the present moment in seeking worldly things. In truth it is a deception (makr), and they suppose that they are [standing] on something [58:18], but the Real has a secret regarding their misery.
It is said they are those who were delighted by the fragrances of drawing near for a time but then the Real (s) exposed the remoteness of their situation. Communion was exchanged for distance in them. They craved nearness but did not find the object of their desires. Those are the ones whose striving was in vain and whose thinking went wrong.
It is said not [the path] of those against whom there is wrath in [their] forgetting [His] granting of success (tawfīq) and [their] blocking the vision of [His] support (taÌyīd). Nor of those who have gone astray from witnessing the choice already made (sābiq al-ikhtiyār) and the flow of changing events and God's decrees (al-taṣārīf wa'l-aqdār).
It is said not [the path] of those against whom there is wrath in their neglecting the good manners of service and their carelessness in performing the obligations of obedience.
It is said not [the path] of those against whom there is wrath: they are those who have been cut off in the deserts of absence. Anxieties have scattered them in the torrents of ways of conjecturing.
[Section] The servant says 'Amen' when reciting this sura and this is recommended practice (sunna). Its meaning is 'O Lord, I act. Do Thou respond'. It is as if one calls out in saying this for the success granted [by God] for actions (al-tawfīq li'l-ʿamāl) and the realization of hopes (al-taḥqīq li'l-āmāl). His feet are planted on the plains of need and he whispers to the presence of liberality by the tongue of supplication and implores the presence of generosity by absolving himself of power, energy, strength and ability. And indeed the most powerful instrument for the one in need is to cling unceasingly to seeking assistance in becoming sincere in one's cry for help.