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يَٰبَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ ٱذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَتِيَ ٱلَّتِي أَنْعَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَأَوْفُواْ بِعَهْدِيۤ أُوفِ بِعَهْدِكُمْ وَإِيَّٰيَ فَٱرْهَبُونِ
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-Al-Baqarah ( البقرة )

Tafsir al-Tustari

…And be in awe of Me.Sahl was asked, ‘What is this awe (rahba) that He commanded them to feel towards Him?’ He replied:He meant by this, the [true] locating of the light of certainty (mawḍiʿ nūr al-yaqīn) in relationto the heart’s insight (baṣar al-qalb), and gnosis (maʿrifa) in relation to the entirety of the heart (kulliyat al-qalb). For endurance (mukābada) and struggle (mujāhada) are a part of faith ⸢for the sake of God (īmān li’Llāh)⸣. Then, when the heart ceases to have fear of all other than Him, the light of certainty is unveiled, and the servant who abides in faith for the sake of God, attains ⸢to faith in [or through] God (īmān bi’Llāh)⸣, with an unshakeable realisationof His oneness (tawḥīdan ʿalā tamkīn), by which I mean, his heart is in a state of tranquil and confident repose with his Master (sukūn qalbihi ilā mawlāhu). Consequently, the light of certainty unveils the knowledge of the eye of certainty (ʿilm ʿayn al-yaqīn), and this is the attainment (wuṣūl) of God, Exalted is He. For this certainty, by virtue of the light of certainty (bi-nūr al-yaqīn) that leads to the eye of certainty, is not ⸢something that is brought into being (mukawwan)⸣, nor is it something created (makhlūq); rather it is a light from the light of the essence of God (dhāt al-Ḥaqq), not in the sense of an indwelling (ḥulūl), nor of conjoining (jamʿ), or conjunction (ittiṣāl). Rather, the meaning of the servant’s attainment (ittiṣāl) of his Master refers to the [true] locating (mawḍiʿ) of his realisation of the divine oneness, and his obedience to God and His Messenger.So, according to the strength of his perception (baṣar) of God, he will attain full awareness (taqwā) and awe (rahba) of Him. The root of full awareness of God is in relinquishing the lower self (mubāyanat al-nafs), so let [the servant] relinquish [the lower self] for this, and not accommodate any of the pleasures [demanded by] its desire (hawā), nor any of those pleasures to which it [the lower self] is summoning him, and for which it has no excuse. Know that human beings will vary in rank on the Day of Resurrection according to the measure of the light of certainty that they possess. The weightier the certainty a person has the heavier will his scales weigh, even though there might [otherwise] be less in his scales.He [Sahl] was asked, ‘How can you tell the soundness of someone’s certainty?’ To which he replied:By the strength of his confidence (thiqa) in God, Exalted is He, and his good opinion (ḥusn al-ẓann) of Him. Trust in God is witnessing (mushāhada) through certainty (yaqīn), the eye of certainty (ʿayn al-yaqīn), and the wholeness [of its vision] (kulliyyatihi). Its perfection and goal is the attainment of God, Mighty and Majestic is He.

Tafsīr al-Tustarī, trans. Annabel Keeler and Ali Keeler
© 2021 Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, Amman, Jordan (http://www.aalalbayt.org) ® All Rights Reserved.
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