3:28 Let not the faithful take the disbelievers as friends instead of the faithful…. God warns you of Himself, and God is clement to the servants.
The reality of the servant's faith and the final goal of his traveling on the path of tawḥīd takes him back to God's friendship. The reality of friendship is conformity, that is, being a friend of His friend and an enemy of His enemy. The master of the Shariah alluded to this with his words, “The most reliable handhold of faith is love in God and hate in God.”
The traditions say that the Lord of the Worlds sent a revelation to one of the former prophets: “Say to the servants, 'In this world you have taken up renunciation in order to hurry to your own comfort and be relieved of this world's suffering. With your obedience and worship you have sought your own exaltation and your own good name. Now look: What have you done for Me? Have you ever loved My friends? Have you ever taken My enemies as your enemies?”
This is exactly what He said to Jesus: “O Jesus, if the worship of all the inhabitants of heaven and earth accompanies you in the path of the religion, but you have no love for My friends and no enmity for My enemies, then your worship has been useless and without profit.”
It is reported that Abū Idrīs Khawlānī said to Muʿādh, “I love you in the path of God.”
Muʿādh said, “Let it be good news! I heard God's Messenger say that on the Day of Resurrection, God will place seats around the Splendorous Throne for a group whose faces will be like the full moon. Everyone will be fearful because of the awe of the resurrection, but they will be secure. Everyone will be in dread, but they will be still. It was said, 'O Messenger of God! Which group is this?'
“He said, 'Those who love each other in God.'”
It has also been related that God says, “I have obligated My love on those who love each other in Me, sit with each other in Me, visit each other in Me, and spend freely on each other in Me.”
Mujāhid said, “When God's friends smile in each other's faces, their sins fall away like leaves from a tree. They will reach God pure, and He will take them into His shelter and security at the resurrection.”
The great ones of the religion have said that if someone is not on guard today, tomorrow he will not reach this security. For, inevitably, security comes after being on guard. The servant's being on guard is the fruit of the Real's warning, of which He spoke in two places: “God warns you of Himself” [3:28, 3:30]. This is not addressed at the generality of the faithful, but rather at the elect among the folk of recognition. He makes them fear Him Himself, without bringing an intermediary into the midst. Elsewhere when He addresses the generality of the faithful He says, “Be wary of the Fire” [3:131] and “Be wary of a day when you will be returned to God” [2:281]. Anyone who possesses insight knows what a difference there is between these two modes of address.