7:148 And the people of Moses, after him, took of their ornaments a calf, a body that lowed. Did they not see that it did not speak to them?
Sahl ibn ʿAbdallāh said, "Whatever in this world turns the servant away from the Real and holds him back from obeying Him is his calf, and he is its worshiper."
The worshipers of the calf among the Children of Israel were delivered when they killed themselves by command, for He said, "So kill your own souls!" [2:54]. In the same way, the servant will gain deliverance in the road of the Haqiqah when he is made pure of his own portions and the secondary causes, or rather, when he disowns everything other than the Real. Thus someone said,
Disown everything in the realm of being-
be that Heart-taker's "companion of the cave."
Did they not see that it did not speak to them? This denotes the rightful due of the Real. His description is that of a speaker who addresses the creatures and speaks to the servant, but the kings of the earth disdain to address their servitors with their tongues because of their majestic rank. In contrast, the Real put into effect His custom with His faithful servants. To the enemies He says, "Slink into it, and do not talk to Me!" [23:108]. To the faithful the Prophet said, "There is not one of you who will not be spoken to by his Lord without any interpreter between them." In this meaning they have sung,
The Magnificence does not add to their ease
when they speak to Us and We speak a little to them.