[1:4] Master of the day of Judgement.
The master (mālik) is the one to whom sovereignty (mulk) belongs. The sovereignty of the Real (swt) is His power over creating (ibdāʿ). Master (mālik) is a more intensive form than King (malik) and He (s) is both King and Master and sovereignty is His. Just as there is no god but He, there is none with the power to create except Him. He is alone in His divinity and singular in His sovereignty. He rules the souls of His worshippers (ʿābidīn) for He has granted agency to them (ṣarrafahā) in His service. He rules the hearts of the knowers (ʿārifīn) for He honors them (sharrafahā) with knowledge of Him. He rules the souls of the seekers (qāṣidīn) for He holds them in his thrall (tayyamahā). He rules the hearts of the ecstatics (wājidūn) for He bewilders them (hayyamahā). He rules the bodily forms (ashbāḥ) of those who worship Him and He is kind to them with his gifts and favors. He rules the spirits (arwāḥ) of those whom He loves and He unveils the attribute of His majesty to them and the quality of His beauty. [He is] the King of the reins of the lords of the profession of unity and He turns them about wherever He wills as He wills and He grants them success wherever He wills as He wills. He does not entrust them to themselves for even a moment. He does not transfer power to them in their affair for even the shortest period of time. He is for them in place of themselves and He has annihilated them from themselves to Him.
[Section] His beneficence rules the hearts of the worshippers and they desire His gifts. His authority rules the hearts of those who declare unity and they are content with His abiding. He teaches the lords of the profession of union that He is their master (mālik) and their free choice (ikhtiyār) drops away from them. They come to know that the servant has no ownership, and the one who has no ownership has no governing power (ḥukm), and the one who has no governing power has no free choice. There is no turning away (iʿrā?) from obedience to Him for them and no resistance (iʿtirā?) to His governing power. There is no opposition (muʿāra?a) to His free choice, and no undertaking (taʿarru?) of disobedience to Him.
The day of Judgement is the day of recompense and resurrection, the day of reckoning and gathering. The Real (swt) repays each as He wishes and on the day of reckoning, there are those who are accepted by His favor, and not for their acts, and those who are rejected by His decree, and not for their sins. He settles the accounts for the enemies and then punishes them. But He chides the friends in a mild way and then draws them close:
A people who,
when they vanquished us,
were generous
in letting us go.