[4:1] O people, fear your Lord, Who created you of a single soul, and from it created its mate, and from the pair of them scattered many men and women; and fear God by whom you claim [your rights] from one another and kinship ties. Surely God has been watchful over you.
'People' (al-nās) is a generic noun whose etymology is uncertain. It is said man (al-ins) is called human (ins) because of his outward visibility (ẓuhūr). According to this, the allusion is: 'O you who I have made appear from the concealment of non-existence (ʿadam) by the decree of My prescriptive command (taklīf), then I chose whom I willed from you for My honoring, and deprived whom I willed among you of My guidance and giving knowledge, and moved you to what I willed - rather, conjoined you to what I willed by the decree of My free disposal'.
It is said: 'I did not cause anything else like you to appear from nonexistence and did not make appear to anyone else what I made appear to you in your states.
It is said: 'I named you 'mankind' (insān) because of your forgetfulness (nisyān). Surely, if you forget Me, there is nothing of lesser value than you but if you forget all that is other than me, there is none who sees more clearly than you'.
It is said there is no limit to the trial of the one who forgets the Real, while there is no end to the sublimity of the state of the one who forgets creation.
It is said: He said to the sinners, 'O you who have forgotten My covenant, who have rejected My love and gone beyond My limit, it is time for you to return to My door so that you may lay claim to My kindness and affirmation'. He said to those who know, 'O you who have forgotten your worldly portion in Us, and have kept your glance and expression from any other, your right has become of great magnitude for Us. Helping you has become incumbent with Us and your value has been exalted before us.
It is said, 'O you who have been gladdened (anista) by the breeze of My hospitality, who have found rest in the witness of My face, and who have been overcome by the majesty of My measure - you are the most sublime of My servants to Me'.
Fear your Lord: God-fearingness (taqwā) is the sum of all the acts of obedience. The first part of it is abandoning polytheism (shirk) and the last part of it is being wary (ittiqāÌ) of everything other [than Him]. The foremost of those things which are other [than Him] for you is your lower self (nafs) and those who are wary of themselves stand with God without any station (maqām) and without witnessing any state (hāl). They stand for God, not for the sake of witnessing any portion in this life or the end.
Who created you of a single soul, who is Adam (ʿa). Since we were created from him and he was created by the Hand [of God], we are also thus. Just as the merit of Adam (ʿa) appeared through him over all created beings and things, so are we to be described. God Most High said: they are the best of creatures [98:7].
The term 'soul' (nafs) is for the generality and generality necessarily entails universality.
And from it created its mate: The Real (s) decreed the cohabiting of humans one with another in order to perpetuate offspring and to restore the similar with the similar, so He connected like to like.
And from the pair of them scattered many men and women: He has made known to intelligent beings the perfection of the deliberative power in what He has made appear from the demonstrative proofs of divine lordship and indications of wisdom, inasmuch as the creation of all mankind is from the progeny of a single person in spite of all the differences in their outward appearances, the variety of their forms, and the disparity in their characters. Surely no two of them are alike and each has a particular face in form and character, and in aspiration and state, so glory be to the One for Whom there is no limit to the things which He has decreed and made known.
And fear God: a repetition of the command to God-fearingness that emphasizes His decree.
You claim [your rights] from one another and kinship ties: i.e., you are wary of cutting off kinship ties, for whoever cuts off kin is himself cut off and whoever connects with them is connected.
Surely God has been watchful over you, observing, witnessing, counting every one of your breaths, seeing your senses. He is governing your steps, generating your movements and absence of movement. Whoever knows that He is a watcher over him should be shy before Him.