Tafsir alTustari Sura البقرة Ayah No. 197

And take provision, but the best of provisions is mindfulness of God... He [Sahl] said:It [mindfulness of God, taqwā] is the [best travelling] companion (rafīq) leading to the remembrance(dhikr) of God, Exalted is He, in fear (khawfan); just as there is no [travelling] provision (zād) for the lover (muḥibb) save the Beloved (maḥbūb), and no provision for the possessor of mystical knowledge (ʿārif) save the Known (maʿrūf). [Continuing on from this] Sahl explained that the words, If he is able to make his way there [3:97] are an allusion to the provision (zād) and the riding beast (rāḥila). He then asked, ‘Do you know what the provision and riding beast are?’ They replied: ‘No’. So he said, ‘The provision is remembrance (dhikr) and the riding beast is patience (ṣabr).’ Then he went on to relate how a man had accompanied him on the road to Mecca, and for two days had not found anything [to eat], so he said, ‘O teacher! I need sustenance!’ to which he [Sahl] replied, ‘Sustenance is God.’ The other man then said, ‘One cannot do without sustenance for the body to function.’ To which he replied, ‘All bodies exist [only] through God, Mighty and Majestic is He.’ Then he recited the following lines [in the basīṭ metre]:O Beloved, replenish [my longing]! May the water of longing pour down upon you from the rain cloud,Whose pouring increases my sorrows and anguish.An anguish remains in my heart, consuming me,Truly as love increases, with it will increase my rapture. After that, he said, ‘It is the world that severs those who are devoted to God from God, Mighty and Majestic is He.’ Finally, he said, ‘The livelihood (ʿaysh) of angels is in obedience (ṭāʿa); the livelihood of the prophets is in knowledge (ʿilm) and waiting for relief (intiẓār al-faraj); and the livelihood of the veracious (ṣiddīqūn) is in emulation (iqtidāʾ). As for the rest, their livelihood is in food and drink.
…So fear me, O people of inner substance (ulū’l-albāb)![Sahl said] that this means:‘O people of understanding (fahm)!’ That is, those who are possessed of sound intellects (ʿuqūl salīma). Truly God, Exalted is He, has commanded them to be aware of Him according to the capacity of their intellects, by virtue of that which He has specially allotted them, such as: the light of guidance by His essence; [their] receptivity to [that light] from Him; His having singled them out by depositing something (maʿnā) within them; and His knowledge of them prior to their creation. So [in this verse], He reminded them of that bounty He had granted to them, and summoned them by this antecedent bounty to recognise a second bounty after their pre-eternal gift, which is the reality of gnosis (maʿrifa), and to accept [that] knowledge by dedicating their actions to Him.It was asked [of him], ‘What is the meaning and reality of mindfulness of God (taqwā)?’ He answered:Its reality belongs to God, Mighty and Majestic is He, by virtue of the fact that you will be pressed on to death while in possession of few good deeds, and likewise [that you will be pressed on to the] punishment for your sins. Thus [the one who is mindful of God] knows this and fears Him, and does not rely on anything save Him.Someone said to him, ‘Truly, the reasons for people’s mindfulness of God vary.’ He affirmed this and added, ‘Just as their deeds vary.’ Abū Bakr [al-Sijzī] then said, ‘I mentioned that it is confirmed in the Qurʾān that the awareness that every man [has of God] is according to his capacity.’ He [Sahl] replied, ‘Yes, indeed. God, Exalted is He, has said, So be aware of God as much as you can; listen and obey... [64:16].’ Thus does He direct them to what is within their capability.’ So I [Abū Bakr] then said to him, ‘Truly God, Exalted is He, has said, Fear God as He should be feared [3:102]’, to which Sahl replied:As for our companions, they say that this is addressed to a people distinguished by their eminence, because what was demanded of them was not [even] demanded of the prophets (Â). And as both Abraham and Jacob said to their children: ‘My sons, God has chosen for you the [true] religion; see that you do not die save in submission’ [2:132]. So truly God requires His creatures to worship Him according to their [individual] capacities. For those who were told, ‘Fear God as He should be feared’, awareness of God (taqwā) was demanded of them in the measure of their knowledge (maʿrifa) of Him. What is meant here is ‘Fear God as He should be feared’, as much as you can. This does not, however, constitute permission to abandon awareness of God. [Note that] in the context of Sūra Āl ʿImrān, the words: See that you do not die save in submission [3:102] mean: submitting to God’s command in every condition and consigning [your affairs] to Him, while others are directed back to striving (ijtihād). So understand the difference between the two in this address, for although the wording is the same, the implication differs, the one [applicable] to the elect, and the other to the generality of people. Abū Bakr [al-Sijzī] then related that Sahl said:If those who are mindful of God (muttaqūn) had supplicated against the transgressors, (musrifūn), they [the latter] would have perished, both those who came first and those who come last. HoweverGod made the mindful of God as a mercy for the oppressors (ẓālimūn), that by means of them He might save them, and indeed the most noble (akram) of creatures before God, Mighty and Majestic, are those who are [fully] mindful and aware of Him. As He has said, Truly the noblest of you in the sight of God is the one among you who is most mindful of Him.’ [49:13] So whoever hopes for God’s favour (karāma), Mighty and Majestic is He, should be mindful of Him, for truly it is through mindfulness of God that a person may attain God’s favour and admittance into Paradise, abide in His vicinity, and triumph with a tremendous victory. Indeed the Prophet

said, ‘Whoever corrects his inner self [lit. secret, sarīra] will find that God puts right his public life and whoever fears God in his innermost secret, will find that God draws him nearer and brings him close [to Him].

Tafsīr al-Tustarī, trans. Annabel Keeler and Ali Keeler
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