3:73 Do not have faith in any but those who follow your religion. Say: "Surely the guidance is God's guidance," lest anyone should be given the like of what you have been given, or dispute with you before your Lord. Say: "Surely the bounty is in God's hand. He gives it to whomsoever He wills." And God is all-embracing, knowing.
Some of the commentators have said that here God is addressing the Muslims and caressing the folk of recognition and faith. He is reminding them of His favor toward them with the religion of the submission. The address then has two paths. In one respect it is addressed to the common faithful of this community, and in the other respect it is address to the recognizers and the elect among the folk of the Tariqah.
The first respect is this: "O assembly of submitters! Do not suppose or hold firm that anyone has been given what has been given to you. There is no religion like the religion of the submission, and it was given to you. There is no book like the Qur'an, and it was given to you. There is no prophet like Muḥammad, and he was given to you. There is no month like Ramadan, and it belongs to you. There is no day like Friday, and it belongs to you. All the shariahs have been abrogated by your shariah, and all the compacts have been abrogated by your compact. The perfection of the religion and the Shariah and the beauty of the Tariqah and the Haqiqah are all in your covenant." This is in His words, "Today I have perfected your religion for you and I have completed My blessings upon you and I have approved the submission for you as a religion" [5:3].
"Now give gratitude for this blessing, give thanks to your Object of Worship, and obey the command. The command is this: 'Do not have faith in any but those who follow your religion.' Do not exercise friendship with any but those who share your religion, and do not show brotherhood to any but the faithful. Keep away from the irreligious and the estranged." This is just what He says in this verse: "Do not lean upon those who do wrong, lest the Fire touch you" [11:113]. He also says, "Thou wilt not find a people having faith in God and the Last Day loving those who oppose God and His Messenger" [58:22].
"Then see all this blessing and generosity from the Object of your worship and remember His favor. Do not place any cause in the midst along with Him and do not associate any others, for guidance and going astray, higherness and lowerness, all are from His bounty and justice, all by His desire and decree. Say: "Surely the guidance is God's guidance." Say: "Surely the bounty is in God's hand."
The other respect is that this is addressed to the recognizers and it caresses the lovers. He is saying, "Do not divulge the Real's secrets to other than its folk." Do not tell the mystery of love to anyone and do not make manifest the secret of poverty to the unworthy. Conceal the face of the Reality's beauty with the mask of inaccessibility, so that the eyes of the non-privy may not gaze at it.
When you drink wine, drink it with a privy, pain-filled companion.
When you lose it all, lose with a clever, wise companion. [DS 972]
Shiblī had a secret with the Real. He said, "Lord God, why did You take Ḥusayn Manṣūr [Ḥallāj] away from us?"
He said, "I gave him a mystery and showed him a secret. He gave it out to the unworthy. I brought on him what you saw."
The command came, "O Muḥammad, thou seest them looking at thee, but they do not see [7:198]. Do you fancy that ʿAtaba, Shayba, Walīd Mughayra, and Abū Jahl see you? No, of course not! They have the eyes of the non-privy. They are not worthy of witnessing your beauty. Let them go. Do not occupy a corner of your heart with them. For a while attend to Bilāl, Salmān, and Ṣuhayb, for they are accepted by the witnesses to the empire and lifted up by the Threshold of Unity. O Muḥammad, put aside self-determination, accept My decree, and be grateful for My blessings. Singling out for guidance and bestowing recognition is the work of My Divinity." This is why the Lord of the Worlds,