[3:153-154] When you were ascending, not turning around for anyone and the Messenger was calling you from your rear, so he rewarded you with grief for grief so that you might not grieve for what escaped you, neither for what befell you; and God is aware of what you do. * Then He sent down upon you, after grief, security - a slumber overcoming a party of you, and a party whose own souls distressed them, thinking wrongly of God, thoughts of age of ignorance, saying, 'Have we any part whatever in the affair?' Say: 'The affair belongs entirely to God'. They conceal within their hearts what they do not disclose to you, saying, 'Had we had any part in the affair, we would not have been slain here'. Say: 'Even if you had been in your houses, those for whom it had been appointed that they be slain would have sallied forth to the places where they were to lie' that God might try what was in your breasts and that He might prove what was in your hearts; and God knows what is in the breasts.
The allusion in this verse is to people for whom a period of weakness occurs. The calls of the Real (s) come from within and without, so that it is as if the rocks in the streets and the bricks in the walls are crying out to such a one, 'Don't do it, O servant of God!' But he is resolved upon his crooked way and settled in his error, refusing to acknowledge what he knows is more fitting and appropriate in his state. If he were to accomplish his wish and fulfill his aspiration, he would undoubtedly rein himself in and would hold back from galloping ahead, for he will obtain nothing but gasping breaths and continuous sorrows. The Real (s) has caused him to inherit only estrangement. Eventually, when he has been in this place of regret for a long time, the Real (s) will relieve him with His beautiful kindness and draw him near with His gracious affection. He will deliver him from the narrowness of his captivity and transfer him to the spaciousness of His pardon and favor. Many of these will reach the place of the most respected, and then they will stand by God for God when they have passed from the station and honor. They will stand by God for God without waiting to be brought near and without regard for welcome.
He sent down upon you, after grief, security - a slumber overcoming a party of you, and a party whose owns souls distressed them, thinking wrongly of God, thoughts of age of ignorance: After the periods of their weakness, the people of realization and declaring unity reach the point where they declare the abandonment of their souls. They wash their hands clean of them and raise their hearts from them, so they might live by God for God without regard for any craving or want, following instead the creed of renunciation from everything. Upon Him they confirm the pact and substitute their concerns, leaving every share and worldly fortune. This is the quality of those to whom He sent down security.
As for the party whose own souls distressed them, they remain in the lonely estrangement of their souls. The evil of what they hold on to on the path after their believing in it hastens their final outcome. God Most High said: And We shall confound their hearts and their eyes; just as they did not believe in it the first time [6:110].
The allusion in God Most High's words, 'Have we any part whatever in the affair?' is to those who are confused in their affair, for there is no drawing near to what is correct for them in truth, nor turning away entirely. Their weakness is transferred to bad choices and they would give the best part, if their hearts had it, to their effort. They forget their Lord in both states so they do not perceive the decree of the Real (s). God Most High said: Say: 'The affair belongs entirely to God' : Anyone who knows that the originator is God has stripped himself of his free choice and states, like the stripping of hair from the catamite, and he has submitted his affairs to God entirely. The sign of the one who has actualized this is that he is relieved from the trouble of his self-management (tadbīr), and lives in the spaciousness of witnessing His decree (taqdīr).
They conceal within themselves what they do not disclose to you: They have not been loyal to their convictions (ʿaqāÌid). They have hidden what is contradictory to what they show outwardly, while publicizing something other than what they keep secret. They assign engendered things to causes (asbāb) which they have only imagined.
Say: 'Even if you had been in your houses, those for whom it had been appointed that they be slain would have sallied for to the places where they were to lie': He has informed us that the decree cannot be pushed away, and fate cannot be resisted. Engendered things are predestined (maḥtūm) and God prevails over His affair.
That God might try what was in your breasts: As for the people of realities, God Most High removes every harm and hindrance from their hearts, and claims their innermost selves for drawing near and intimacy. So their hearts become pure of defects and clear of attachments, singled out for the Real, detached from created things, freed from worldly concerns and the lower self, the effects of drawing near appearing to them, the beauty of divine governorship (tawallī) prevailing over them, and the lights of disclosure (tajalli) appearing in them.