Tafsir alTustari Sura الأنبياء Ayah No. 83

And [mention] Job, when he called out to his Lord, ‘Indeed, harm has befallen me…’He said:Suffering (ḍurr) is of two kinds: outward suffering (ẓāhir) and inward suffering (bāṭin). The inward kind is a commotion (ḥaraka) and perturbation (iḍṭirāb) [within] the soul (nafs) inresponse to a moving emotional experience (wārid). The outward kind is when [the emotion] that is concealed in a person becomes outwardly apparent. [However], when what is being suffered inwardly settles [within a person, his] exterior becomes still and does not show it, and he patiently endures those pains. But when the interior (bāṭin) becomes unsettled (taḥarraka) under the influence of the [emotional] experience, the person’s exterior will be shaken into weeping and loud cries. His [Job’s] plea to God, Mighty and Majestic is He, is that He grant him assistance in finding acceptance (riḍā) in his heart for that experience. This is because as long as the heart is accepting of God’s command, the servant will not be harmed by his outward reaction. Just consider the instance of the Prophet’s weeping

. Note that when he

wept on the death of his son Ibrāhīm, he wept for him out of compassion in accordance with his human nature. Yet his physical response did not harm him because his heart was accepting (rāḍin) of it.Sahl used to say to his companions:Say in your supplication (duʿāʾ): ‘O my Lord, if you cook me, I’ll bear it and if you roast me, I’ll be happy. It is essential that You be known, so favour me with gnosis (maʿrifa) of You.’He was asked about the abode (dār), whether it was an abode of Islam or disbelief. He replied, ‘The abode is the abode of tribulation (balāʾ) and testing (ikhtibār).’ ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Marwazī asked Sahl, ‘What do you say of a man whose lower self has been calling him to satiate it on the leaves of a lotus tree (sidr) for eighteen days?’ Sahl answered, ‘What do you say of a man whose lower self has been calling him to let him just catch the scent of the leaves of a lotus tree ⸢for twenty-five days⸣?’ He said, ‘ʿAbd al-Raḥmān started at this and became indignant.’ His words, Exalted is He:

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