1:1. In the name of God, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful.
The "bi" in bism [“In the name”] refers to the "radiance" of Unity, the "s" symbolizes the "luminescence" of the Self-Sufficient, and the "m" points to the "sovereignty" of the Divine. His radiance is self-sufficient, His luminescence self-sustaining, and His sovereignty eternal. His radiance is everlasting, His luminescence abundant, and His sovereignty immense. His radiance is majestic, His luminescence captivating, and His sovereignty perpetual. His radiance enchants the soul, His luminescence nurtures love, and His sovereignty is invulnerable. O You whose magnificence precedes all beauty! O You whose perfection is untainted by any deficiency! Venus delights in Your melodies, the sun feels jealousy towards Your allure. "B" represents His compassion towards His servants, "s" denotes the secret He shares with His friends, and "m" expresses His favor towards His seekers. Without His compassion, how could the servant access His secrets? Without His favor, how could the servant draw near to Him or find a place in the realm of His magnificence? Without timeless love, how could the servant attain unending familiarity? How could water and clay dare to love You if You had not selected them with Your infinite tenderness? Love is Your essence, O God; this is the belief of Your friends— remembering Your attributes alleviates the sorrows of the afflicted! This world is only good through His name, the afterlife is good through His forgiveness, and the Garden is good through His vision. Without God's message and name in this world, how could it serve as the home of His servants? If not for His forgiveness and generosity in the hereafter, the servant's endeavors would be burdensome. Without the heart-enlightening vision of Him in Paradise, what joy would grace the lives of the needy? One of the pirs of the Tariqah remarked, "O God, we perceive through Your signs, we thrive in Your acknowledgment, we flourish through Your name, we rejoice in Your remembrance, we are uplifted through encountering You. We are intoxicated with love from Your cup, ensnared by passion in Your embrace." Your fragrant chain ensnares my heart, your ambergris breeze captivates my soul. Since the discourse of Your love was declared in my name, one might say the entire world follows my heart's delight. In the name of God. It is said that "name" is derived from "stamp." Therefore, the one who says, "In the name of God" receives that seal and is branded by that mark. Be the selected servant of the King—with His brand, you are safeguarded from the authorities by day and guards by night. He who discovers a name receives it from His threshold.ʿAli ibn Musa al-Ridha stated, "When the servant says, 'In the name of God,' it implies, 'I have branded myself with the mark of my Lord.' O Lord, I possess Your mark and am thankful for it, yet I lament my own being. O Generous One, remove my existence from before me so that Your essence may rectify all my endeavors." The Pir of the Tariqah expressed, "O God, when Your light illuminated the lamp of recognition, my heart opened wide. When Your testimony became my voice, my articulation improved. When Your closeness illuminated the lamp of ecstasy, my aspirations deepened. When Your desire guided my actions, my efforts intensified. When Your essence set my works right, my being thrived. O God, what have I gleaned from my own essence other than trials and tribulations? From Your being, all is generosity and loyalty. O You who is evident in kindness and manifest in generosity, consider my actions as if they were not done. Act in a manner befitting You!" Some may inquire, "In the scriptures of the Book and the Sunnah, there are numerous names of God, all significant, eternal, pure, and beautiful. What wisdom lies in commencing the Qur'an with these three? Why these over others?" The answer is that He selected these three names and confined Himself to them for two main reasons: First, to ease His servants' efforts in invoking His names and ensure their reward remains intact. He understood that they could not recall all His numerous names. Even if some can, most cannot, leaving them in regret. Thus, He synthesized the meanings of those names into these three. Their meanings fall into three categories: one pertaining to majesty and awe, another to blessing and nurturing, and the third to mercy and forgiveness. All majesty and awe reside in the name "God," all blessing and nurturing in "All-Merciful," and all mercy and forgiveness in "Ever-Merciful." This arrangement makes it easier for the servant to pronounce them, enabling numerous rewards and capturing God's boundless compassion and mercy. The second reason is that the Lord sent Mustafa to people divided into three groups: idolaters, Jews, and Christians. The idolaters recognized the Creator's name, "God," which was well known among them. This is reflected in His declaration: "If you ask them, 'Who created the heavens and the earth?' they would surely say, 'God.'" Among the Jews, the name "All-Merciful" was acknowledged. That's why Abdullah ibn Salam said to God's Messenger, "I do not see a name in the Qur'an that we found in the Torah." He asked, "What is that?" He replied, "The All-Merciful." Then God revealed, "Call on God or call the All-Merciful." For the Christians, the recognized name was "Ever-Merciful." Since these three communities were addressed and recognized these names, God introduced these three at the beginning of the Qur'an in accordance with their knowledge and perception, refraining from adding any other names. Regarding the wisdom behind the sequence of these names, it relates to the human experience, which involves three stages: initial creation, nurturing, and ultimately forgiveness. God initially indicates creation through might, the All-Merciful refers to nurturing through consistent blessings, and the Ever-Merciful indicates forgiveness through mercy. It is as if God states, "First, I created through power; then I nurtured through blessings; and finally, I forgave through mercy." The Pir of the Tariqah said, "O God, Your name is our permit, and Your love is our provision. You are our sanctuary, and we witness Your gentleness directly. O God, Your bounty is our banner, and Your embrace offers us security. You shelter the vulnerable and await the endeavor of the striving ones at the farthest point of the road. You observe the faithful—what if You were to amplify and not diminish? O God, exalted is the one whom You choose! Should he flee, You rush to him. Blessed is the one who belongs to You—will You indeed always remain ours?" 1:2. Praise belongs to God, the Lord of the Worlds. This praises the benign God, the Creator who provides sustenance daily, the One present in both name and essence, the Lord found without seeking, recognized without being pointed out, loved without being visible. He is powerful without necessity, self-sufficient without changing states, transcendent in essence and attribute, both endless and eternal, characterized by magnificence and beauty. He perceived His servants' inability to grasp His essence and knew that despite their efforts, they would fall short of understanding. The exalted Qur'an confirms this inability: "They did not measure God with the rightful due of His measure." In His perfect exaltation, majesty, and holiness, He appointed them as His deputies in praising Him, taught them how to glorify Him, and granted them permission to do so. Who would dare utter, "Praise belongs to God" if He had not initiated it Himself? Who knows You? It is You who knows Yourself, entirely. No one knows You—You alone possess that knowledge. O worthy of Your own praise, O giver of thanks for Your own gifts! In my essence, I am incapable of service to You; with my intellect, I cannot fully perceive Your grace. In my entire being, I lack the joy of You, and through my capability, I fall short of what is befitting of You. O Generous One! I am afflicted by the pain for which Your presence is the remedy. I am a servant of praise commensurate with You. What do I truly know of You? You know. You are what You declared—this is You. Know that praise exists in two forms: one born of recognizing blessings, the other born from acknowledging the Beneficent. The former exalts Him, engages with His blessings through obedience, and endeavors in gratitude to augment today's blessings and secure paradise tomorrow. This aligns with the Prophet's saying: "The first to enter the Garden will be those who wholeheartedly praise God in every circumstance." This marks the conclusion for whoever's praise stems from perceiving blessings. As for one who praises from awareness of the Beneficent, their state conveys: "Poverty did not drive us from our homeland— we sought happiness in encountering You. O idol, we came not to gaze upon worldly matters!" Such a knight has been imbued with the wine of yearning, overshadowed by collective vision until he became wholly dissolved in himself. He heard one, saw one, arrived at one. What did he hear? What did he see? What did he reach? He heard the remembrance of the True, saw the light of familiarity, and achieved the First Day. He heard the gentle response, beheld the token of friendship, and reached the companionship of the Beginningless. The knight initially discerned the mark and lost his heart; then, granted entry, he became all heart; finally, he saw the Beloved and became lost in affection. The Pir of the Tariqah said, "The two worlds became immersed in friendship, and friendship became absorbed in the Beloved. I can neither claim it is I nor say it is Him." I possess an eye filled with the form of the Beloved. I am joyful with my eye as long as the Beloved dwells within it. To separate my eye from the Beloved is unwise— either He inhabits the eye, or the eye itself is Him. The Lord of the Worlds, the nurturer of humanity, provides their daily sustenance. One receives nourishment of the body, while another receives nourishment of the heart. He enriches one person's body through His blessings and another’s heart with the Patron of Blessings. Blessings are reserved for those who tirelessly engage in service. The mystery of the Patron of Blessings is for those whose desire is to encounter Him. Longing to behold the Beloved is the hallmark of the enlightened. Who is more victorious than the one who sees the Beloved face-to-face? Great is the aspiration of the eye longing to see You— is it not enough for an eye that You gaze upon he who gazes at You? The sustenance of the hearts of the friends, which they actively employ as the nourishment of their spirits, is conveyed to them each night from the Exalted Presence, akin to what was stated by the exemplary leader of the world: "I spend the night with my Lord; He sustains me with food and drink." He did not indulge in lavish cuisines and filtered drinks. When others queried, "Master, why do you refrain from eating?" He replied, "I am so intoxicated by the wine of collective observation that I have no desire for your filtered drink." One hundred twenty-four thousand sinless individuals hastened to his secluded chamber, yearning to partake of that wine. He showed them the back of his hand, declaring, "I have an audience with God that no proximate angel or sent prophet shares." It was noted, "This drink is meant solely for him to whom the Greatest Signs were revealed, yet he remained courteous: 'The eyesight did not waver, nor did it transgress.'" O You who are the attention of everyone's gaze! All have collapsed in Your path. O Venus of the cities and moon of all! Your beauty overshadows all brilliance and status. The Lord of the Worlds, nurturing the souls of the worshipers with certainty, the hearts of the sincere with intensity, and the conditions of the recognizers with tawhid. When someone has been nurtured by tawhid, what requirement do they have for the material nourishment of the world's folk? When a viper strikes the liver, they provide the antidote, not sweetmeats. The worldly denizens seek food, yet food yearns for these noble souls. Utbat al-Ghulam was a disciple of Yazid Harun, who advised him to abstain from dates. One day, Utbat's mother visited Yazid Harun and saw him enjoying dates. She asked, "Why do you deny my son such delights while you indulge?" Yazid responded, "Your son craves dates, but dates desire me. They are permissible for me, but not for him." The creatures of the world desire paradise, yet paradise longs for Salman, as noted in the saying: "Truly, the Garden yearns for Salman." Thus, He will not assign him to paradise tomorrow; instead, He will pass him over the Fire and bring him into His unity at the station of direct vision. "The patient poor will be companions of God on the Day of Resurrection." If you seek this day, shed your self like a snake sheds its skin. Do not accept anything for yourself except His threshold, for the contentment of the hearts of His friends rests in the sanctuary of holiness. You must possess the countenance of Adhra and sit at Wamiq's door, You must have Abu Darda's fervor and proceed like Salman. 1:3. The All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful. He is the All-Merciful as He grants life, and the Ever-Merciful as He manifests His light. The act of giving life reflects kindness, while the manifestation embodies illumination. He is the All-Merciful who facilitates paths to livelihood, and the Ever-Merciful who ignites the flame of friendship for the devoted. The laborer exerts himself motivated by promises of houris and palaces, while the friend is enveloped by light in the ocean of direct vision. On the day I unite with You, I will disdain the state of the dwellers of Paradise. He is the All-Merciful who bestows success upon the diligent, and the Ever-Merciful who provides the discoverers with the realization of contemplation. The former exists within the longing state, while the latter dwells in the state of fulfillment. The seeker progresses with the light of success, ultimately reaching contemplation; the fulfilled advances with the illumination of realization, ultimately attaining direct vision. Contemplation dissolves barriers between the servant and the Real, while direct vision facilitates mutual perception, ensuring the servant remains perpetually present: He gazes at love with the eye of response, at the Present with the eye of presence, and at the Solitary with the eye of solitude. By distancing from self, he draws near to His proximity; through losing self, he becomes acquainted with His visibility; via absence of self, he encounters His generous presence. For He is neither distant from the striving nor lost to those who seek, nor absent from the longed for. Have compassion on the hearts of creatures and emerge from the veils, so that the seventy-two sects may cease their disputes. 1:4. The Owner of the Day of Judgment. This alludes to the enduring nature of the sovereignty of unity and the perpetuation of the Divine's unyielding authority. In other words, every temporal ruler's empire will inevitably end, his dominion will conclude, and his state will shift. Yet God's sovereignty is everlasting, both today and tomorrow; it never dissolves or wanes. In both worlds, nothing and no one exists beyond the reach of His dominion and power. No one has sovereignty comparable to His. Today He is the Lord of the Worlds, and tomorrow He becomes the Owner of the Day of Judgment, and none among the creatures equals Him. What a marvel! How could the servant act? For in both realms, ownership and kingship belong solely to God, without partner, associate, or need. Hence, where lies the servant's will? One who possesses nothing has no real power. "And your Lord creates what He wills and chooses. They have no choice." It has been suggested that "doom" here signifies reckoning and reward. He asserts, "I am the one responsible for holding the servants accountable." Therefore, no one else uncovers their shortcomings, lest they experience disgrace. Although accountability typically invokes severity, the act of withholding harshness during judgment itself embodies generosity. He wishes to display generosity following the enactment of severity. This aligns with God's method: whenever He administers a blow of severity, He follows it with a salve of generosity. The Pir of the Tariqah stated, "On the Day of Reckoning, if I possess anything and am granted space to speak, I will express, 'O Lord God, amongst the three things I possess, behold one of them: first, a prostration that has sought nothing but a heart devoted to You; second, an affirmation such that whatever You declared, I confirmed; third, a spirit and heart that have desired nothing but You since the onset of Your generosity.' I have no aspiration but to serve Your essence— I desire no breath that is devoid of You." 1:5. Thee alone do we worship, and Thee alone do we ask for help. These phrases underscore two fundamental pillars of faith, around which the essence of the spiritual journey revolves. The first emphasizes adorning the soul through worship and self-purification. It entails maintaining one’s adornment in sincere worship and free from hypocrisy. The second concerns purifying the soul from associating anyone with God and from reliance on one’s own abilities. It signifies cleansing one’s essence from idolatry and corruption, avoiding dependence on personal power. "Adornment" signifies all responsibilities mandated by the Shari’a, while "purification" pertains to all that should be avoided. Reflect carefully on these two concise phrases: when one’s heart is illuminated and familiar, they grasp all the laws of faith. The words of Mustafa will be validated for you: "I was given the all-encompassing words, and my speech was made concise." "Thee alone do we worship" illustrates pure tawhid, the belief that nothing besides God is worthy of veneration. The worshiper realizes that lordship rightfully belongs to God and that He is singularly deserving of worship. "And Thee alone do we ask for help" pertains to awareness of those who recognize Him. It acknowledges His exclusive ability in all actions, without which the servant cannot thrive. The root of this tawhid and the foundation of recognition lie in acknowledging the existence and unity of the Real; then His omnipotence, knowledge, and kindness; followed by His gracious deeds, companionship, and closeness. The first underpins submission, the second constitutes the foundation of faith, and the third upholds self-purification. The journey of the first recognition entails perceiving the Artisan's governance in binding and loosening creation. The second recognition involves observing the Artisan's wisdom within oneself and identifying correlations. The third recognition entails witnessing the benevolence of the Patron in performing virtuous tasks and avoiding sins. This composes the realm of the knowers, the alchemy of lovers, and the path of the chosen ones. One may wonder, "What wisdom is there in prioritizing 'Thee alone'? Why not say, 'We worship Thee'? Such phrasing would be shorter yet convey similar meaning." The response is this: It instructs the servant to ensure nothing precedes God. In their gaze, they should perceive from God to themselves, not vice versa. They should view their worship through God’s lens, not the reverse. The Pir of the Tariqah, Shaykh al-Islam Ansari, stated, "Thus the recognized find seeking emerges from discovery, rather than the reverse. They recognize the causes from the meaning, not the meaning from the causes. The obedient derive their obedience from self-purification, not purification from their actions. The disobedient glean disobedience from suffering, not suffering from disobedience.” The reason behind this is that the traveler has embarked from what has come before him—neither ability nor incapacity lies within his control. No one can precede God in any deed. Anyone who believes they can lacks true comprehension of God. Therefore, Mustafa advised Abu Bakr in the cave, "Do not grieve; surely God is with us." He prioritized the Worshipped One, adhering to proper etiquette in discourse. Thus, he surpassed Moses, who noted, "Surely with me is my Lord." Moses looked from himself to God, while Mustafa viewed from God back to himself. The former exemplifies fragmentation, while the latter represents unity. They are distinct in their differences! The Pir of the Tariqah said, "They should look from Him to Him, not from self to Him, for the eyes belong to that which was first seen, while the heart belongs to the first Beloved." 1:6. Guide us on the straight path. This encapsulates the essence of worship and obedience. It embodies the pleas, prayers, and invocations of the faithful. It signifies the search for steadfastness in faith, pleading: "Show us this path, empower us to walk it, and draw us away from mere travel to divine attraction." These three foundational elements are: first, revelation; second, the journey; third, the drawing near. Revelation accords with what the Exalted Lord declares: "He it is who shows you His signs." The journey aligns with His proclamation: "You shall surely ride stage after stage." The drawing near is articulated: "We brought him near as a confidant." Mustafa implored God for showing, saying, "O God, make us perceive things as they truly are." Regarding travel, he stated, "Travel! The solitary will be the precursors." Concerning drawing near, he observed, "A singular attraction from the Real equals all actions by jinn and men." Here, the faithful beseech all three from God, as not everyone who perceives the path advances along it, nor does everyone who treads eventually reach their intended destination. Many hear yet lack sight, many see but do not comprehend, while many who recognize do not find. Numerous venerating shaykhs have faltered from their courses! Many a tavern patron has mounted a lion! Regarding the phrase "Guide us," it has been interpreted that we seek to sever our innermost awareness from observing others, illuminate our hearts with dawn-like lights, purify our intentions from the stains of witness, urge us beyond the limited paths of seeking and reasoning into the courtyards of closeness and union, protect us from lingering in superficial forms by granting us the grace of unity, and unveil to us the vision of majesty and beauty. 1:7. The path of those whom Thou hast blessed, not of those who incur wrath, nor of the misguided. This is often likened to the journey of the Companions of the Cave. The faithful seek to express, "O Lord, fulfill our path on our behalf, just as You generously supported the Companions of the Cave, enveloping them in Your care. You allowed them to rest comfortably, stating, ‘Enter this cave and sleep soundly, for we consider your sleep as worship for the denizens of the earth.’ O Lord, bestow upon us a share of this blessing and kindness! Just as You, by Your grace, completed their tasks without requiring them, so, by Your grace, complete our endeavors without us. For whatever we do results in our detriment, while Your actions lay the foundation for exaltation in both worlds." The Pir of the Tariqah declared, "O God, we cannot complete this endeavor without You, nor do we possess the bravery to achieve it aside from You. Whenever we believe we have arrived, we tumble back into the unpredictability of our reckoning. O Lord, where will we find that moment when You belonged to us and we did not exist? Until we regain that moment, we will endure amidst flames and smoke. If we reclaim that moment in both realms, we will prosper. If we find Your essence for ourselves, we will savor our own non-existence." It has also been conveyed that "those You have blessed with submission and adherence to the Sunnah." He correlates submission with the Sunnah since both are necessary for the servant to attain true rectitude in faith. It is reported that Shafi’i said, “In a dream, I encountered the Real, who instructed me, ‘Inquire of Me, O son of Idris!’ I responded, ‘Allow me to die in submission.’ God replied, ‘Incorporate the Sunnah; ask for both from Me.’” This is because submission cannot exist without the Sunnah, and anything aligned with the Sunnah reflects true religion. Hence, Mustafa stated, "There are no words without actions, no words and actions without intention, and no words, actions, or intentions without hitting the mark in the Sunnah." It has been said that submission resembles a freshwater spring. Trees cannot evade a spring of water, just as submission cannot be divorced from the Sunnah. Every heart embellished with the elevation of submission serves as a vessel where the light of the Sunnah emerges. This is why the Lord of the Worlds states, "Is one whose breast God has expanded for submission, so he is upon a light from his Lord?" This light signifies the Sunnah. It is reported that on the impending Day of Resurrection, amidst hardship, when the inhabitants of the seven heavens and the earth gather, each individual’s feet will be bound by their deeds, their heads bowed low, rendered helpless by their actions, beset by uncertainty and confusion, stumbling and rising, hungry and unclothed. Suddenly, a radiant presence will emerge from the Unseen, its fragrance reaching the noses of the fortunate. They will become fragrant and filled with joy. They will inquire, “Lord God, what is this fragrance, this comfort? What beauty, what perfection!” The address will state: "This reflects the beauty of our Messenger's Sunnah. Those who have followed the Sunnah in the realm of decree are granted permission to enter the sanctuary of His glory. However, those who are estranged from the Sunnah in that realm will be cast into the Fire. Today, they are outsiders and rejected." Embrace Sunni beliefs and adhere to the faith to attain life, for everything besides the faith leads to death; everything apart from the Sunnah brings sorrow. [DS 489] "Not those who have earned Your anger, nor the misguided." O Lord, do not let us be among those abandoned to their own devices, wounded by the sword of separation and nailed by the rejection. What weight can a frayed rope carry? What benefit does the effort of an unworthy servant, dwelling in estrangement, have? Today he has strayed from the path, mistaking the winding road for the straight one. Tomorrow, despair shall bear fruit, and those forsaken will surface. The herald of justice will proclaim: "Their striving was misguided in this world, yet they believed they were performing noble deeds" [18:104]. I claimed, "My fortunes have reached beyond the highest peak; my throne is like that of Solomon." However, when I measured myself against the scale of wisdom, my possessions were more meager than the storehouses of the humble. Now, let us conclude the Surah of Praise with an insightful aspect of the faith. This Surah is known as "the key to the Garden." It serves as the key to Paradise, which has eight gates, each corresponding to a specific type of knowledge from the Qur'an. Without learning and believing in these eight types, the gates will not open for you. The Surah of Praise contains these eight types, acting as keys to Paradise. First, there is the mention of the Lord’s Essence: "Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds." Second, the mention of His attributes: "the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful." Third, the acknowledgment of our acts: "Thee alone do we worship." Fourth, the appeal for assistance: "And Thee alone we ask for help." Fifth, there’s the call for purification from faults: "Guide us on the Straight Path"; and sixth, the beautification of the soul through good deeds. Both purification and adornment clarify the Straight Path. Seventh, there is the reference to the states of God’s friends and His approval of them: "The path of those whom Thou hast blessed." Eighth, the states of the estranged and the Lord’s disapproval: "Not of those who incur wrath, nor of the misguided." According to various reports and traditions, each of these eight kinds of knowledge is a door to Paradise, all of which are included in this Surah. Thus, if a person recites this Surah with a pure heart, the eight gates of Paradise will open for him—today, the Paradise of recognition, and tomorrow, the Paradise of approval in the presence of the All-Merciful. "There will be nothing between them and gazing upon their Lord except the veil of magnificence on His face in the Garden of Eden." This is a verified account from the Prophet.