The spiritual traveler [1] is one who has been purified by the divine effulgence [2] and…

The spiritual traveler [1] is one who has been purified by the divine effulgence [2] and has attained the station of subsistence [3] through the annihilation of his ego [4].

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. And may Allah bless our master and lord Muhammad, his family, and his companions and grant them peace abundantly. O Allah, grant assistance in obedience. The Book of Prayer and Its Benefits for the Soul and Its Subtleties. Praise be to Allah, who guided us to the path of goodness, granted us success in righteous deeds, taught us from His divine sciences ¹ what we did not know, and filled our hearts with the light of truth, faith, and sincere intentions. Blessings and peace be upon our master and lord Muhammad, the guide to good deeds and the corrector of virtues, and upon his family and companions, the leaders of assemblies and the manifestations of the lights of divine manifestations ². To proceed: When I came across certain numbers ³ containing the meanings of the prayers of remembrance ⁴ blended with their words, as souls blend with essences, producing the benefits of their secrets as forms are produced from premises, and the masters of remembrances and litanies ⁵ in seclusion and solitude in retreats, and I realized that the secret of numbers is stored in the pages of the scholars' thoughts, the treasure of prayers is hidden in the hearts of lovers, and the light of their special properties is preserved in the consciences of the saints and the righteous, and I learned what was narrated from al-Shadhili ⁶—may Allah be pleased with him—that he said: "I saw the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—in a dream and said to him: 'O Messenger of Allah, what was the reward given to al-Shafi'i ⁷—may Allah be pleased with him—for saying in his Risala ⁸: "And may Allah bless our master Muhammad whenever those who remember mention him and whenever those who are heedless neglect his remembrance"?' He replied: 'He was rewarded on my behalf by not being stopped tomorrow for the reckoning.'" The motive of ecstasy and passionate love, and the influx of love that no human can bear, moved me to include in our book, titled "The Treasure of the Needy" ⁹, its simple number ¹⁰ among the odd, even, single, and paired numbers it contains, so that it may be adorned like a bride with a crown and rejoice in the mention of its Muhammadan tradition with utmost joy. I ask Allah to illuminate our insights with the light of His sublime and radiant opening, and to pour upon our hearts what He poured upon the heart of al-Shadhili of radiance and brightness, until he narrated it from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and heard from him what al-Shafi'i was rewarded for his prayer, which shines with the gifts of secrets and the rising lights like the light of a lamp—a prayer by which You purify our innermost beings from rancor, envy, and deviation from the path of truth and crookedness, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. Choice blossoms of prophetic flowers and exquisite subtleties of chosen remembrances, and great and sublime numbers of prayers, and effects of transmitted traditions, and sweetness of delightful tastes, and laws of sensory and spiritual blessings, encompassing the best of creation and the bride of the noble kingdom of the Mawlawi ¹¹—our master and lord Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—the chosen one from the noblest of the Hashimite and Qurayshite tribes, and the Mudarite and Adnanite Arab lineages. So bless him, O Allah, and bless his family, as long as caravans travel to his Tihami and Najdi land and his illuminated, pure, and holy chamber—a blessing by which You gather us in the company of his pure and immaculate group, and by which You purify us with those whom You have favored among the people of his love and the companions of his prophetic and chosen presence, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, pure in branches, roots, and kinds, and Your chosen one, fragrant in collars, sleeves, and breaths. When al-Shafi'i blessed him with this prayer with which he concluded his book—namely his saying: "And may Allah bless our master Muhammad whenever those who remember mention him and whenever those who are heedless neglect his remembrance"—al-Shadhili said in his dream that he was rewarded on my behalf by not being stopped tomorrow for the reckoning, and he will be safe in that great station from what people fear. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad, Your beloved, whose side is protected from ugly deeds, vices, and impurities, and Your chosen one, who removes by his light from hearts the darkness of doubts and confusion, and Your Prophet, when al-Shafi'i blessed him with this prayer, You brought him near to You with the closeness of the beloved, and granted him the rank of the elite among the acting scholars and the intelligent wise, and bestowed upon him Your pleasure, and built upon the foundations of religion his edifice, firm in pillars and foundation, and rewarded him for that by not being stopped tomorrow for the reckoning, and he will be given of good things what cannot be counted or measured. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, lofty in rank and station, and Your chosen one, sent as a mercy to jinn and humans and all creatures, and Your Prophet, who leads his community on the paths of salvation and ways of peace, and Your noble one, when al-Shadhili asked him in the dream about the reward given to al-Shafi'i for concluding his book with the prayer upon him—upon him be the best of prayers and purest peace—he said: "He was rewarded on my behalf by not being stopped tomorrow for the reckoning, and he will be raised to the highest degree and the loftiest station, and will be given of good things what minds are bewildered by and understandings are incapable of encompassing, and he will not grieve when people grieve, and will be safe on the day when the earth and mountains tremble, and forelocks and feet are seized." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who established Your Hanifan ¹² law most perfectly, and Your chosen one, who supplicated to You in the darkness of night while people slept, and Your saint, by whose Muhammadan flow of support the hearts of the people of ecstasy and passionate love are irrigated. When al-Shadhili asked him about the reward given to al-Shafi'i for blessing him in his book with this prayer, which guarantees the attainment of the goal and the achievement of the desire, he said: "He was rewarded on my behalf by not being stopped tomorrow for the reckoning, and he will not fear the afflictions of disgrace, calamity, or the consequences of vengeance." At that, he asked Allah to return him to the world of this life so that he might remain in it for seven hundred thousand years to satisfy his desire for abundant blessings upon him—upon him be the best of prayers and peace—and to add to that multiplied multiples to no end of numbers that pens tire of recording and whose rules the great individuals who look into the Preserved Tablet ¹³ with the lights of opening and inspiration cannot fully grasp. So may Allah bless him and his family, worthy of veneration, reverence, and glorification.

and his Companions who scattered with their swords the union of the worshippers of idols and graven images, a prayer without end and without cessation ¹⁴, whose repetition continues through the passage of ages and years, and whose lights shine upon his exalted tomb until the forms are raised and the spirits are breathed into bodies, and abundant peace forever. And praise be to God, Lord of the worlds. * O Messenger of God, O best of mankind, O great of station, O full moon of perfection. * O Messenger of God, O pole of splendor, O intercessor for creation on the day of crowding. * You are my refuge, you are my request and my desire, you are my treasure, you are my aim and my goal. * You are for me, O best of guides, a helper against my time, whose trials are fierce. * You are for me, O mine of glory, a sanctuary from sins from which I have no cessation. * You are for me, O noblest of creation, perhaps tomorrow He will forgive my sin and offenses. * You are for me, whenever a hardship befalls me, you remove distress and banish defeat. * And my hope in you is that you will intercede for me, for I am disobedient, and who like me is to be blamed? * O people of the abode ¹⁵, I am with you enamored, passionately devoted, for all time. * And my heart and my innermost are with you, while here in the West my body has taken up residence. * O people of the abode, whenever my eye sees a caravan of yours traversing the hills, * Patience leaves me, and likewise my tears pour down my cheeks in torrents. * But fate has prevented me from seeing you and seeing that station. * And we see the Garden truly, whether I say this awake or in a dream. * O my God, disappoint not my hope, and grant me my goal, O Reviver of bones. * By the station of the Chosen One, be for me when the scale is set up and creation is bewildered, * And when the fires hurl sparks, and for the disobedient they increase in blaze. * So may God bless him always, as long as dawn appears and darkness departs, * And upon his Family and Companions, as long as the dove coos with longing in the branches ¹⁶. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the unique pearl of the necklace of the family and the essence of noble honor, the Companions and the Family, concerning whom when al-Shafi‘i, may God be pleased with him, heard of the blessing of invoking blessings upon him in the abode of recompense, he spoke with the tongue of the state and uttered what befits the station, the Mustafawi ¹⁷ of noble character and beautiful deeds, and he began to mention what his Lord, Possessor of Might and Majesty, had bestowed upon him of perfect merits, virtues, and qualities, and stations of nearness, closeness, and union, and answer to prayer, and acceptance of deeds, and abundant rewards and recompenses, and kindness to the free and the clients, and he said: "This, by God, is the ocean of perfection and the mercy of the weak, the poor, and the supplicants, and the effuser of good upon those who hold fast to the rope of his love from the people of intimacy and boldness, and the accepted intercessor whose intercession is hoped for on the day of quaking, earthquakes, and terrors." O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved regarded with the eye of veneration and exaltation, and Your chosen one crowned with the crown of glory, splendor, and perfection ¹⁷, concerning whom when al-Shafi‘i, may God be pleased with him, heard of what he was rewarded with in the abode of Majesty through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him, he was delighted, eased, magnified, and glorified, and began to praise him with the tongue of the state and mention what he possesses of bounty, generosity, and gift, and he said: "This, by God, is a gift from the King to a slave, and a rich one to a needy one hoping for his favor in the present and the future," and he praised his magnificent qualities and proclaimed his virtues at dawn and dusk. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved created from the light of splendor and beauty, and Your chosen one clothed with glory and the garments of awe and majesty, concerning whom when al-Shafi‘i, may God be pleased with him, heard of what he was rewarded with through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him in the abode of generosity, recompense, bliss, and favor, he rejoiced and was delighted, and said: "This, by God, is the thanked endeavor and the accepted, blessed deed, which has no second for one who confines himself to it, and no objection; and the exalted station and the honored rank, which souls desire, journeys are undertaken, lifetimes are spent in its service, wealth is expended in its love, and the inhabitants of the highest horizon and the poles ¹⁸ who bring happiness to creatures through their sight and open locks through their supplication." O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved without peer or likeness, and Your chosen one preferred over all prophets and messengers, concerning whom when al-Shafi‘i, may God be pleased with him, witnessed what he was rewarded with through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him in the abode of recompense, and the rewards of deeds were multiplied, he magnified God and proclaimed His oneness, and said: "This, by God, is the refuge of the fearful on the day of presentation and questioning, and the safe haven from terror of chains, fetters, punishment, disgrace, and chastisement." O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved of beautiful attributes and deeds, and Your chosen one whose love permeates the hearts of youths, adults, and children, and Your prophet concerning whom when al-Shafi‘i, may God be pleased with him, witnessed what he was rewarded with through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him in the abode of recompense and eternity, he became noble, generous, blessed, glorified, and magnified, and said: "This, by God, is the tongue of the people of supplication and entreaty, and the key of the people of success, happiness, contentment ¹⁹, and acceptance, and the antidote healing from the afflictions of passion and the chronic disease, and the beloved who attains salvation whoever clings to him on the day when the Possessor of Might and Majesty says: 'These are for Paradise, and I care not; and these are for the Fire, and I care not.'" So bless him, O God, and his noble, valiant Family, and his Companions who are the best of companions and the noblest of families, a prayer by which we attain from Your pleasure and his pleasure the utmost goal and hopes, and by which You gather us with those upon whom You have bestowed favor in the gardens of Your Paradise, abundant in blessings, fruits, and shades, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Messenger of God, O ornament of men, O intercessor for creation on the day of questioning, O beloved who came to us in spring, And intercessor who stands in place of every intercessor, And exalted one who surpasses every exalted rank, By election in the high heavens. The universe rejoiced when the herald proclaimed In heaven and earth, this shining full moon, And a succor has come to you and a protector.

From punishment, torment, and exemplary chastisement ²⁰. God gave glad tidings to creation through his radiance, And garments of splendor He clothed him with. Since he began, He clothed him and bestowed upon him. The universe shone with pride and ardor, Joyfully: "Welcome, O Beloved!" For rusted hearts, the best physician, And succor in perdition, the best responder. The most noble of creation to the Lord of lords. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, Who, when al-Shafi‘i ²¹ witnessed what he attained through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him in the Hereafter—of pardon, forgiveness, and the call—his state’s tongue spoke and said: "This, by God, is the victory ²² that the lover takes as a means before God and a hand." O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, Who, when al-Shafi‘i realized after his death, through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him, that he would not be stopped for the Reckoning ²³ tomorrow, he praised God and thanked Him for what he attained thereby of high ranks and stations of the blessed. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, Who, when al-Shafi‘i saw what he was given glad tidings of through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him—of the shining lights appearing upon his grave, both hidden and manifest—he said: "I have gained immense profit," and wished that he were alive to make it his constant habit and practice, and he resolved never to abandon it. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, Who, when al-Shafi‘i learned what God had graciously bestowed upon him through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him, his longings multiplied and he said: "Would that I had made it my intellect, my spirit, and my body." O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, Who, when al-Shafi‘i found, through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him, that he was recorded in the register of martyrs ²⁴, he said: "This, by God, is a gift by which the lover attains the glory of this world and the Hereafter, and his life becomes a life of abundance." O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, Who, when al-Shafi‘i saw what he had obtained of good things through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him, he said: "This, by God, is the treasure of treasures upon which the lover would dwell if he were alive forever, without limit or number." O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, Who, when al-Shafi‘i examined what was inscribed in his register through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him—of protection from the slippery slopes of evil and falling into the abysses of perdition—he said: "This, by God, is a provision that the wayfarer takes as a means to the path of salvation and the way of guidance, and seeks blessing through it in all his affairs, both necessarily and initially." O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, Who, when al-Shafi‘i looked at what he was granted through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him of abundant good, he said: "This, by God, is a support upon which the seeker relies and finds before his Lord as a provision and a number." So bless him, O God, and his family, a blessing by which we may traverse the path of Your guidance, a right way, and by which we may seek rain from the gifts of Your mercy—a lordly secret, a gnostic effusion, and a supply, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. Muhammad is the sea of fidelity, the Hashimite, the Chosen, the master of all nobles. Their entrance is beneath perdition; our Prophet, the Guide, the Bringer of glad tidings, who healed. For him the camel and the trunk groaned with sighing, complaining Of separation from Ahmad. Bless the one who defeated the army of darkness, After he caused blood to flow in their valley, after They had strayed from the true truth and abandoned The path of the way, so they despaired in every distress and did not Attain right guidance. He made known to them the ways of success, but they did not respond To success. So we ask God for rectification through the prophets And the martyrs. O Lord, O Lord, by the rank of the Prophet and whoever Hopes for him, deprive me not, O my God, of the intercession of The Guide tomorrow. Then blessings and peace be upon the best of Mankind, our Prophet, the Guide of mankind, the full moon, Ahmad. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, The guide to the path of good and right, Your chosen one whose mention is honored in the sacred hadiths ²⁵ and the Mother of the Book ²⁶; who, when al-Shafi‘i heard what he was rewarded with through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him—of abundant reward and recompense, high station and exalted rank—his soul was reassured, he was safe from evil punishment, and he attained what he sought of stations of proximity and nearness, and drink from the fullest cup from his sweet-tasting spring and beverage, and safety from rumors, earthquakes, terrors, and evil end. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, Of abundant fortune and portion, Your chosen one named the rider of al-Buraq ²⁷, the mule, and the swift she-camel; who, when al-Shafi‘i heard what he was rewarded with through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him—that he would not be stopped for the Reckoning tomorrow, And it would be said to him: "Pass, forgiven, for you have been protected from the heat of a blazing fire and its abundant evil—its sighing and flame"—he said: "This, by God, is the means of the penitent servant, the mercy of the weak, the poor, the distant and the near, the tongue of the supplicant and the intercessor, the caller and the responder, and the key to the doors of entry for the people of opening, proximity, and nearness." So bless him, O God, and his family, a blessing by which we may stroll in the gardens of his exquisite and wondrous virtues, and by which You make us among those who, upon hearing his praise, their breasts expand thereby and become good, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. ❖ Seek favor through the best of mankind ❖ The Messenger of the Lord of the worlds, the Beloved. ❖ And seek generosity through him, trusting ❖ In God, for the opinion in this is correct. ❖ And make all of life in obedience, ❖ For obedience to the Creator is the purest portion. ❖ Whoever obeys his Creator, He will grant him ❖ From His overflowing effusion a wondrous secret. ❖ So weep for a time that passed in heedlessness ❖ With streaming tears like a downpour. ❖ And hasten with them to the garden of piety always, ❖ So that a barren land may become a fertile garden. ❖ Repent to God and fear His might, ❖ And return to Him as a penitent servant. ❖ Perhaps He will grant, by His grace, contentment ❖ And forgive the sin—and this is wondrous. ❖ And fear not, through God, any envier, ❖ For your Lord is a watcher over him. ❖ And seek sufficiency in God and leave aside other, ❖ For you are in the protection of the Near, the Responder. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, Who, when al-Shafi‘i heard what he was rewarded with through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him in the abode of eternal life, he knew that his life in the abode of this world, when he was heedless of it, was a worldly death, and he said: "Yes, by God, yes, by God! This, by God, is the life of perishing souls, the substance of everlasting life, the flowing spring of mercy, the healing goal of cure, and the lofty degree of grace. This is my master and lord, the Messenger of God, may God bless him." O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, Who, when al-Shafi‘i heard what he was rewarded with through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him in the abode of everlasting permanence,

He said: Yes, by Allah, yes, by Allah, this, by Allah, is the substance of divine openings ²⁸ and the manifestation of the lights of beneficent theophanies ²⁹ and the source of the issuance of the mercies of the All-Merciful ³⁰, and the blowing of the breezes of the breaths of faith ³¹. This, my master and my lord, is the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when al-Shafi‘i ³² heard what he was rewarded with through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him while standing before You, said: Yes, by Allah, yes, by Allah, this, by Allah, is the bride of the sultanic kingdom and the robe of honor of the gifts of divine good pleasure ³³ and the garden of the divine recompenses ³⁴, and the throne of the mercy of the Essence ³⁵ to which culminate the sciences of those possessing spiritual insight ³⁶ and the understandings of the masters of the realities of the Self-Sufficient ³⁷ and the secrets of the Unique ³⁸. This is my master and my lord, the Messenger of Allah. So bless him, O Allah, and his family with a blessing by which You illuminate our hearts with the lights of Your luminous openings and by which You tear away for our spirits the dense veils of darkness through Your bounty and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, the bestower of his gift to whoever seeks him and hopes for him, and Your chosen one, the gatherer of the scattered beauties, both the summarized and the detailed, who, when al-Shafi‘i heard what he was rewarded with through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him in the abode of reward and recompense, the beautiful and adorned, said: Yes, by Allah, yes, by Allah, this, by Allah, is a garden in this world hastened and in the Hereafter a deferred grace, and a gift that Allah has given to whoever increases blessings upon His beloved Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) when He guides him to goodness and its people, and the path of arrival by which the traveler reaches Allah in the shortest time, which he would not traverse in a thousand complete years. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, praised in the clear verses and the revealed books, and Your chosen one, regarded with the eye of satisfaction and acceptance in the honored and venerated places, who, when al-Shafi‘i heard what he was rewarded with through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him in the abode of generosity and accepted deeds, said: Yes, by Allah, yes, by Allah, this, by Allah, is the perfect and perfecting gift of Allah to His creation, and His encompassing, excellent, and preferred grace, and the mirror of His secret containing the alchemy of sealed happiness ³⁹. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the precious gift of honor that conveys, and the wisdom of the secrets of beneficial and acquired sciences, who, when al-Shafi‘i heard what he was rewarded with through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him in the abode of recompense, the intended and hoped-for, said: Yes, by Allah, yes, by Allah, this, by Allah, is the way of arrival to Allah, made easy and facilitated, and the garden of spirit and fragrance ⁴⁰, whose fruits are low-hanging over the gatherings of lovers, made submissive. So bless him, O Allah, and his family with a blessing by which we become among those whose face Allah has brightened with the light of invoking blessings upon him among the lovers, and whom He has adorned and given through its blessing of good things in both abodes what he hoped for and beyond what he hoped for, through Your bounty and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. A plaintive poem that stirred the lover's yearnings and confounded him, and split with sorrows and lamentation his nightingale; and a passion for the ladies of the howdahs ⁴¹ that stirs in the mind the fires of ardent love, kindled. So would that I might ransom them, tender maidens, upon whom are the curtains of dignity let down. They migrate from passionate loves in which one is enamored, with a soul consoled by the remembrance of their beauty. They strut in the mantle of beauty and splendor, upon them crowned with the crowns of perfection. When they appear, they put the gazelle to shame at midday, and if they teach the branch, it learns from their swaying. They feign ignorance of me, then say: Who is the one devoted? O, do you see which of the maidens he has devoted? And you have tormented me with abandonment, aversion, and hatred; how many a witness have I, and how many a one who says 'There is no power or strength but with Allah' ⁴²! And they have made my sleep forbidden through distance, and the burning of my heart through disdain is made lawful. They have in my heart a station, what a station! But we have not seen one who burns his own station. And what a wonder: they are safe from the fire of my heart, while they are, by Allah, from that fire, drawn out. As if the flame of my heart for them is like one for whom the flame has become the most splendid of gardens, confused. They inherited from the Friend of Allah ⁴³—how?—and my state with them has become in every matter perfected. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, brought near and blessed, and Your chosen one, supported and victorious, and Your intimate, crowned with the crown of splendor and light, who, through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him, You said to al-Shafi‘i: 'Come forward and fear not on the Day of Resurrection and Rising, for I have granted you Paradise and what is in it of chambers and palaces, and the company of beautiful ones, and boys, and houris ⁴⁴; and I have accepted your effort, and made your trade a profitable trade that will never perish; and I am pleased with you, and the masters of debts are pleased with you, and I have forgiven your sins even if they were like the sand of ‘Alij ⁴⁵ or the number of raindrops and the foam of the seas; and I have placed you under the shade of My mercy and the banner of My forgiveness, unfurled.' O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, of fragrant breeze and aroma, and Your chosen one, the savior of whoever seeks refuge in him from the crises of distress and hardship, and Your saint, the opener for whoever calls upon him of the doors of victory and joy, who, through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him, You said to al-Shafi‘i: 'Pass, for you have been made safe from your fear in the Hereafter, and your ship will sail in the sea of safety, the safe, the deep, and the vast; and I have granted you a lofty station in the gardens, by which hearts rejoice and souls delight.' O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, announced in the Torah and the Gospel, and Your chosen one, entrusted with the revelation of heaven and supported by the Holy Spirit Gabriel, and Your pious one, regarded with the eye of care, veneration, and glorification, who, through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him, al-Shafi‘i obtained in the Hereafter what he obtained of abundant recompense and immense reward, so that he became among the lovers, striding in the robes of glory and beautiful praise, and boasting of what was granted to him of rewards and recompenses from the presence of his Master, the Majestic King. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, the truthful and trustworthy, and Your chosen one, mentioned in the sacred hadiths ⁴⁶ and the clear Book, and Your trustee, distinguished with victory, support, and manifest triumph, who, when al-Shafi‘i witnessed what he was rewarded with through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him, and that he would not be stopped for the account tomorrow and would be saved from disgrace, punishment, and humiliating torment, the tongue of his state asked You to return him to the world so that he might invoke blessings upon him with the tongue of every creature You created until the Trumpet is blown and people stand before the Lord of the worlds. So bless him, O Allah, and his pure and good family, and his Companions who strove and supported the religion of Allah, with a blessing by which You write us in the register of the scholars who act, and grant us through it the station of the solitary ones who have reached ⁴⁷ and the perfect poles ⁴⁸, through Your bounty and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who is adorned with the etiquette of servitude, and Your chosen one, who acknowledges to You the perfection of divine unity and the rights of lordship.

When al-Shafi‘i ⁴⁹ witnessed what he was rewarded with by the Bestower of the secret and special favor, and what was bestowed upon him through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him ⁵⁰—robes of divine pleasure, acceptance, and belovedness—the tongue of his state spoke with a wish to return to the world and spend his times invoking blessings upon him morning and evening, and to praise him with his beautiful, majestic, holy attributes and his excellent, chosen, prophetic character traits. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon him and upon his family, a blessing that will bring us to the sweet, delightful sources of his watering-places ⁵¹, and through it imbue us with his noble, pleasing, and approved character traits, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. If you wish to be happy in both abodes, multiply blessings upon Muhammad. And if you pray seeking reward therein, intercede with blessings upon Muhammad. And if you desire certain acceptance for it, seal it with blessings upon Muhammad. And all your actions will end in good if you include blessings upon Muhammad. And stand in the night, call upon Allah, and beseech your Lord with blessings upon Muhammad. And say: O Lord, do not cut off my hope, and be for me through blessings upon Muhammad. So hasten with repentance for servants who seek means through blessings upon Muhammad. And be with me at my end, for I have asked You through blessings upon Muhammad. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, when al-Shafi‘i witnessed in the Hereafter what he was rewarded with through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him, his joy and happiness increased, and he wished that he could return to the world to make it a means of nearness to Allah and worship. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, when al-Shafi‘i witnessed in the Hereafter what he was rewarded with through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him, his delight and bliss increased, and he wished that he could return to the world to occupy himself with its remembrance for the rest of his life, and for its love leave his family, wealth, and children. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, when al-Shafi‘i witnessed in the Hereafter what he was rewarded with through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him, his good deeds and rewards multiplied, and he wished that he could return to the world to spend his life in its remembrance until it became his emblem and habit among the lovers. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, when al-Shafi‘i witnessed in the Hereafter what he was rewarded with through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him, his soul was pleased with that, and he wished that he could return to the world to confine himself to it eternally, and make it his mount to the Hereafter, his sustenance and provision. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, when al-Shafi‘i witnessed in the Hereafter what he was rewarded with through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him, his breast expanded and his eye was comforted, and he wished that he could return to the world to direct his concern to it, and make it his breaking of fast, his fasting, his pilgrimage, and his struggle. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, when al-Shafi‘i witnessed in the Hereafter what he was rewarded with through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him, his worry and grief were dispelled, and he wished that he could return to the world to make it his trade and capital, and spend in it the light of his eye and its blackness. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, when al-Shafi‘i witnessed in the Hereafter what he was rewarded with through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him, his distress and anguish vanished, and he wished that he could return to the abode of action to persist in it morning and evening, and spend his life in it until its image was engraved in the mirror of his secret, and the normal course of things was rent for him. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, when al-Shafi‘i witnessed in the Hereafter what he was rewarded with through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him, his fear and terror were secured, and he wished that he could return to the abode of worship to make it the outcome of his words and deeds, and the benefit of his acquired knowledge. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, when al-Shafi‘i witnessed in the Hereafter what he was rewarded with through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him, his weariness and fatigue were removed, and he wished that he could return to the world to make it his path of conduct to Allah, his daily office, his litany, and his regular devotions. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, when al-Shafi‘i witnessed in the Hereafter what he was rewarded with through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him, his regret and pain departed, and he wished that he could return to the world to constantly repeat it throughout his life, and make it his religion, his school, and his creed. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, when al-Shafi‘i witnessed in the Hereafter what he was rewarded with through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him, his nearness to his Lord was realized, and he wished that he could return to the world to increase its remembrance, hoping that it would be for him in the grave a light, a treasure, a store, a covering, and a pillow. So send blessings, O Allah, upon him and upon his family, a blessing that will enroll us in the register of those for whom happiness has preceded, and seal for us through its blessings with the seal of faith and the two words of testimony, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. The prince of beauty has surrendered his reins to you, and has continued his submission to you. By the reins of passion he is called to Najd ⁵², but passion is not like a guide for the lover. Even if dragged on his cheeks, he hastens to the one in whose heart he has cast his love. If the lover is given passion and patience, that for lovers is happiness. The bitterness of patience is sweet for lovers, if it does not burn them as a habit. And he who has not loved the noblest beauties of Najd counts affliction as his pillow. If the enamored one becomes accustomed to sickness in it, how sweet and delightful is his habit! And from the sincerity of the lover, he is absent from what he has, from what the will prefers. Until he said: And the mention of the beloved cures passion and longing for the beloved when he wills it. And one condition of the lover is constant remembrance of the one who, through passion, has captivated his heart. So the mention of the Chosen One ⁵³ is the closest companion to the one who remembers him, when the Lord returns him.

With lights surrounding him, its meaning: And the one who remembers the Guide (al-Hādī) walks in a gathering, Just as he is given sovereignty over the nations. And he is clothed openly in the garment of honor, And he enters under the shade of the banner of Ṭāhā (the Prophet Muhammad), And he enters a Garden wherein is increase, And he sees the Face of our Master (Mawlānā) with his own eyes. (32) And prayer upon him was his provision. Desires blossom for him in the Gardens, And with multiplication and divine pleasure (al-riḍwān) he is increased. For the sake of the Chosen One (al-Muṣṭafā), servants have triumphed, At the Throne (al-‘Arsh) which brought His servants near. Truly, love of the Chosen One (al-Muṣṭafā) in remembrance, Is like the remembrance of God in this world as worship. Upon him and his Family be the purest peace, And upon the Companions who all preserved their love. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Patron (Sayyidinā wa Mawlānā) Muḥammad, and to the Family of our Master Muḥammad, the Opening (Fātiḥah) of the Book of Theological Knowledge (al-‘Ilm al-Lāhūtī), which none touch except the purified, and the Treasurer of the Omnipotent Secret (al-Sirr al-Jabarūtī), which none perceive except the saints (al-awliyā’) and the righteous, and the Title of Human Nobility (al-Sharaf al-Nāsūtī), whose worth none know except the arriving poles (al-aqṭāb al-wāṣilūn) and the firmly fixed pegs (al-awtād al-rāsikhūn), and the Spring of Generosity and Bountiful Grace (al-Karam wa al-Jūd al-Raḥmūtī), from the overflowing abundance of which the solitary devotees (al-afrād al-nāsikūn) and the perfect bells (al-ajrās al-kāmilūn) draw, and the Breeze of the Gardens of the Kingdomly Conquest (al-Fatḥ al-Malakūtī), from the light of whose sciences the pure knowers (al-aṣfiyā’ al-‘ārifūn) and the acting scholars (al-‘ulamā’ al-‘āmilūn) kindle, and the Tongue of the Desirous State (al-Ḥāl al-Raghbūtī) (33) by which the enraptured (al-majādhīb) and the masters of states (arbāb al-aḥwāl), who are absent in the love of their passionate Lord, speak—he concerning whom, when al-Shāfi‘ī (may God be pleased with him) realized what is recompensed in the Abode of the Hereafter through the blessing of prayer upon him, said: "This, by God, is the intercessor (al-Shafī‘) by whose rank the guided guides (al-hudāt al-muhtadūn) seek mediation, and the refuge to whose protection the disobedient and the sinful (al-‘uṣāt wa al-mudhnibūn) cling—the Beloved (al-Maḥbūb), concerning whom, if I were alive, I would write the prayer upon him with the black of my eye and inscribe it in the pages of my heart and the core of my soul, and make it my means to God, my proof, my guidance, my rectitude, and the path of my love, and its preface a gift before me, that I might attain thereby the pleasure of my Master (Mawlāya) and the perfection of my desire and wish." So bless him, O God, and his Family, with a blessing that unties my knot, relieves my distress, rescues me from my mire, fulfills my need, and gives me through its blessing in this world and the Hereafter what I have hoped for from my request and the perfection of my desire, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Patron (Sayyidinā wa Mawlānā) Muḥammad, and to the Family of our Master Muḥammad, the best of those whom You have guided to good and guided, and the most excellent of those You have chosen (34) from among Your servants for prophethood and messengerhood and selected—he concerning whom, from the perfection of his honor with his Master (Mawlāhu), and his magnification, veneration, respect, and glorification, it is narrated from Makīn al-Dīn al-Asmar—and he is the one for whom Shaykh Abū al-Ḥasan testified to special distinction—that he said: "I entered a mosque of a prophet in Alexandria and found the prophet buried there standing in prayer, wearing a striped cloak. He said to me: 'Come forward and pray.' I said to him: 'You come forward and pray.' He said: 'You come forward and pray, for you are from the community (ummah) of Muḥammad, the Prophet before whom it is not fitting for us to advance.' He said: So I said to him: 'By the right of this Prophet, unless you come forward and pray.' He said: When I said to him, 'By the right of this Prophet,' he placed his mouth upon my mouth, out of veneration for the word 'the Prophet' (al-nabī), so that it would not emerge into the air. He said: So I came forward and prayed." So bless him, O God, and his Family, with a blessing by which we become among those whom You have chosen for the service of his noble station and approved, and give his heart to drink from the wine of his Muḥammadan love (al-maḥabbah al-Muṣṭafawiyyah) and quench it, and guard his heart from inclining to other than Him and protect it, and ascend his spirit to Your illuminated Presence (Ḥaḍratuka al-Munawwarah), and preserve him by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. (35) O Possessor of my heart and soul in passion, * Is my lot from you to be distanced? This is my heart, which the hand of separation has cut, * So my ribs have become a dwelling for yearning. O Unique One in His might and majesty, * Join the unique one in sorrow who has become distressed. If you drive him away, he has no stratagem * Except your court, for that he has become accustomed. And when the breaths of a waft of contentment blow, * He sways like a straight branch, bending. The name of the Beloved (al-Ḥabīb) and His remembrance revive him, * Wherever he travels, in lowland and highland. So he remains enraptured by the love of his Beloved, * Swaggering in the garment of ecstasy, chanting: A passionate lover, enraptured in existence by His love, * And his Beloved in love has become unique. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Patron (Sayyidinā wa Mawlānā) Muḥammad, and to the Family of our Master Muḥammad, the Means of means (Wasīlat al-Wasā’il), the Essence of generosities and virtues, to the number of benefits and questions, and answers and epistles, and fathers and mothers and spouses, and everything God has created (36) of solid and liquid and flowing. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Patron (Sayyidinā wa Mawlānā) Muḥammad, and to the Family of our Master Muḥammad, the Pole of Sovereignty (Quṭb al-Siyādah), clear in proofs and evidences, the Mountain of Glory (Ṭawd al-Majādah), sent from the most honorable wombs and the noblest tribes, to the number of gardens and meadows, and buds and tunics, and branches and flowers and leaves and thickets, and lances and shields and swords and sword-belts, and everything God has created of moving and stationary and inclining. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Patron (Sayyidinā wa Mawlānā) Muḥammad, and to the Family of our Master Muḥammad, Your Prophet of sweet traits and characteristics, and Your Chosen One (Ṣafiyyuka), manifest in excellences and qualities, to the number of the last and the first, and the gleaming and the flashing and the indications, and the desires and the obstacles and the calamities, and everything God has created of preventing and opposing and intervening. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Patron (Sayyidinā wa Mawlānā) Muḥammad, and to the Family of our Master Muḥammad, Your Beloved (Ḥabībuka), the pious worker, and Your Intimate (Najiyyuka), the perfect Prophet, to the number of orphans and widows, and barren women and nursing mothers and pregnant women, and roots and additions and deficiencies and perfections (37), and everything God has created of hopeful and expectant and working. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Patron (Sayyidinā wa Mawlānā) Muḥammad, and to the Family of our Master Muḥammad, the Delight of breasts and assemblies (Bahjat al-Ṣudūr wa al-Maḥāfil), the Sultan of armies and hosts (Sulṭān al-‘Asākir wa al-Jaḥāfil), to the number of the high and the low, and mounts and caravans, and traditions (sunan) and obligations (farā’iḍ) and supererogatory acts (nawāfil), and everything God has created in the animal world of temperaments and treatments and bodies and veins and joints. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Patron (Sayyidinā wa Mawlānā) Muḥammad, and to the Family of our Master Muḥammad, the Festival of coming joys (‘Īd al-Afrāḥ al-Qābil), the Rain of pouring generosity (Maṭar al-Jūd al-Wābil), to the number of crops and grains and ears of corn, and everything God has created of tables and drinks and foods and spices. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Patron (Sayyidinā wa Mawlānā) Muḥammad, and to the Family of our Master Muḥammad, the Guide of the erring and the ignorant (Murshid al-Ḍāll wa al-Jāhil), the Pardon that lightens for the disobedient from sins what weighs down the back and the shoulder, to the number of paths and ways and watering-places, and deserts and wastelands and wildernesses, and abodes and ruins and dwellings, and everything God has created of forms and images and stars and streams (38). So bless him, O God, and his Family, the noble eminent ones, and his glorious excellent Companions, with a blessing by which You repel from us all obstacles and distractions, and protect us thereby from terrors and rumors.

And the earthquakes, and through them repel from us every terrible calamity and dreadful matter, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Messenger of Allah, O source of guidance, O sea of Allah's grace, O one at whose door O one in whose face are the keys of the gardens, O dweller of the highest paradises all, O one who preceded that company to Paradise, O one who entered the presences of the Throne-Holder first, O one who has excellence over every excellent one, O mender of the broken on the day of regret, O one who extinguishes the blaze with the light of his face, So bring me near in both abodes to success and high rank, And be for me, my children, my family, and my brothers Upon you be the blessings of Allah and the family entirely, O mine of generosity that has no equal, To the garden of beneficence the entrant reaches, He will seek it, the one whose hand is the worker of Ridwan ⁵⁴, And in his palace, blessed is he who eats, Without reckoning, and the winds hasten, And from the Messenger of Allah in that is the connector, And his abundant favors overflowed in the worlds, And for the Fire, nobles have power over creation, And they comply with the command that he utters, So never fails whoever clings to your palms, though rebellious and ignorant, As an intercessor, and you satisfy the opponent when he attacks, And from you, their virtues have followed. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, The fragrant of sleeves and robes, and Your chosen one of noble fathers and grandfathers, to the number of visitors and delegations, And armies and troops, and white and red [swords], and swords and spears and shields, and every creature Allah has created on His renewed earth, male and female, parent and child. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the sea of generosity And munificence, and the builder of valleys and heights, to the number of covenants and pledges and documents ⁵⁵ and witnesses, And people of polytheism and denial, and Magians and Christians and Jews, and every creature Allah has created in the land of Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and the lofty ones, and the Indians. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the possessor of the overflowing pool ⁵⁶ and the means ⁵⁷ and excellence and the tied banner, to the number of rains and lightning And thunder, and days and months and ill omens and auspicious omens, and proofs and installations and numbers And contracts, and every creature Allah has created of hairs and bodies and colors and statures. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the spirit of existence and the light of insight of the people of watchfulness and witnessing, to the number of minerals and precious stones and coins, And the existent and the non-existent and the lost and the advanced and the delayed and the accepted and the rejected, and every creature Allah has created in the human world of eyes and eyelashes and eyebrows and cheeks. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the possessor of the praised station ⁵⁸ and the witnessed place ⁵⁹ and the great intercession on the terror of the standing and the promised day, to the number of the runaway and the fugitive and the straying, and the barren and the pregnant and the childbearing, and the truthful and the enemy And the envious, and every creature Allah has created of the repentant and the worshippers and the praisers and the wayfarers and those who enjoin good and those who stand firm on the limits, so bless him, O Allah, and his family a blessing By which You open for us every closed door and facilitate for us what is tied up, and bestow upon us through it the vision of Your noble face in the abode of honor and eternity, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved of clear proof and evidence, and Your chosen one sent to the red and the black ⁶⁰, humans and jinn, to the number of people of longing and passion and ecstasy and love and infatuation and ecstatic utterances ⁶¹ and attractions ⁶² and states free from defects and deficiency, and every creature Allah has created of men and women, old and young. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the people of eloquence and clarity, and the lamp of the people of unveilings ⁶³ and witnessing and vision, to the number of people of modesty and good manners and faith and love and truthfulness and sincerity and certainty, and humility and reverence and remembrance and recitation of the Quran, and every creature Allah has created of the obedient in all regions and countries. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the lamp of the worlds and the pole ⁶⁴ of lordship, great in rank and station, to the number of people of gifts and sciences and gnosis ⁶⁵ and openings ⁶⁶ and secrets received from the presence of the King, the Judge, and the supplications That relieve hearts of the calamities of worries and griefs and sorrows, and every creature Allah has created of the shining planets and the hidden and visible stars. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the gift of grace and favor, and the master of the children of Adam and Adnan, to the number of people of destruction and coloration ⁶⁷ and flight ⁶⁸ and spending from the treasuries of the unseen in secret and public, and the dazzling miracles and clear signs of evidence and proof, and every creature Allah has created of the firmly rooted and established, the near and the close. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the beloved of the Merciful and the watering place of the thirsty and the festival of joy and happiness and congratulations, to the number of people of victory and blessing and security and generosity and kindness and beneficence and pardon and forgiveness and clemency and forgiveness, and every creature Allah has created in the spirits that act in the cosmos and pierce the veils and canopies and travel in the kingdom and the dominion and the roaming. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the delight of eyes and the pupil of the eye of the elect and the key to the doors of contentment and pleasure, to the number of people of humility and submission and surrender to Allah and compliance, and the people of the circle and number and individuals devoted to His worship in every time and time and place and location, and every creature Allah has created from the Throne to the earth and the inhabitants of the paradises and the courtyards of the gardens. So bless him, O Allah, and his family a blessing by which You have mercy on the far and the near among us, and protect us through it from soulful whims and the causes of misery and abandonment, and write for us through it the support of pardon and free our necks from the heat of blazing fire and the flame of fires, and give us through it in the abode of honor and eternity what no eye has seen nor ear has heard of everlasting bliss and houris and servant boys, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. My concern is not with the form of the body, nor my moving from place to place; Rather, that is the drowning of the heart until the Lord manifests His light to the eye, And an inner whispering with matters of various kinds beyond the speech of the tongue.

And entering under the manifestation ⁶⁹ by a self that became drunk from its wine of the All-Merciful. O souls that partook of cups from Him, I alone drank all the jars. The strings of my secret hummed to me by His command, leaving me free from the strumming of lutes. Sometimes in the desert I follow a wild beast, and at other times the pastures of gazelles. Sometimes I seek the path to them, and at other times I guide by them whoever comes to me. Sometimes as a beggar I wander, hoping perhaps one day for the drink of the thirsty—a non-existent meal in the famine of drought, even from the bad grain of darnel. And at a time you see loyalty as generous from kings of the age among guests. All issued from the sources of my grace, like the bewildered from the abundance of beneficence. Thus, thus, and if not, no no; one, one, and there is no second.

O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the devout, the worshipper, to the number of every one who hastens on the foot of longing to visit his illuminated chamber, and every one who sits. So bless him, O Allah, and his noble, glorious family, and his Companions, the brides of the divine presences and witnessed stations, with a blessing by which You show mercy to our near and far, and by which You cause us to attain, through Your good pleasure and his, the utmost of desires and aims, by Your bounty and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and his family and Companions, and grant them peace, abundantly. O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the treasure of the sought secret, to the number of every one who holds fast, controlling his states at the shock of the incoming flood of his Muhammadan longing, and every one who is overcome, and his family and Companions, and grant them peace, abundantly. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the key to the treasuries of the unseen, to the number of every lover whose musk fragrance wafts from his folds, perfuming the scent of the east and south winds, and his family and Companions, and grant them peace, abundantly. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the life of souls and hearts, to the number of every lover who drinks the wine of his love in taste, scent, and drink, and his family and Companions, and grant them peace, abundantly. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the one who is informed of the engraving of the subtleties of the sciences of the Preserved Tablet ⁷⁰, to the number of every one who strives in His good pleasure until he attains the goal and obtains the desired, and his family and Companions, and grant them peace, abundantly. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, who intercedes by his rank in the greatest of hardships and distresses, to the number of what Allah has repelled from his community of evils, calamities, and overwhelming misfortunes. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, with a blessing by which You heal from us the sick and the ailing and the sought, and by which You protect us from our hidden faults of baseness and the stains of deceit and defects, and by which You forgive us what we have committed of errors, sins, and great offenses, by Your bounty and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and his family and Companions, and grant them peace, abundantly. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the humble, to the number of every one who bows in awe of His majesty and submits, and his family and Companions, and grant them peace, abundantly. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the modest, to the number of every one who weeps at parting from his noble station and bids farewell, and his family and Companions, and grant them peace, abundantly. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the trusted one over the sciences of comprehensive revelation, to the number of every praiser who is exalted by his lofty rank in processions, assemblies, and gatherings, and his family and Companions, and grant them peace, abundantly. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the accepted intercessor, to the number of every one whose love has penetrated his heart, whether adult, elder, youth, or child, and his family and Companions, and grant them peace, abundantly. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, possessor of the conclusive proof and decisive evidence, to the number of every one who desires what he has of the gifts of good things and hopes, and his family and Companions, and grant them peace, abundantly. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the vanquisher of Allah's enemies, the subduer, to the number of every one who relates his truthful reports, whether reader or listener, and his family and Companions, and grant them peace, abundantly. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the one who stands by his Lord's command, the proclaimer, to the number of every one who devotes himself to his service, obeys his commands, and submits. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, the rising stars of guidance, and his Companions, the comprehensive mothers of the religion, with a blessing that heals our hearts with the antidote of its beneficial remedy, and by its blessings repels from us all that comes between us and him of hindering obstacles and barriers, by Your bounty and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. A moon unique in perfection, his perfection; he attained all beauties, his beauty and comeliness. And his generosity attained abundant kindness; all honors are his preeminent glory. So by his right, bless him and grant him peace. By Allah, the Creator has not created nor brought forth a human or angel like Ahmad in the world. So may Allah bless him as long as a pen runs and his smiling light dispels darkness. So by his right, bless him and grant him peace. The sun of his existence rose upon the horizons with goodness in its valleys and heights. And creation grazes in the pasture of his mercy and generosity; his lawful bounty does not oppress. So by his right, bless him and grant him peace. The Surahs of the Mathani ⁷¹ are from the letters of his praise, and the praises of the Names are in his names. And the messengers will be gathered under the shade of his banner on the Day of Return, and the sinner seeks refuge. So by his right, bless him and grant him peace. O Allah, bless Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and his family and Companions, and grant them peace, abundantly. O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the rememberer, to the number of his increasing merit and multiplying goodness. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the praiser, the thankful, to the number of the overflowing of his strong secret and the continuous report of the generosity of his hand. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the content, the patient, to the number of every ascendant, good, and unjust one. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the helper of Allah's religion, the supporter, to the number of every companion, associate, and contemporary. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the forgiving of those who disobey him, the pardoner, to the number of every one who succeeds in attaining his intercession and triumphs.

O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the hidden and the manifest, to the number of every scholar skilled in his prophetic praises and every expert. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the first and the last ⁵⁸, to the number of every one who extols his Ahmadine ⁷² rank and glories. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the good and pure, to the number of every hidden thing in the world of dominion and sovereignty ⁷³ and every manifest thing. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which You delight our eyes in the moon of his radiant face, and gird us with the sword of his overwhelming care, and clothe us with the garments of his chosen protection and the robe of his dazzling beauty, by Your bounty and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and his family and companions, and grant them peace abundantly. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the mighty and noble, to the number of what Allah has adorned with beauties and noble character traits his luminous, subtle essence, and his family and companions, and grant them peace abundantly. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the pure and chaste, to the number of what his Lord bestowed upon him of gifts of secrets and shining lights among the people of fame and definition ⁷⁴, and his family and companions, and grant them peace abundantly. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the manifest and clean, to the number of what he bore for his community of warding off hardships, removing difficulty, and obligation, and his family and companions, and grant them peace abundantly. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the refuge of the strong and the weak, to the number of the substances of his flowing effusions ⁷⁵ in the innermost secrets of the people of sainthood ⁷⁶ and disposal, and his family and companions, and grant them peace abundantly. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, possessor of lofty station and sublime rank, to the number of the degrees of his care among the noble messengers and the shade of his verdant prophethood, and his family and companions, and grant them peace abundantly. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, possessor of the upright religion and the hanif ⁷⁷ path, to the number of what he gave of steadfastness and guarding the limbs from deviation from the path of truth and distortion, and his family and companions, and grant them peace abundantly. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, singled out for stations of might and honor, to the number of what he gave of security and deliverance to his community ⁶⁰ in places of bewilderment and fear, and his family and companions, and grant them peace abundantly. O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, commanding purification and cleansing, to the number of what he gave of mercy, tenderness, and compassion for the common and the elite, the old and the new, and his family and companions, and grant them peace abundantly. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which we seek rain from the clouds of his mighty, abundant mercy, and make it for us a provision we find before You, an excellent means and practice, and by which we seek refuge from the accidents of soully desires and the calls of idleness and procrastination, by Your bounty and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. Upon you be fragrant blessings, O you whom ❖ the Gentle Lord has taken to support. At your door, my master, the servant stands ❖ and that, by your love, is an excellent task. He hopes to find from you a turning of kindness ❖ for you are merciful, kind, and compassionate. Your sweetest remembrance returns as a familiar ⁶¹ ❖ so it makes me forget other than you, the familiar. Does the heart befriend other than Taha ⁷⁸? No! ❖ And thousands do not suffice us without him. The palm trunk ⁷⁹ yearned for him in patience ❖ until the noble guide embraced it. The crescent moon spoke to him when he was a child ❖ and the Gentle King subjected it to him. He is the Beloved, in height and secret ❖ the hearts of believers are vessels for him. He is the Praised One, witnessed at the Gathering ❖ and all the prophets circle around him. He is the Accepted One on a great day ❖ and all the worlds are in rows before him. He is the Foremost when he praises at the Gathering ❖ the Lord, and all of them are standing. He is the One regarded with precedence over what ❖ is delayed from him, a pure resurrected one. He is the Enwrapped ⁸⁰, the moon, the favored ❖ with the fragrance of his scent, how many noses have been honored. He is the Dispeller of the cloud of distress from us ❖ by the fortress of his safety, the feared is secure ⁶². He is the Enricher of a poor one who calls him ❖ so he enriches, and riches from him are abundant. He is the Effacer, he erased polytheism and association ❖ for him, swords rose above necks. He is the Guide, he guided us from error ❖ and we were, before he guided us, weak. He is the Chosen One from Mudar and Fihr ⁸¹ ❖ for him, above all people, is the sublime rank. He is the Most Pious, and he has no peer ❖ to all believers, he is the Compassionate. He is the Sent One in the exalted books ❖ in their meadows, fruits have become sweet. He is the Caller to an upright religion ❖ a hanif one, which no distorted one resembles. Upon him and his family be the purest peace ❖ for him, in the ear of his listener, are pendants. O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and his family and companions, and grant them peace abundantly. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the virtuous, to the number of every defender of his tolerant law and fighter ⁶³, and his family and companions, and grant them peace abundantly. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the perfect, to the number of every believer in what was revealed to him in the clear verses of his noble Book and every doer, and his family and companions, and grant them peace abundantly. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the doer, to the number of every seller of himself and his wealth for His pleasure and every giver, and his family and companions, and grant them peace abundantly. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the connector, to the number of every brother in his love and every persistent one, and his family and companions, and grant them peace abundantly. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the gift of generosity and comprehensive good, to the number of every one known by the mark of the people of religion and righteousness and every obscure one, and his family and companions, and grant them peace abundantly.

O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet ⁸², who speaks with the tongue of truth, the excellent, in number equal to those whom Allah has qualified for His service and upon whom He has poured forth the gifts of His immediate and future goodness. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, the noble leaders, and his Companions, the lions of battle and the chiefs of assemblies, with a blessing that awakens among us, through its remembrance, the heedless and the negligent, and raises, through its blessing, the rank of the high and the low, and through it conveys, from Your pleasure and his pleasure, the hope of the seeker among us and the aspirant, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. Say to our noble lovers, the friends ⁸³, and the intimate companions, stars of prosperity, and to the seekers of unveiling ⁸⁴ and likewise of enjoyment ⁸⁵ through the most intelligent of the wine ⁸⁶: from the pure wine of the unseen ⁸⁷, its choicest part is the truth, the body of purity, and the time of union has come. A wine, by the breeze, subtle, and like water in clarity, falling from the source, from a pure draught. It overpowered the intellects, destroying them, from what it tore apart of the mighty men. The cupbearers pressed it from the vine of the Holy ⁸⁸ with the hands of detail and summary ⁸⁹. And what is said of it is a metaphor of subtlety, whose beauty the hand of utterances has adorned. What request is dearer than it, when the Chosen One ⁹⁰, the King of Beauty, has circled it? O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the guardian of orphans and widows, in number equal to what the pens of the Divine Will have written of blessings upon him, and what the palms and fingers have moved with, and bless his family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, distinguished by virtues and excellences, in number equal to those who have praised him in odes ⁹¹ and in strings of pearls ⁹², and bless his family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, sweet of resources, in number equal to what Allah has sent down, through the blessing of his supplication, of tables of blessings and pouring rains, and bless his family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the imam of witnessed gatherings and assemblies ⁹³, in number equal to what Allah has established through his mission of obligatory and supererogatory acts, and bless his family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the means of means ⁹⁴, in number equal to every seeker of refuge in his honored presence and petitioner, and bless his family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, clear of proof and evidences, in number equal to what his Lord has granted him of noble character and beautiful traits, and bless his family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, in number equal to the last and the first, in number equal to what Allah has repelled through him of terrible calamities and dreadful matters, and bless his family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet sent from the purest elements and the noblest tribes, in number equal to what he was given of asceticism in the little goods of this world and its fleeting display. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, with a blessing that bestows upon us the breezes of its mercies at dawn and evening ⁹⁵, and through it have mercy on our families, spouses, offspring, and relatives, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. He is the seal of the noble messengers, their imam; ranks are his, above all, sublime. Allah singled him out with every virtue; none like him in excellence, and he is the excellent. He is the possessor of authority, the pole of the prophets ⁹⁶; from his two hands have flowed abundant gifts. Allah honored him, so honor his creation; from his hand the flood flows perpetually. May Allah, whose majesty is glorious, bless him, and the family and Companions who are perfect. O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and his family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the companion of the All-Merciful, in number equal to what He has sent down upon his heart of the jewels of revelation and the meanings of the sciences of the Quran, and bless his family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, eloquent of tongue, in number equal to what Allah has made his tongue utter of eloquence, fluency, and the sciences of rhetoric ⁹⁷, and bless his family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, purifier of gardens ⁹⁸, in number equal to what he was given of lofty stations in the highest 'Illiyin ⁹⁹ and the paradises of gardens, and bless his family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the beauty of the age and time, in number equal to what he was given in the abode of bliss of raised couches and beautiful maidens, and bless his family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, life of souls and bodies, in number equal to his ascent in the stations of belovedness and the stages of proximity and nearness, and bless his family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the pupil of the eye of essences ¹⁰⁰, in number equal to his fear of his Lord and his watchfulness over Him in secret and in public, and bless his family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, in number equal to joys and congratulations, in number equal to what he was given of acceptance and what was bestowed upon him of garments of good pleasure and satisfaction, and bless his family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the lamp of the worlds, in number equal to what he was given of love and longing for the essence of his Lord, the King, the Judge, and bless his family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the garden of the spirit and basil, in number equal to what he was given in the abode of honor of sitting on the thrones of lordship among the elite of the prophets and messengers and the great noble chiefs, and bless his family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the cave of safety and security, in number equal to what he was given of great station, high rank, lofty status and dignity, and bless his family and Companions and grant them peace.

O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the refuge of the seeker and the suppliant, to the number of what was deposited in his heart of mercy and gentleness towards the weak, the poor, and all the brethren ¹⁰¹, and upon his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the mercy for the far and the near, to the number of what submitted to his obedience the Arabs and non-Arabs and all the angels, humans, and jinn, and upon his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the gift of bounty and favor, to the number of what Allah freed through his supreme intercession ¹⁰² from among those burdened with sins, major offenses, and disobedience. So bless him, O Allah, and his Family, with a blessing that protects us from the people of deprivation and deficiency, preserves us from the afflictions of passion and the causes of humiliation and disgrace, and grants us what we have hoped for and beyond what we have hoped for in the abode of Your generosity, of everlasting bliss, houris, and immortal youths ¹⁰³, by Your favor and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and upon his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the kind and merciful ¹⁰⁴, to the number of everyone who was guided by his sound guidance and followed the path of his upright religion, and upon his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the affectionate and forbearing, to the number of those whom his Lord drew to His presence and purified their hearts with the elixir of His love from every ugly belief and blameworthy attribute, and upon his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the chosen and generous, to the number of those whom his Lord honored with His love and gifted with abundant goodness, and upon his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the guarantor of his community, the leader, to the number of those who sought refuge in his protection on the Day of Gathering and Resurrection and the terror of the great standing ¹⁰⁵, and upon his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the eye of bliss ¹⁰⁶, to the number of those who drew from the sea of his generosity and drank deeply from the nectar of his Kawthar ¹⁰⁷, the sweet, fresh source and Tasnim ¹⁰⁸, and upon his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the treasure of wealth and poverty ¹⁰⁹, to the number of those who spread his hadith among the lovers and extolled his lofty rank and magnificent station, and upon his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the light of eternal might ¹¹⁰, to the number of those who became lost in the descriptions of his perfections, thus swimming and wandering in the sea of his Muhammadan beauty, and upon his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, preferred over the Prophet ¹¹¹, the Friend ¹¹², and the Speaker ¹¹³, to the number of those who were enamored with his chosen love and firmly resolved upon his affection with utmost determination, and upon his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the thanked one in assemblies of precedence and honor, the chosen one praised by the tongue of revelation in the decisive, wise Book ¹¹⁴, and the saint for whom You swore by Your saying: "Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe, you are not, by the grace of your Lord, a madman. And indeed, for you is a reward uninterrupted. And indeed, you are of a great moral character." ¹¹⁵ So bless him, O Allah, and his Family, possessors of lordship and honor, and his Companions, singled out for veneration, reverence, and glorification, with a blessing that imbues us with his immense Muhammadan character and perfumes our garments with the fragrant, ambergris-like scent of its aroma and breeze, by Your favor and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. Its author—may Allah lead him by the reins of His guidance to His straight path and grant him from the gifts of divine sciences ¹¹⁶ what cannot be attained by acquisition nor known by instruction—said: When I reached in this [work] this place, which includes mention of some of what Allah honored His chosen, generous Prophet with, and what He distinguished him with of beautiful attributes, and praised him with what is in His wise Book, and swore for him concerning that by His saying: "Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe, you are not, by the grace of your Lord, a madman. And indeed, for you is a reward uninterrupted. And indeed, you are of a great moral character," it occurred to my mind that I should mention something of the meaning of what our Lord, the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing, described him with in this verse, by way of allusion and understanding, and arrangement of expression and refinement of meaning for the intelligent and discerning. So I say—and from Allah I hope to attain the goal and the desired end—His saying: "And indeed, you are of a great moral character" means: I created you, O My beloved Muhammad, with the morals of My Lordship, and I stamped you, O My beloved Ahmad, with the natures of My Belovedness, and I kneaded your noble clay with the water of Tasnim, and struck it in the mold of prophethood and leadership, and preserved it from the impurities of human follies and the whisperings of the accursed Satan. Or you may say: "And indeed, you are of a great moral character" means: I clothed you with My attribute and created you with My character, and My creation is great, and of the greatness of your creation is that I clothed you with My grace and attribute, and singled you out with it in My pre-eternal priority, and mentioned you with it in My eternal, ancient speech. Or you may say: "And indeed, you are of a great moral character" means: I adorned you with the perfection of My Divinity, and clothed you with the secret of My Self-Subsistence, and delighted you with the light of My Might and the beauty of My Belovedness. Or you may say: "And indeed, you are of a great moral character" means: I created you from the purity of My light, and manifested your secret in the manifestations of My manifestation, and praised you with the tongue of My Oneness in the tablet of My preservation and the paper of My unfolded scroll, and concealed you in the beauty of My Essence until...

You have looked at things through My witness and not through your own witness, lest it veil you from witnessing Me ¹¹⁷ in your heart and My presence. Or you say: "And indeed, you are of a great moral character" ¹¹⁸ meaning: I singled you out for Myself in the witnessing of specification ¹¹⁹ and molded your primordial nature ¹²⁰ upon it before creation and formation, and I elevated your station among the great prophets, messengers, and the angels brought near. So you are the very eye of My divine mercy ¹²¹, the fountain of My angelic sciences ¹²², the key to the doors of My merciful treasures ¹²³, the rising place of the rays of My all-holy lights ¹²⁴, and the setting place of the gifts of My most sacred mysteries ¹²⁵. Through you the higher and lower worlds subsist; through your secret the whole and the part are ordered; through the substance of your succor the distant and the near are revived. So you are the spirit of all beings, the leader ¹²⁶ of the illumined spirits and purified bodies, and the comprehensive book of sciences encompassing the realities of the Names and Attributes. No gift reaches anyone except through your hands, and no secret appears in the world except from you and to you. Or you say: "And indeed, you are of a great moral character" meaning: I made your heart the house of My knowledge, your inner heart ¹²⁷ the locus of My mercy, your tongue the secret of My wisdom, and your thought the place of My gaze. So My sight falls only upon you, and My command is executed only through you and by your hands. So you are the peacock ¹²⁸ of the carpet of My presence, the witness over My dominions and the servants of My service, the truthful and confirmed on the day when witnesses stand and the hearts of those who fear My might tremble. Or you say: "And indeed, you are of a great moral character" meaning: I raised you in the lap of My protection, nourished you with the perfection of My knowledge, suckled you with the milk of My prophethood and messengership, regarded you with the eye of My might and care, crowned you with the crown of My secret and sainthood ¹²⁹, clarified through you for the wayfarers the paths of My guidance and right direction, and gathered in you the morals of the prophets and messengers, the sciences of the first and the last, and addressed you with My words: "Take forgiveness, enjoin what is good, and turn away from the ignorant" ¹³⁰. He is forgiving of offenses, as if from forgiveness he knew no sinner among people. He does not care if harm befalls him, as long as harm does not befall a Muslim among people. Therefore our Master described him as having a great moral character, and this was perfected for him by the supreme intercession on the greatest day and the tremendous terror, the day when the messengers say "myself, myself" and he, peace and blessings be upon him, says "my community, my community" out of compassion for them from disgrace, punishment, and painful torment. And according to the measure of the good character he was given with God's servants, the abundance of mercy and compassion for them, he was the greatest of the prophets in rank before God, the mightiest in station before God, and was given supreme lordship over all of God's servants, as stated in his saying: "I am the master of the children of Adam, and I do not boast." Or you say: "And indeed, you are of a great moral character" meaning: I clothed you with the adornment of My name the Patient, and adorned you with the jewelry of My name the Pardoner, the Forgiving. So you forgave those who wronged you, maintained ties with those who cut you off, gave to those who deprived you, and did not hold anyone accountable for the ugly words and blameworthy descriptions they cast at you. I granted you noble moral traits, placed the keys of My mercy in your hand, and named you with My name the Kind, the Merciful. So your mercy encompassed the noble and the lowly, the old and the middle-aged, the infant and the weaned. I boasted of your character to the higher and lower worlds, and through you I manifested your upright and straight religion over all other religions. I extended your hand in My kingdom and named you with My name the Generous, the Forbearing. So the sea of your generosity overflowed upon the weak, the poor, the rich, and the destitute; your forbearance included the pious and the impious, the distant and the near, the friend and the intimate. Or you say: "And indeed, you are of a great moral character" because you found the sweetness of contemplating My secret, or because you accepted the varieties of what I bestowed upon you of grace better than any other prophet or messenger accepted, thereby becoming the most loving of Me and the most obedient to My command. Ibn Mansur said: "The great moral character means that the harshness of creation did not affect you while you were contemplating the Truth." It was said: "The great moral character means that he endured affliction for God's sake and did not complain, but rather showed mercy and forgave." It was said: "It means that he, peace and blessings be upon him, interacted with creation with his character, as all beings became small in his eyes due to witnessing their Creator." It was said: "It was called a great moral character because all noble traits were gathered in him." It was said: "The great moral character is the garment of the attributes and the assumption of the character of God Almighty, as there remained for him no share of turning away." End quote. Or you say: "And indeed, you are of a great moral character" meaning: I created you with the character of the meanings of My attributes and names, and I singled you out with My secret, and through it I magnified your distinction among all My messengers and prophets, and through it I favored you over all My beloved and chosen ones, and through it I made you the imam of My pious and My saints, the most generous of My forbearing and noble ones, the most merciful of My servants and compassionate ones, and I created you in My earth and My heaven. Or you say: "And indeed, you are of a great moral character" since I derived your name from My most beautiful names, and I made you journey by night from one sanctuary to another, and spoke to you at the station of two bows' length or nearer, and honored you with My vision on the elevated carpet and the highest station, and gathered in you every wondrous secret, amazing style, and knowledge of exquisite wording and meaning. Or you say: "And indeed, you are of a great moral character" since I brought forth your noble essence for manifestation, raised your lofty rank above all beings, and manifested your greatest signs to the angels, humans, and jinn; I split open your pure chest with the scalpel of forgiveness, forbearance, and beneficence, purified it with the water of My nearness, protected it from the afflictions of passion, and removed from it the share of Satan; I illumined your pure heart with the light of success, guidance, and perfection of faith, and filled it with knowledge, monotheism, gnosis, and pure certainty; I brought you near with the nearness of the beloved, and paired your name with My name in remembrance, the call to prayer, and the iqama; I hid your secret in My secret, and drowned you in the oceans of My Oneness until you had no aspiration other than Me, nor any attention to anything else among beings and all temporal events.

* Nothing other than his gentle character (khuluqihi al-nasīm) * And none other than his countenance (muḥayyāhu) is the luxuriant garden (al-rawḍatu al-ghannā’) * Mercy is all of him, and resolve, and determination * And dignity, and infallibility, and modesty * Adversity (al-ba’sā’) does not loosen from him the ties * Of patience, nor does prosperity (al-sarrā’) make him light-headed * His soul (nafsuhu) was noble, so evil (al-sū’) * Does not cross his heart, nor obscenity (al-faḥshā’) * Great is the blessing (ni‘matu al-ilāhi) of God upon him * So the great ones (al-‘uẓamā’) are too weak for his mention * His people were ignorant of him, so he gave * And the forbearing one (akhū al-ḥilmi), his habit is overlooking (al-ighḍā’) * He encompassed the worlds in knowledge and forbearance * So he is a sea (baḥr) that burdens (al-a‘bā’) do not weary Or you say: ﴾And indeed, you are upon an exalted standard of character (khuluqin ‘aẓīm)﴿ He emerged from the sources of the lights of the openings of “In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful” and from the gleams of what his Master praised him with in the clear Book of the Wise. He swore an oath for him regarding that in His saying: (81) ﴾Nūn. By the pen and what they inscribe. You are not, by the grace of your Lord, a madman. And indeed, for you is a reward never ending. And indeed, you are upon an exalted standard of character.﴿ When the letters by which the oath was sworn, in pre-eternity, witnessed the virtues of this praised letter (al-ḥarf al-mamdūḥ) in the beginning and the end, and the characteristics of its form (shaklihi) indicating the attainment of the goal and the achievement of the desire, their spirits presented themselves to him and vied in his service, like the vying of those circumambulating around the Sacred House of God (Bayti Llāhi l-Ḥarām). They crowded to kiss the hem of his Muḥammadan carpet (bisāṭihi al-muḥammadī), like the crowding of those desiring to kiss the Most Fortunate Stone (al-ḥajar al-as‘ad) and those supplicating between the Corner and the Station (al-rukn wa al-maqām). Their forms hastened to win the prize of precedence in the oath by them upon the honor of his creation (khalqihi), peace be upon him. Then the Nūn (nūn), with its wondrous form and order, preceded them, and it was the one by which the oath was sworn regarding that, in accordance with the will of our Master, the All-Knowing King (al-malik al-‘allām). This is because it bears a resemblance to the Nūn of his bent eyebrow (nūni ḥājibihi al-ma‘ṭūf) and to the Hā’ of his mighty, described bow (hā’i qawsihi al-‘azīzi al-mawṣūf), and the fame of its delightful letter among the letters. It proclaimed with the tongue of its state: “I am the Nūn of his majestic breaths (anfāsihi al-jalīlah). I am the Nūn of his beautiful attributes (nu‘ūtihi al-jamīlah). I am the Nūn of his noble, deeply-rooted prophethood (nubūwatihi al-musharrafah al-aṣīlah). I am the Nūn of his lights (anwārihi) shining upon the faces of his numerous beloved ones. I am the Nūn of his great tidings (nabā’ihi al-‘aẓīm). (82) I am the Nūn of his illustrious lineage (nasabihi al-fakhīm). I am the Nūn of the law (nāmūsi) of his immense secret. I am the Nūn of the fragrant breezes of his all-encompassing beneficence (nawāfiḥi iḥsānihi al-‘amīm). I am the Nūn of the gentle breeze (nasīmi) of the scent of his pleasant fragrance (shadhā ‘arfihi al-ṭayyib). The scent and the fragrance. I am the one whose form’s likeness was traced upon the forelock of his radiant forehead by the pen of ancient power (qalam al-qudrati al-qadīm). So I am the most worthy and deserving of precedence in that, due to the encompassing of my mentioned limbs by the halo of the full moon of his beautiful, handsome face, the essence of his smiling, fragrant teeth (thaghr al-shanīb al-nasīm), and the purity of his luminous, noble body.” Then the letters raised their matter to their Master, the Wise Disposer (al-mudabbir al-ḥakīm), the Fashioner of their forms in the most beautiful composition and the best proportion, the Inventor of all things as He wills—no constraint is upon Him in what He does; there is no god but Him, the Beneficent, the Merciful (al-barr al-raḥīm). So He decreed for them the precedence of this mentioned Nūn in His clear Book, in His saying: ﴾Nūn. By the pen and what they inscribe. You are not, by the grace of your Lord, a madman. And indeed, for you is a reward never ending. And indeed, you are upon an exalted standard of character.﴿ At that, the letters submitted their judgments to Him and cast their reins before Him, and yielded to what the pen of His will had decreed in the fields of satisfaction and submission. The Nūn rejoiced at what its Master had honored it with, of the particularity of the oath by it upon the perfection of the character (khalq) (83) of His Beloved, who has no peer or equal. So blessed, then blessed, is he who believes in him and dies upon his upright religion. And blessed, then blessed, is he who affirms him, acts according to his Sunnah, and follows the path of his straight way. Upon him be the best of prayers from God, the purest of peace, perpetual blessings, and the most exalted honor and veneration, as long as his rank soars above the stations of the possessors of glory and exaltation, and his standing rises above the positions of the people of nobility and honor—a prayer and peace by which we fortify ourselves against the afflictions of desire and the snares of the accursed Satan (al-shayṭān al-rajīm), by which we seek refuge from the causes of wrath, disgrace, punishment, and painful torment, by which we are safe from the vicissitudes of time and its calamities, its trials both recent and ancient, and by which we are gathered with those upon whom You have bestowed favor—the prophets, the truthful, the martyrs, and the righteous—in the highest heights of Paradise (al-firdaws) and the Garden of Bliss (jannatu al-na‘īm), by Your bounty and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. You possess the hearts and their owners ❖ Your highness disposes in their forelocks To You the worlds of the two realms aspire (84) ❖ And seek gifts from Your generosity Because You are the mercy of the Most Merciful, a treasure ❖ From which provisions are hoped for God called You to the Throne by night ❖ For His visitation, and singly He called You And the Majestic One addressed You without a voice ❖ You heard His sweetest speech there And the Generous One honored You with every grace ❖ As He veiled it from others and said: “Take it” To His Presences He brought You near, singly ❖ And of His greatest signs He showed You And You were supported in sight and heart ❖ So Your two eyes did not pause at anything And with alleviation He conveyed to You the wishes ❖ For his community who followed Your guidance You poured upon the worlds a sea of generosity ❖ And the sea is but a trickle from Your munificence You gathered the characteristics of nearness, singly ❖ And none attained the great ones, some of that And all beauty, Your essence has encompassed it ❖ And none has resembled You in Your beauty (85) You were singled out for two robes in creation and character ❖ So He did not create for other than You Your two robes You were perfected in two origins, beginning and end ❖ And Your two origins refuse to be matched Indeed, You are the best of the best, singly ❖ And Your rank in the heights refuses partnership Upon You and Your family be prayer, successively ❖ And upon Your Companions who followed Your guidance Or you say: «Nūn. By the pen and what they inscribe. You are not, by the grace of your Lord, a madman.» As testified for you by the Trustworthy One, Gabriel, and Michael, and Israfil, and Azrael, entrusted with seizing souls, the Strong, the Firm; and the carpet of Might; and the station of “two bow-lengths or nearer” (qāba qawsayni aw adnā); and the keepers of the Frequented House (al-bayt al-ma‘mūr), the Raised Ceiling (al-saqf al-marfū‘), and the Inflamed Sea (al-baḥr al-masjūr); and the secrets of intimate conversation and discourse; and the Book of clear revelation; and the greatness of your station with me, and my naming you as (Alif Lām Mīm Ṣād, Ḥā’ Mīm ‘Ayn Sīn Qāf, Ṭā’ Hā’, Yā’ Sīn); and the acknowledgment of the stone and the tree, and the speech of animals of your message, and the gushing of pure, flowing water from between your fingers. «And indeed, for you is a reward never ending.» I granted it to you from the treasuries of my unseen secrets (86) and the outpourings of my angelic mercies, and the results of my sensory and spiritual secrets, and the treasures of my lights that are with me, the Holy. And I explained that to you, and I explained to you the reward never ending (al-ajra ghayra mamnūnin) upon you, by My saying: And indeed, for you is a reward never ending (6) That is, that reward is not in exchange for your action, nor do you look to it; rather, your rank with Me has risen above those accidents, and your aspiration has ascended from looking to those accidents. So I described you with the attributes of My perfection at the witnessing of My beauty, by My saying: The sight did not swerve, nor did it transgress (17) And indeed, you are upon an exalted standard of character (4) From My character (khalqī), that is, My attribute and description, I clothed you with it and singled you out to bear it, because bearing it is not possible for other than you, from the Throne to the dust. So by your exalted character (khalqika), you tasted the flavor of witnessing My vision, and the flow of decree and destiny became easy for you, so you came to witness Me through the exhalation of bearing the burdens of My command in you, and your character became from My character. And my master ‘Abd al-Jalīl al-Qaṣrī said in “The Branches of Faith”: “Who can describe his character among created beings, when the Lord of the worlds has praised him, and He said—Mighty is the Speaker—: And indeed, you are upon an exalted standard of character (4) So there is nothing greater than what God, Mighty and Majestic, has magnified.” And Ibn al-Khaṭīb (87) al-Sulmānī recited in this meaning: O Chosen One, before the creation of Adam, When the universe had not yet opened its locks, Can a created being attempt your praise, after The Creator has praised your character (akhlāq)? And I said regarding the meaning of His saying: Nūn. By the pen and what they inscribe (1) That is, what they inscribe on the pages of the hearts of the lovers, of the attributes of My majesty and beauty; and write on the tablets of the beloved ones, of My essential sciences and the attributes of My perfection; and engrave in the understandings of the companions of My presence with Me, of the gifts of the openings of My intimacy and My condescension; and they trace.

From the hidden stores of my unveilings in the consciences of the people of my nearness and union, and they trace from the jewels of my bestowal descents in the unseen of the identity of my poles and substitutes ¹³¹, {You are not, by the grace of your Lord, a madman} ¹³². As the people of falsehood, lies, and error accused you, rather the jinn desired and rejoiced in your love, and in the dust of your noble sandal ¹³³ it bound itself and attached, and mankind sought refuge at your side and sought protection by your rank from wrath, anger, and displeasure, {And indeed for you is a reward never ending} ¹³⁴. I gifted you with it before the tracing of the form of this Nun ¹³⁵ by which I swore, and its manifestation and concealment, its joining (88) ¹³⁶, its emphasis, its prolongation, and the integration of its form in the midst of those forms and dots, {And indeed you are of a great moral character} ¹³⁷. I singled out its mention for you over my messengers, prophets, chosen ones, and the angels of my earth and heaven, and with that I spread the wing of my good pleasure for your purified bride ¹³⁸, so your breast expanded and opened, and I mentioned you in the decisive book of Him who witnessed for whoever adheres to your sunna ¹³⁹ the entry into paradise and security from fears on the day of the standing ¹⁴⁰, great in terror, fright, anxiety, and despair, or you say: {Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe} ¹⁴¹. From what I honored you with of the secrets of the sciences of revelation and sending down, the virtues of recitation, remembrance, and chanting, the abundance of modesty and etiquette with God in taking and giving, little and much, the filling of times with your remembrance and blessing upon you, which has no likeness in the greatest reward nor any equal, and the meanings of your light coursing in the interior of the Throne, the Footstool, the Supreme Pen, the manifestations of the most manifest secret, and what I confided to you of inspirations, illuminations, manifest miracles and wonders in general and in detail, {You are not, by the grace of your Lord, a madman}. The calamities of human nature provoke you (89) ¹⁴² and the heart's inner thoughts play with you, and the evil of temperaments, whose people are doomed to perdition for their immersion in what does not concern them of evil deeds and ugly, displeasing words, changes your states, {And indeed for you is a reward never ending}. I granted it to you so that you might witness what I have singled you out for of my everlasting, eternal, abundant favors, and the witnessing of my great, bestowal graces before your essence emerged to the higher and lower worlds, and the appearance of the attributes of your perfections to the people of my speciality from the spiritual souls and the holy, luminous bodies, and your brothers among the prophets, messengers, and the near-station angels spoke of it, not in exchange for a deed you performed nor for a revelation you were entrusted to convey and you conveyed it, for you are independent of reward and recompense through Me, and sufficient from seeking compensation and pursuing means, so your reward is your nearness to Me and your union is the unveiling of your beauty eternally, so that you may take from Me and narrate your traditions from the sciences of My Essence, and thus declare what is My secret from My secret in your essence and issued to you from Me, so your reward is the never-ending one, {Inform My servants that I am the Forgiving, the Merciful} ¹⁴³, and your great, preserved reward, {And whoever holds fast to God has been guided to a straight path} ¹⁴⁴, {And indeed you are of a great moral character} (90) ¹⁴⁵. The harshness of the ignorant and the sayings of the sorcerers who lie against God, the liars, and the deeds of the foolish who flee from religion, the renegades, did not prevail over you because of what I adorned you with of the perfection of My creation and My character, so you came to see things with the eye of My witnessing, so they become small in your sight, for whoever sees things with the eye of their existence deviates from the path of truth and travels and reaches from his Lord what he intended, and what he left becomes easy for him, and whoever sees them with the eye of his thought deviates from the straight path and is wretched and perishes, or you say: {Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe} from your merits mentioned in the sacred traditions and your virtues inscribed in the revealed books and the authentic transmitted chains. {You are not, by the grace of your Lord, a madman} so you deny the lights of prophethood and messengerhood and follow the sayings of the people of deviation and misguidance and support the religion of the people of disbelief and ignorance and abandon what your Lord commanded you of calling to Him and guiding. {And indeed for you is a reward never ending}, i.e., not limited by the minds of the rabble, the riffraff, and those of procrastination and idleness, but rather you are trustworthy in conveying revelation, renowned for trustworthiness and justice, protected from lying and betrayal, regarded with the eye of veneration and majesty. I clothed you with the garment of My character and gathered in you what was dispersed in others (91) ¹⁴⁶ of the characters of the prophets and messengers, and I bequeathed to you their secrets by complete inheritance and authenticity, and I indicated that to you: {And indeed you are of a great moral character}, for all of them derive from your praiseworthy spirit ¹⁴⁷, so you are the secret of existence and its meaning, the element of its foundation and its structure, and the sea of your Mustafawi ¹⁴⁸ generosity supplies creatures first and last, outwardly and inwardly, and the flood of your Mawlawi ¹⁴⁹ bestowal supplies every prophet and saint preceding your appearance, while you existed in the world of the unseen and the witnessed, and passed through the stations of triumph and happiness, as the pen of decree and will wrote in pre-eternity, and you are greater than every great one, and nothing is greater than what God magnified and created with His great creation and spread his fame in the highest assembly and illuminated by his rank in the decisive book of the Wise by His saying: {And indeed you are of a great moral character}. And some said: God magnified the creation of His Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, as he did not incline to human characters, and his rank was honored as he did not settle for accidental attributes until he reached the Essence by the Essence and the attributes by the attributes. How could his creation not be great when his Lord manifested to him with the lights of His majesty and beauty and His creation with His creation, and enriched him by it from all else, and immersed him in the attributes of His names (92) ¹⁵⁰ and the descriptions of His perfection? Or you say: {Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe} from the gifts of My stored knowledge and the subtleties of My preserved secret in the tablets of erasure and affirmation, the leg of the Throne, the edges of the veils and canopies, the hidden stores of consciences and secrets, the unseen of identities, and from the meanings of My names written on stones, trees, olive leaves, and all plants, and the secret of My power by which I established the earths and heavens and caused to flow Sayhun, Jayhun, the Tigris, the Nile, and the Euphrates, and from the glories of My light by which I illuminated the insights of My righteous saints and raised them to the highest degrees, and My penetrating command before the meeting of Kaf and Nun ¹⁵¹ and the creation of originated things. {You are not, by the grace of your Lord, a madman} so the states of the people of deceit and gradual entrapment and committing evil deeds provoke you, and the sayings of those who think evil of God make you doubt, and the rejection of beliefs, but rather you are My servant and My messenger, I bestowed that upon you before you moved in the manifest loins and the wombs of mothers, and your light appeared in the manifestations of faith, sincerity, obedience, and acts of nearness, and My choosing you and My favor to you is not in exchange for compensation as the people of transgression, misguidance, doubts, disputes, arguments, and desires that bring (93) ¹⁵² paths of corruption and types of opposition claim, but rather they are in the midst of their lies playing, and in the seas of their error and desires frolicking, and they do not realize what befalls them of punishment in life and after death. {And indeed for you is a reward never ending} which I granted you from the presence of My nearness and union, and I singled you out for it in the abode of recompense and honors, for I am the absolute bestower of rewards and the giver of gifts of good to whom I love without compensation or merit, and you are My beloved, My servant, and My messenger, I singled you out for that and through you I humiliated the noses of the deniers and the obstinate from the people of injustice, corruption, and hypocrisy, and through you I set right

The states of the saints and the righteous, and you have gathered in you the morals of the prophets and messengers, and the sun of your prophethood has shone in the surrounding cycles and all horizons, so between me and you have been removed the barriers and obstacles and everything that leads to confrontation that brings about causes of breach and dissolution, because your noble station refuses that, and your lofty rank does not accept likeness or partnership. And each of the prophets and messengers used to say: 'I do not ask you for it any payment; my payment is only from the Lord of the worlds' ¹⁵³, and you ask of me nothing but the great intercession ¹⁵⁴ for creatures on the day when people stand before the Lord of the worlds. So your reward with me, O my beloved (94) O Muhammad, the being of your essence is from the being of My essence, and the attributes of your perfections are from the attributes of My perfections, and the secret of your words is from the secret of My words, and the flashes of your miracles are from the proofs of My arguments and the dazzling signs of My verses. So hold fast to what is revealed to you; indeed, you are on a straight path ¹⁵⁵. And My servants, indeed I am the Forgiving, the Merciful ¹⁵⁶. Or you say: Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe ¹⁵⁷, you are not, by the grace of your Lord, a madman ¹⁵⁸. Before creation and after creation, you are not occupied from fulfilling My right by the light of the message and prophethood which I sent down upon your heart, nor are you infatuated, nor are you restricted by the dazzling miracles and wonders ¹⁵⁹ that I manifested at your hands from reaching Me, nor are you mortgaged. Rather, your affair is standing before Me in bowing and prostrating in the depths of mosques and retreats, and your habit is persisting in My remembrance and reflecting on the dominion of the earths and heavens, and your vision in the eye of My witnessing ¹⁶⁰ in all things has sufficed you from turning to other than Me among events and all created things. And indeed, you are of a great moral character ¹⁶¹. No masters of high stations among the elite of the prophets and messengers have rivaled you in it, nor have the possessors of lofty ranks among the great ones brought near ¹⁶² and the chiefs of the angels who dominate ¹⁶³ shared with you in it. Rather, it is a favor from the treasuries of My mercy with which I have favored (95) you, and a blessing from the gifts of My bounty and generosity that I have bestowed upon you, in which I have gathered for you some of the special characteristics of the prophets and messengers. And the noble morals of the saints and the righteous. So nothing is greater than your great character, and no description is more sublime than your magnificent description. For forbearance is your nature, and clemency is your mark, and patience is your wisdom, and asceticism is your means of nearness, and detachment is your desire, and trust is in your blessing, and calling is to your fame, and affiliation is to your victory, and clinging to Me is your strength, and seeking My pleasure is your goal, and acting by My law is your innate disposition, and gatherings of My remembrance are your presence, and nearness to Me is your station, and absorption in My mercy is your state, and adherence to the Sunna and the community is your service, and commanding good and forbidding evil is your profession, and compassion for the weak, the needy, and the poor is your lot, and devotion in the depths of mosques and prayer niches is your solitude, and standing before Me and concern for My affair is your provision and awe, and turning to Me and clinging to the hem of My forbearance is your care and awe, and faith and belief in what I have commanded you is your tongue and proof, and acting by what I have sent down upon your heart from My Mighty Book is your guide and path, and seeing My Noble Face is your portion among the prophets and your share, and seeking intercession for your community is the utmost of your hope (96) and your intention and desire. He is the Chosen One ¹⁶⁴ sent to people as a mercy, Blessed is He who praised him by Himself. He is the treasure containing knowledge, the secret, and purity. God has preserved for prophethood his heart. And the Merciful has encompassed the heart of Muhammad, And singled him out for access to the guarded unseen. And the Chosen One, while God is Perfect, has no partner. Upon him be God's prayers and then His peace. Or you say: Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe ¹⁵⁷. From the letters of your magnified and great name and the reward of prayer for whoever prays upon you with love, longing, and sincere affection. You are not, by the grace of your Lord, a madman ¹⁵⁸. The whisperers of the jinn play with you (97) and deceive you with their flutes and melodious voice. How could that be, when they used to burn upon hearing your sermon and submit in awe of your lofty rank, and come willingly or unwillingly to inhale the fragrant breezes of mercies blowing upon you from the carpet of the presence of your Lord, the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing, and to borrow the light of your pure words to illuminate by its lamp in the darkness of their deep ignorance? For by the appearance of your radiant face they were prevented from eavesdropping and ascending to the layers of the heavens and receiving what is revealed to the angels entrusted with the descent of rain and the growth of plants, and from knowing the unseen and protecting fetuses in the wombs of mothers. And by your mission they became fugitives in the fortresses of mountains and the plains of deserts, so no earth carries them, no sky shades them, and no protector guards them from the burning of your light that erases the traces of the tyrants rebellious against your obedience and the aggressors, until the Muhammadan care ¹⁶⁵ drew the chiefs of their great ones and the notables of their famous ones, and they came to listen to the Quran and seek blessing from your vision that removes from hearts the coverings of ignorance and rust, and to gather from your gardens the fruits of faith and the gifts of gnosis. So they heard from your prophetic wisdom what dazzles minds (98) and intellects, bewilders thoughts, and transforms essences. Then they returned to their people joyful and rejoicing, and obedient to what you commanded them. So they called out with loud voices: 'O our people, respond to the caller of God and believe in Him; He will forgive you your sins and protect you from a painful punishment' ¹⁶⁶, to the end of the verses. So no soul remained among the souls of their great ones and scholars except that it heard with the ears of spirits and secrets the call of eternity in the world of existence, and responded in the manner of obedience on the tongue of the Beloved, the Master of creation, sent with ease and gentleness, for he is the guide of truth, guiding to the truth. So they believed in him and affirmed him, and followed the light that was sent down with him; those are the successful ¹⁶⁷. 'And whoever does not respond to the caller of God is not causing failure on earth, and he has not besides Him any protectors. Those are in manifest error' ¹⁶⁸.

Or you say: ﴿وَإِنَّ لَكَ لَأَجْرًا غَيْرَ مَمْنُونٍ﴾ meaning: not cut off by the interruptions of reproach and requital, nor prevented by the obstacles of plans and choices, nor placed such that the factors of hypocrisy and opposition raise it, nor fabricated such that the works of whims and desires mix with it. Rather, you are My servant and My messenger; I chose you for Myself before the creation of the heavens and the earth, and I populated the pavilions of My intimacy with your spirituality, and honored you with the stations of love ¹⁶⁹, nearness, and friendship. I adorned you with the jewels of revelation and sending down, and supported you with the brilliant miracles and luminous wonders. Through you, I manifested the paths of right guidance and led you and your community along the ways of security and peace. Your reward is that I spend the night with my Lord, who feeds me and gives me drink. And your recompense is: ﴿إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُبَايِعُونَكَ إِنَّمَا يُبَايِعُونَ اللَّهَ﴾ And your station is: ﴿فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ﴾ And your pleasure is: ﴿مَن يُطِعِ الرَّسُولَ فَقَدْ أَطَاعَ اللَّهَ﴾ ﴿وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ﴾ meaning: you had no concern for anything other than My worship, no desire for anything other than My nearness and connection, no observation of anything other than My witnessing and vigilance, no attention to anything other than My conversation and discourse, no wish for anything other than seeking My pleasure and forgiveness for your community from My wrath and anger, and bringing them into My protection and guardianship. Or you say: ﴿وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ﴾ meaning: from My creation with which I created you, and I am greater than every great one, more clement than every clement one, more knowing than every knowing one, more merciful than every merciful one, more generous than every generous one, more beneficial than every truthful friend and intimate. So be at ease, O My beloved, O Muhammad, with what I have honored you with of My great creation, and raised your rank above every prophet, chosen one, and intimate interlocutor, and revealed it to you in the clear verses of My wise Book, and swore by it in My saying: ﴿نٓ وَالْقَلَمِ وَمَا يَسْطُرُونَ مَا أَنتَ بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ بِمَجْنُونٍ وَإِنَّ لَكَ لَأَجْرًا غَيْرَ مَمْنُونٍ وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ﴾ * So his creation was perfected, then he was chosen * A beloved with no equal ever * The most exalted of messengers in loftiness and rank * And the greatest of those with a discerning heart * His realities transcend all limits * And minds are bewildered by his realities * The word of the Chosen One is like revelation, true * So the word of God is what Ahmad says * The tongue of God is Ahmad among creatures * The evidence has pointed to the signified * The trustee of God, our remembrance, his guidance * From reminding, he does not deviate * The vicegerent of God among us, the best guide * To him the vicegerents ultimately return * The path of God calls us to Him * Apart from Him, we have no path of righteousness * May God reward him with a bounty beyond measure * A brother sent as a healer of the sick * He surpassed the prophets in creation and character * Under the shade of his banner, encompassing all Or you say: ﴿نٓ وَالْقَلَمِ﴾ meaning: the light of the lights of My essence, and the pen of My action, and the ink of My perfect words, and My decree in My judgment and justice, and My abundant favor upon My servants, and the gifts of My bounty. ﴿وَمَا يَسْطُرُونَ﴾ on the tablet of your secret that encompasses the meanings of the divine sciences ¹⁷⁰, both derivative and fundamental, remote and near, particular and universal, and the realities of belovedness by which I have favored you over the knowledge of the higher and lower realms. You are not, by the grace of your Lord, possessed by madness, such that the occurrences of forgetfulness, diversion, heedlessness, error, and raving, and the slips of embellished speech afflict you. Rather, you are a hidden secret, a preserved treasure, a stored knowledge, and a light permeating all created things. So there is no likeness to your divine knowledge ¹⁷¹, no example, and no limit to what descends upon your illuminated heart and victorious body from the lights of majesty and beauty, and what you have been specially endowed with of approved states, essential attributes, and qualities of perfection. ﴿وَإِنَّ لَكَ لَأَجْرًا غَيْرَ مَمْنُونٍ﴾ So your reward is your nearness to Me and My nearness to you, and the unveiling of My beauty eternally for you, and your recompense is your connection with Me, and the acceptance of your intercession for your community, and the entry of all under your banner. ﴿وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ﴾ You were disciplined by the etiquette of My Book as a child, youth, adult, and mature one, and you acted according to what I revealed therein to you, thereby increasing in honor, and I protected you from the disease of injustice and darknesses. You succeeded when I set limits for you, so your rank became great among the prophets and messengers until you became like a unique standard. I brought you near to Me with the nearness of the beloved, so I clothed you with the garment of My essence and the attributes of My perfections, and sheltered you in My impregnable fortress and My revered sanctuary. I manifested the secret of My power in Jesus, and the execution of My command in Asif ¹⁷², and I subjugated in the staff of Moses and My creation and My attributes in you through My saying in the clear verses of My Book: ﴿وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ﴾ Or you say: ﴿ن وَالْقَلَمِ﴾ meaning: the light of the light of My majesty, grandeur, the sublimity of My attributes and names, the permanence of My might and eternity, and the secret of My divinity by which I have veiled Myself from creation and unveiled it to My special friends, chosen ones, messengers, and prophets. ﴿وَالْقَلَمِ وَمَا يَسْطُرُونَ﴾ on the tablets of My erasure and affirmation, from the dispositions of My decree and judgment, and what My Kursi ¹⁷³ encompasses and My glorious Throne contains, by the steward of My omnipotence and the greatness of My domination. ﴿مَا أَنتَ بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ بِمَجْنُونٍ﴾, as the people of ignorance, polytheism, hypocrisy, falsehood, slander, lying, and fabrication say. Rather, you are sanctified by My might and care, protected by My preservation and guardianship from false speech, rumors, and bad character. Their dreams have been made foolish and their words belied by My saying in the clear verses of My manifest Book: ﴿وَلَوْ تَقَوَّلَ عَلَيْنَا بَعْضَ الْأَقَاوِيلِ لَأَخَذْنَا مِنْهُ بِالْيَمِينِ ثُمَّ لَقَطَعْنَا مِنْهُ الْوَتِينَ﴾, ﴿وَإِنَّ لَكَ لَأَجْرًا غَيْرَ مَمْنُونٍ﴾, meaning: not limited such that heart-thoughts can qualify it or the rules of imaginary fancies can restrict it. For I am the Giver without measure, the Bestower upon whom I have favored without compensation or means, the One who rewards good deeds tenfold and multiplies rewards to infinity in their virtues and the magnification of their states. ﴿وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ﴾, a word indicating elevation, and its wording indicates that he, peace be upon him, is elevated over these great character traits and has mastery over them. The Exalted described him with what pertains to his intellectual power, saying: ﴿وَعَلَّمَكَ مَا لَمْ تَكُنْ تَعْلَمُ﴾, and the grace of God upon you is great. And He described him with what pertains to his practical power, saying: ﴿وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ﴾, so the combination of these two verses indicates that his noble spirit and lofty states, among spirits and states, are high in rank and station, exalted in glory and virtues, as if, due to their intensity, they are beyond the reach of minds.

Her perfection and great state are not of the kind of humans, and therefore our Master described him with the great character ¹⁷⁴, or you say: ﴿Nūn, by the Pen﴾ ¹⁷⁵ That is, a light essential to the created being, from whose attributes is the light of the pearl of the Pen with which I wrote your name in pre-eternity and preferred its illuminated form over all pens, and I made its stem flow through you with the glance of the gifts of wisdoms and the subtleties of the sciences of rulings, and through it I taught the etiquette of arrival to the poles ¹⁷⁶ who reach My presence and the great examiners ¹⁷⁷, ﴿By the grace of your Lord, you are not possessed﴾ ¹⁷⁸ You conceal what I have bestowed upon you of the secrets of My openings and great gifts which I commanded you to convey to jinn and humans and all creatures, and you spoke of them to your brothers among the prophets, messengers, and noble angels, ﴿And indeed for you is a reward never ending﴾ ¹⁷⁹ Pens cannot write it, nor can thoughts or even dreams encompass its virtues; rather, it increases with your elevation in the high stations of chosenness ¹⁸⁰ and your ascent in the ranks of belovedness and electness ¹⁸¹, whose realities the intellects of possessors of insight and understanding fall short of grasping, ﴿And indeed you are upon an exalted standard of character﴾ ¹⁸² I sent you with it to complete the noble traits of character, and I recorded through your character the characters of the prophets and messengers and the seal of the seal ¹⁸³, and through you I perfected the religion and appointed you through it before the sketching of forms and the blowing of spirits into bodies, or you say: ﴿Nūn, by the Pen﴾ That is, the light of the light of My will and the pen of My power ﴿And what they inscribe﴾ ¹⁸⁴ Of the wonders of My creations, marvels of My inventions, strange things of My existents and originated things in the unseen of My secret, the tablets of My effacement and establishment, the edges of My veils and coverings, My pavilions and mantles of majesty and greatness, and the attributes of My perfections, ﴿By the grace of your Lord, you are not possessed﴾, As attested to you by the explicit words of My speech and the implied meanings of My verses, ﴿And indeed for you is a reward never ending﴾, Which I poured upon you from the treasuries of My mercy that encompasses everything and the gifts of My openings, ﴿And indeed you are upon an exalted standard of character﴾, I created your clay from the mine of My forbearance, compassion, and mercy, kneaded it with the water of My love and the secret of My wisdom, struck it in the mold of My success, obedience, and infallibility, and formed it upon modesty, etiquette, and constant gratitude for My blessing, and rubbed it upon the touchstone of sincerity and certainty and soundness of intention in dealing with Me and truthfulness in serving Me, or you say: ﴿Nūn, by the Pen﴾, That is, the light of the secret of this light sworn by with the Pen and the light of the secret of the power by which it split in two when it flowed with what was and what will be while creation was in the darkness of non-existence, and the light of My name and the Powerful, the Omnipotent, which I placed upon the night and it became dark, and upon the day and its light shone upon all beings and in the hearts of the knowers it was inscribed, and upon the earth and it settled, and upon the mountains and they were fixed and their matter became firm and established, and upon springs and they gushed forth, and upon rivers and they flowed, and upon clouds and they rained with gifts of good things and abundant downpours, and upon trees and they bore fruit, and upon the flowers of valleys and hills and they spread fragrance, and upon the billows of the seas and their waves surged and crashed, And the light of the face of My beloved Muḥammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, the master of the procession and the banner, and his radiance which I manifested in the face of his father Adam, so the noble angels prostrated to him and magnified his honored station, And the light of the House which I made for him a mosque and a qibla ¹⁸⁵ towards which he turns when performing what I have obligated upon him, and I preferred him over every possessor of foot, And the light of his prophethood and his universal message, with which I distinguished him and manifested him in the enclosures of My kingdom and My dominion, like the appearance of a fire for hospitality at night as a beacon, ﴿Are you, by the grace of your Lord, possessed?﴾ ¹⁸⁶ As described by the people of frivolity, mockery, and debauchery, and the followers of corrupt desires, false opinions, and evil suspicions. How could that be, when the jinn proclaimed your praise upon your arrival at Mecca on Abū Qubays and al-Ḥajūn ¹⁸⁷, from their saying: "I swear, no woman among people has given birth, nor has any woman among people borne a single one, Like the Zuhriyya ¹⁸⁸ of pride gave birth to a beloved among the tribes, noble. She indeed gave birth to the best of tribes, Aḥmad, so how noble is the newborn and how noble the mother!" ﴿And indeed for you is a reward never ending﴾ That is, not subject to being counted by numbers, nor limited, for which the people of litanies and daily recitations compete. You are independent of the origins of spirits and individuals, and sufficient without hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands, and contracts of numbers. So your reward with Me, O My beloved, O Muḥammad, increases every day, and My gift that I have granted you has no end or depletion. ﴿And indeed you are upon an exalted standard of character﴾ Your spirit was characterized by it from the presence of My Ṣamadānī ¹⁸⁹ perfections, and your essence was adorned with it from the beautiful attributes of My Raḥmānī ¹⁹⁰ qualities, and you are preferred over the world of spiritual spirits and favored with what magnifies their characters and honors their noble human dignities, or you say: ﴿Nūn, by the Pen and what they inscribe﴾ In the pages of My inscribed Tablet and what they trace in the unseen of My veiled veil of the names of named things, the intricacies of hidden and manifested things, and what I have disclosed to My saints of the realities of My symbols and the forms of letters crowned with splendor and light, and My ladunī ¹⁹¹ knowledge which I have granted them, by which they understand the manifest and the hidden and the well-known, and through it they gain insight into the unseen of secrets, the wonders of affairs, the glorification of stones, trees, and animals, and the measures of the seas, and I have hinted to them therein hints that open insights and expand breasts, and they conform to it at the onset of the incoming state and the flashes of the lightning of joy and delight, ﴿By the grace of your Lord, you are not possessed﴾ The splendor of this world with its adornment described by annihilation and delusion deceives you, and you leave what brings you near to Me and grants you My pleasure and dwelling in the abode of My honor with decorated chambers and palaces, ﴿And indeed for you is a reward never ending﴾ I have granted it to you from the vast treasuries of My generosity that never deplete over the passage of nights and ages, and whose bestowal is not measured by the flow of rivers and the billows of seas. For I am the Giver of great reward and recompense, the Guide of the astray, the Helper of the weak and oppressed. I have supported you with the Holy Spirit ¹⁹² and manifested Myself to you in the unseen of the unseen and the loci of manifestation and appearance, and I have removed between Me and you the mantles of majesty, grandeur, veils, and coverings, and spoken to you in the station of two bow-lengths or nearer ¹⁹³, and filled your heart with the light of My revelation and watered it with the sweet, pure water of My secret, and made your tongue speak with My praise and gratitude, and honored you with the Great Intercession ¹⁹⁴ on the Day of Resurrection and Rising, ﴿And indeed you are upon an exalted standard of character﴾ That is, magnified by witnessing My Essence and Attributes, honored by My prophethood and message and the delivery of My trust and what comes to you of the secrets of My inspirations. I have made your knowledges magnificent, your characteristics immense, your states upright, and your character exalted and noble. How could it not be so, when I have honored you with the utmost perfection of intellect that no one else has attained, filled your heart and inner being with the light of My most holy secret and the extension of My most precious divine wisdom, distinguished you with knowledge of the realities of My Lordship, realized you with the realization of the etiquette of My servitude, bestowed upon you the robes of My care, and clothed you in the garments of My belovedness, or you say: ﴿Nūn, by the Pen﴾

O Light of Lights, my Great Sufficer, and the Majesty of my Pride and my Ancient Glory, and the Pen of my Knowledge and my Mighty Will: ﴿And what they write﴾ In the realm of dominion and the spiritual world, of Your essential beauties and Your sanctified luminous attributes, and Your divine ¹⁹⁵ sciences of eternity ¹⁹⁶, and Your pleasing and well-pleasing holy states, and they inscribe In the forms of the Throne-like ¹⁹⁷ and carpet-like ¹⁹⁸ spirits, and the angelic ones brought near, and the rest of human creation: ﴿By the grace of your Lord, you are not possessed﴾ Because of what You have deposited in Your heart of the lights of the opening verses of the Furqanic ¹⁹⁹ surahs and the secret of the letters of Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim ²⁰⁰, what is hidden of them and what is manifest, and what shone on Your face of the lights of witnessing My Essence and the attributes of My perfections, and what gleamed on the forelock of Your brow, whose brilliance outshone the brilliance of the shining stars and the light of the sun and moon, and the arch of Your eyebrow, poised by the Pen of Power ²⁰¹, in whose beauty thoughts and reflections are bewildered, and the radiance of Your eye, kohled with the light of recitation and remembrance, and the abandonment of sleep and staying awake, and the smoothness of Your soft cheek, and the essence of Your smiling mouth, which is like ruby (111) among stone, and the beauty of Your two temples, clothed with surpassing beauty and the night of hair, and the slenderness of Your swaying stature when hearing the descents of My revelation to him, as the branch swayed by the wind sways among trees, and the fragrant breezes of Your scents, which are more fragrant than musk and ambergris and the tendrils of flowers, and the honor of Your life, by which I swore to refute those who denied Your prophethood and message and disbelieved: ﴿By the grace of your Lord, you are not possessed﴾ Rather, the jinn answered Your caller and by You were guided, and their religion became sound and famous, and humans by You followed, and the beacon of their religion rose above all religions and boasted, and unbelief, from the light of Your countenance, its army fled and was defeated and vanished and passed away. ﴿And indeed, for you is a reward never ending﴾ As the revealed books and the authentic transmitted hadiths and the sciences of biographies and the Praiseworthy Station ²⁰² and the Pond of Abundance ²⁰³ and the Congregated Banner ²⁰⁴ and the Kawthar ²⁰⁵ testify for You: ﴿And indeed, you are of a great moral character﴾ With which He praised You in the Furqanic verses and the opening verses of the surahs, and clothed You with its holy garment, so it became in You a natural disposition, and by You its pillar stood in all the worlds and spread. Therefore, Aisha, may God be pleased with her, said: "His character was the Quran." And the author of the 'Awarif al-Ma'arif ²⁰⁶ said: "It is not far that Aisha's saying, may God be pleased with her, contains a subtle allusion and a hidden indication to the divine attributes, so she was too modest to say 'he was characterized by the attributes of God Almighty,' so she expressed the meaning by saying 'his character was the Quran,' out of shyness from the manifestations of Majesty and concealing the state with a delicate expression. This is from the abundance of her intellect and the perfection of her etiquette." End quote. And in that is an indication that the meanings of the Quran are endless, and likewise his beautiful attributes indicating his great character are endless, since in every state of his states, there is determined for him from noble traits and excellent qualities and what God Almighty bestows upon him of His knowledges and sciences that none knows except God Almighty. Thus, attempting to enumerate the particulars of his praiseworthy attributes is an attempt at what is not within human capability nor possible by his custom. And it is narrated that when the recognition of his heart, peace and blessings be upon him, of his Lord, Mighty and Majestic, was as he said: "O Lord, I have known everything," His noble character was the greatest of creation. Therefore, God sent him to all people, and his message was not limited to humans but encompassed the jinn, and He did not limit it to the two weighty ones ²⁰⁷ but to (113) all the worlds. So whoever has God as his Lord, Muhammad is his Messenger. Just as Lordship encompasses all worlds, so the Muhammadan character includes all worlds. By this, it becomes clear to you that he, peace and blessings be upon him, was also sent to the angels. End quote. Thus, the special distinction and belovedness are established, and the complete honor and excellence are manifest in what God praised His beloved, chosen, elect, and approved, my master and lord Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, the best of creation. So open the eyes of your insights, O people of reason and transmitted knowledge, and kindle the lamps of your consciences, O people of gnosis ²⁰⁸, spiritual gifts ²⁰⁹, and intellects, to see what God has specially given to this noble Prophet and what He praised him with and swore to him in His saying: ﴿Nun. By the pen and what they write. By the grace of your Lord, you are not possessed. And indeed, for you is a reward never ending. And indeed, you are of a great moral character.﴾ Section: O God, bless him and his family, possessors of lordship and honor, and his Companions, crowned with the crown of majesty and veneration, a blessing by which You heal from us the sick and the ill, and enrich from us the poor, the needy, and the destitute, and protect from us (114) the present, the absent, the traveler, and the resident, and settle us by it in the vastness of Your Garden, the abode of success, honor, and everlasting bliss, by Your bounty and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. God knows from the sweetest of Your love * What the lover encounters in Your passion O full moon of Dhi Salam, if Your beauty appears * He does not die from passion, he is not safe He weeps blood of tears like embers when he comes * To the valley of 'Aqiq, how often has a lovesick one come to You He cast off restraint and cried from the great passion * God is greatest, this is the greatest Beloved Can I conceal love and its fire * With longing between the ribs blazing? The love of the Guide, the Beloved, the Chosen * And His life, His life, cannot be hidden If I miss meeting him among his Companions * Then the discourse on describing his attributes is a gain for me I unveil the brides of his description for his Beloved * With the jewels of praises, which are strung (115) From his description: the great character, and its origin * Is the Quran, and he is inspired to noble deeds By God, the Beloved, the Chosen has been praised * What can anyone else say, for he is silenced? The moon of prophethood and its sun in Medina * Its radiance covers all of Hijaz For God, there is fragrance in the dwellings of Medina * From his fragrance, in its land, it is never absent And God looks upon them with an eye of love * As long as his greatest body is in it Blessed is he who becomes the companion of Muhammad * From the hand of Taha ²¹⁰, blessings flow to him O his lovers, his seekers, and his followers * All of you, bless him and greet him with peace O God, bless our master Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and his family and Companions, and grant them peace abundantly.

O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the opener of the openings of verses, chapters, and the near-stationed ²¹¹, whose miracles dazzled the minds of the prophets, messengers, and the near-stationed angels ²¹², and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the capital of the rich and the destitute, the treasure of the alchemy of the hidden secret ²¹³, the bride of the kingdom whom his Lord adorned with the jewels of His adornment until he became like a ruby among stones, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the life of spirits and forms, the beloved praised in the revealed books and the authentic chains of hadith and tradition ²¹⁴, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, whose love is implanted in hearts and innate natures, the embroidery of the garment of glory, in the depth of whose realities' meanings thoughts and intellects are bewildered, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, who abrogated with his Muhammadan law the laws of those who passed in bygone centuries and vanished, the warrior who sacrificed himself for the pleasure of his Lord until the religion of Islam rose through him in all climes and spread, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, whose rank is elevated above the people of glory and pride, the dawn of truth whose light shone upon all worlds until its proofs became clear and it became evident to those of sound inclination and sight, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet ²¹⁵, who through his goodness possessed the nobles of the desert and city dwellers, and whose mercy encompassed the far and near, and everyone who repented to Allah, returned from his error, and sought forgiveness, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet who surpassed the prophets in character and form, and they did not equal him in what he was uniquely given of forbearance and patience, until through that he attained his desires and the ultimate glory and victory, and with his great character he treated the harsh Arabs when his tooth was broken and his face was wounded, yet he did not falter in elevating the word of his Lord nor did he become vexed, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad ²¹⁶, the Prophet who was devoted to devotion and worship as a child, left his bed in obedience to his Lord, abandoned his sleeping places, feared the station of his Lord, and struggled against the people of disbelief until the religion of Islam spread and became famous, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet who returned the disk of the sun with his supplication, and the tree and stone answered his call, and he gave drink to the vast army with what flowed from between his fingers of abundant water, pouring forth. So bless him, O Allah, and bless his chosen family from the lineage of Kinana and Mudar ²¹⁷, and his companions, the lamps of guidance and the stars of leadership, the brilliant ones, a blessing whose breezes blow upon his noble grave at eventide and dawn, and with whose strong fortress we seek refuge from the onslaughts of worries, sorrows, and distress, and through which we are saved from the trial of the grave, the terror of the standing, and the punishment of the blazing fire of intense heat, flame, and sparks, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet ²¹⁸, the opener of remembrances, litanies, and sermons, the imam of pulpits and prayer niches, the one arranged according to the number of roots, branches, lineage, sources, derivations, subtle truths, and gifted acquired knowledge, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the essence of glory, honor, and noble lineage, the quintessence of surpassing beauty and chosen comeliness, according to the number of people of joy, delight, exultation, and pleasure, and of cups, wine, drinking companions, and the sipping of the beat, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the branch of the tree of knowledge, forbearance, modesty, and good manners, and the best of those whose name the lover has inscribed in the folds of registers and books, and written according to the number... O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet of need and immediate and deferred good, the facilitation of affairs and the fulfillment of need, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet of noble rank and lineage, the master of the red and black, the non-Arabs and Arabs ²¹⁹, according to the number of what is in Paradise of houses of pearl, coral, and reed, eternal blessings, raised couches, crowns, and bridal chambers embroidered with gold, silver, and gold, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the means of the people of means, request, and desire, the model of the people of humility, submission, fear, and awe, according to the number of those who have praised him in the perfect, ample, extended, near, curtailed, light, jerky, sand, and swift meters ²²⁰, near of response to whoever seeks intercession through him to Allah in fulfilling his affairs and request, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet of pure lineage and descent, the saint through whose hands were manifested dazzling miracles and wonders, the breaking of norms and marvels of marvels, according to the number of those who have attached themselves to his lofty tree and claimed descent, and who have been sincere to their Lord in righteous deeds and sought reward, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the intimate, the near-stationed, the accepted intercessor ²²¹, the well-pleasing, the refined, according to the number of those who have shown affection to him by striving to seek his pleasure and have shown love, and who have devoted themselves to his service and drawn near to his lofty station and approached, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. So bless him, O Allah, and bless his family, a blessing through which You give us relief from difficult matters and the burdens of toil and fatigue, and through which You repel from us the onslaughts of calamities and the greatest of hardships and distresses, and through which You protect us from the strokes of worries, afflictions, evils, and punishments, and the disappointment of hope in expectation and the evil of the final outcome, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. * O best of Allah's creation, through whose prophethood the Arabs were honored, grant me Your pleasure on the Day of Resurrection when the destruction is feared for me.

And save from the heat of blazing Sa'ir ²²² a servant who ascribes himself to Your praise. For You are the intercessor of creation, and You are the petition, and You are the ultimate desire ²²³. You are their refuge when calamity befalls, and their glory is the request. The ranks fall short of the magnitude of Your highness and of grasping Your reality. So upon You be the prayer of God through ages that follow one another. O Allah, send blessings upon our master Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, send blessings upon our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the gatherer ²²⁴, the final ²²⁵, the chosen one, abundant in miracles and virtues, equal to every one who is healthy and forgiven, and every one who fears his Lord and is watchful, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, send blessings upon our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, great in degrees and ranks, the saint praised in gatherings and writings, equal to every author and writer, every guard, doorkeeper, and chamberlain, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, send blessings upon our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, pure in paths and schools ²²⁶, the generous with abundant gifts and endowments, equal to every giver of charity and donor, every devotee, worshiper, and ascetic, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, send blessings upon our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, sweet in sources and streams, the noble whose fame has spread in the East and West, equal to every one who arrives and departs, every night-comer, one who travels lightly, and one who goes forth, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, send blessings upon our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, lofty in rank and status, the noble and pure in roots and lineages, equal to every heir and usurper, every opponent and ally, every relative, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, send blessings upon our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, successful in desires and requests, the succor sought in fulfilling needs and aims, equal to every conqueror and victor, every rebel, thief, and warrior, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, send blessings upon our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, high in station and side, the kind and benevolent to companions, tribes, and strangers, equal to every traveler in the pleasure of his Lord, every desirous one, every one hoping for the good things from Him, and every seeker, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, send blessings upon our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the commander of obligations, sunnahs, and desirable acts, the hero who brought from precious sciences wonders of wonders and marvels of marvels, equal to every witness and absent one, every regretful one for what he neglected of good deeds, and every repentant one, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, send blessings upon our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, whose pure gold is free from ambiguities and impurities, the fortress of security protecting from the vicissitudes of events and calamities, equal to every traveler and absent one, every vicegerent acting in the cosmos and deputy, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, send blessings upon our master and lord Muhammad—O Allah, bless him and his noble and pure family, and his companions, the lions of bravery and knights of battalions—a blessing by which You repel from us the greatest hardships and calamities, and by whose blessing You conceal what is apparent and hidden of our ugly deeds and faults, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, send blessings upon our master Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, send blessings upon our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, possessor of surpassing beauty and radiant comeliness, whose thought roams in the dominion of Allah and whose eye is wakeful, equal to every hidden and manifest, every expert in the rulings of the Shari'ah and skilled, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, send blessings upon our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the shining star of prophethood, the sword of truth that subdues the enemies of Allah, the vanquisher, equal to every one who comes and goes, every one hastening to obedience and vying, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, send blessings upon our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the master of the first and the last, the overflowing sea of grace, generosity, and nobility, equal to every first and last, every one who boasts and prides, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, send blessings upon our master and lord Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, send blessings upon our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the praiser, the thankful, possessor of an illumined heart and a remembering tongue, equal to every reciter and rememberer, every traitor and deceiver and schemer, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, send blessings upon our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the forbearing, the patient, the antidote of treatment, the healing physician, equal to every virtuous and great, every one approaching and retreating, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, send blessings upon our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the title of the hidden and the manifest, the rain cloud of goodness pouring and flourishing, equal to every distant and settled, every fat and lean. So bless him, O Allah, and his noble and great family, and his companions, the eminent leaders, the famous imams, a blessing by which You have mercy on the one who is taken to task and the forgiver among us, and by which You protect the resident and the traveler among us, and by which You guide the righteous and the sinner among us to Your obedience, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, send blessings upon our master Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, send blessings upon our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the strong fortress of security, the support of the weak, the poor, and the needy, equal to every joyful and sorrowful, every light and weighty, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, send blessings upon our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the precious jewel of beauty, the foot of divine care firmly established in the station of might, equal to every companion and associate, every accused and trusted, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, send blessings upon our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the helper and supporter of the religion of Allah, the delicious drink of the cup of love, the clear spring, equal to the people of truth, sincerity, and certainty, the callers who guide to Allah by their words and deeds, and all the guided guides, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace.

So bless him, O Allah, and his honored family ²²⁷ and his companions ²²⁸ distinguished by guidance and righteousness, with a blessing by which You grant mercy to our spouses, descendants, and children, and by which You pay off for us the debt of the insolvent, the destitute, and the debtor, and by which You suffice us against the evil of the blaming soul ²²⁹ and the deceit of the accursed Iblis ²³⁰, and by which You gather us with those upon whom You have bestowed favor, among the prophets and the truthful ²³¹, in the highest paradises ²³² and the most exalted 'Illiyin ²³³, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. ❖ A prophet of Allah who informed us of guidance ❖ He brought the truth and the clear reminder ²³⁴ ❖ The Messenger of Allah, refuge of every virtue ❖ He sought only Taha ²³⁵, the trustworthy ❖ The beloved of Allah, opener of every good ❖ Who watered the army with flowing water ❖ The chosen one of Allah, every life yearns ❖ For Allah and by Allah, in this world and religion ❖ Indeed, how noble is Ahmad ²³⁶ as an intercessor ❖ A guarantor of salvation for us, a surety ❖ He settled the believers in a fortress of religion ❖ And a refuge from him in a strong fort ❖ Upon him be the blessing of a Merciful, Compassionate One ❖ And upon his family and companions, at all times O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered prophet ²³⁷, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the prophet, the accepted intercessor, the master of every prophet and chosen one ²³⁸, as many as those whose thought wanders in the varieties of his praise and roams and goes deep in mentioning his virtues and recites and says: and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the prophet pure in branches and roots ²³⁹, the firm handle of Allah ²⁴⁰ and the connected rope of His religion ²⁴¹, as many as every excellent and less excellent, every approved and accepted, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the prophet, father of al-Zahra' ²⁴² the virgin ²⁴³, and the sword of Allah on His earth, the fierce slayer, as many as every learned and ignorant, every vigilant and heedless, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the prophet, the opened door of Allah ²⁴⁴ and the means ²⁴⁵ of the people of goodness, righteousness, nearness, and attainment, as many as every one connected in Allah and connected, and every one cut off from the path of guidance and rectitude and separated, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the prophet, the imam of the great ones, the nobles ²⁴⁶, and the eminent, and the possessor of the straight path and the perfected religion, as many as every subject and predicate, every intelligible and transmitted, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the prophet, the veil of the lowered screen ²⁴⁷ and the sea of generosity and poured-out goodness, as many as every worker and worked upon, every one devoted to worship of his Lord and occupied. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, with a blessing by which You open for us the doors of satisfaction and acceptance, and by which You give us the best of what we have asked You, the ultimate goal and the utmost of wishes and requests, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. Muhammad, Ahmad, the effacer ²⁴⁸ by his law ❖ In error and the darkness of disbelief, lowered Taha, the trustworthy, brought the religion whose goal ❖ Is the seven oft-repeated ²⁴⁹, and from him the elephant ²⁵⁰ shrank The essence of creation, the light of truth, his religion ❖ Its syntax ²⁵¹ in him is clarification and facilitation Cheerful, noble of countenance, moon of his appearance ❖ Nothing of exquisite beauty was missing from him In him the attributes of perfection harmonized, so ask ❖ Whatever you wish, for he is trustworthy and hoped for Except as sieves hold water O my master, O Messenger of Allah, take my hand ❖ From them, for many falsehoods have come from them And the matter is entrusted only to you ❖ And today I rely only on you And you are my treasure, my sought, and my support ❖ And you are my rank, and you are the goal and the request O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered prophet, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the opener ²⁵² and the seal ²⁵³, the beloved named al-Mustafa ²⁵⁴, and the final messenger, as many as the openers and seals, the shining ones and the signets, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the prophet, the spirit of the worlds ²⁵⁵ and the lamp of the regions, directions, and landmarks, as many as the places, locations, climes, heights, depths, paths, and the safe one, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the prophet, the fragrance of sleeves and nostrils, the beloved, radiant of teeth and smiles, as many as the spoils and divisions, the frowning and smiling ones, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the prophet, the bestower of Allah's wealth, the divider, the prophet of mercy named Abu al-Tahir ²⁵⁶ and Abu al-Qasim ²⁵⁷, as many as the swords, the brands, the streams, the harmonies, and the talismans, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the prophet, the festival of joys and seasons, the delight of dwellings, shades, and ceremonies, as many as the disputes, the sources, the understandings, the kneading-troughs, the drinks, and the ointments, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the prophet, the element of virtues and noble qualities, the pious one who commands lowering the gaze from what is unlawful of private parts and forbidden things, as many as the taxes, the fines, the high things, and the swords, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the prophet, the master of Arabs and non-Arabs, the delight of lines, scrolls, doors, and translations, as many as the accidents, afflictions, calamities, and onslaughts, the bodies, veins, joints, heads, and skulls, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the prophet, the helper of Allah's religion, the decisive one, the chosen one of Allah, standing at His door, the constant attendant, as many as the conditions, the glittering things, the necessities, the raised things, the set things, and the decisive things, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the prophet, the proclaimer of Allah's command, the steadfast, the devout, obedient to his Lord, the fasting one, as many as the gifts, openings, spoils, victory, support, battles, and defeats, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace.

O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the treasurer of Allah's secret, the concealer and the ambitious, the disposer in the kingdom of his Lord, the Ruler, to the number of colors, drinks, foods, fresh fruits, dry fruits, and soft things, and upon his Family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad ²⁵⁸, the Prophet, the descendant of the 'Awatik and Fatimahs, the master of Lu'ayy, Banu Ma'd, and Hashim, to the number of fingers, palms, wrists, torsos, necks, and fortresses, and upon his Family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the compassionate, the clement to his community, the merciful, the Imam named the Messenger of Ease and the Messenger of Battles, to the number of alliances, blessings, mercies, armies, ranks, and battles, and upon his Family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the judge by what Allah has revealed in His Book, the knower, the tongue of truth, the cutter with the sword of his proofs against every transgressor, obstinate, and oppressor, to the number of vipers, snakes, serpents, sour things, sweet things, and bitter things, and upon his Family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the spring of virtues, bounties, generosities, and the one brought near, through whose blessing the onslaughts of hardships ²⁵⁹ and calamities are dispelled, to the number of joys, festivals, feasts, fruits, tables, and blessings, and upon his Family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the adornment of valleys, heights, and amulets, the chosen one whom clouds shaded from the heat of midday and scorching winds, to the number of valleys, incantations, resolutions, and protective amulets against evils, horrific matters, and all retributions, and upon his Family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, whose thought is absent in the witnessing of Allah's beauty, the enraptured, the sword of the Shari'a whom no blame of a blamer affects in Allah, to the number of what is given in the Abode of Honor of reward, recompense, eternal glory, the means, the excellence, the lofty rank, and the Praiseworthy Station ²⁶⁰ in which no one shares with him and no one circles around, and upon his Family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the one who sacrifices himself in obedience to his Lord, the steadfast, the fasting, the beloved at whose remembrances bodies dance, heads and turbans shake, scattering winds, flowing waters, gardens, flowers, and buds, and upon his Family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, to the hem of whose clemency clung the beasts of the deserts, wild animals, and cattle, and before whose awe lions and snakes humbled themselves in reverence, and birds in their thickets and cooing doves sang his praise, to the number of those whom Allah awakened through his remembrance from heedlessness of obedience and sleep, and what was forgiven through the blessing of blessing him of sins and major offenses and crimes. So bless him, O Allah, and his Family, a blessing by which You forgive us the offenses and sins we have committed, guide us thereby to the path of good, and raise us thereby to obey You with our limbs and feet, by Your bounty and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. May the blessings of Allah and the angels all be upon the best of creation, the Pole of the generous. In the hand of your love is my rein forever; to you my passion has led me. ²⁶¹ I, by your life, am a prostrate servant at your doors, standing in respect. I am the lovesick, infatuated one in your love, and therein my station is ever sweet. I seek refuge in your beauty from the passing of my separation, for in separation from your beauty is my fortress. I have drunk from the cup of your love contentedly, so your love has forbidden me from weaning. The heart has pledged to you affection, as the Hatim ²⁶² pledged, the one of commitment. And the heart kisses your pleasure, hoping that you may mend the origin of my kissing. The pleasure of the Guide, the Messenger of Allah, is gain for whoever takes refuge in the origin of my gain. Upon him and his family be the purest peace, and upon followers who honor them. O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, the Unlettered Prophet, and upon his Family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the opener of the openings of the inscribed Book, the bride of the kingdom crowned with the crown of splendor and light, to the number of the people of ²⁶³ absence and presence, the people of obedience and piety, the inhabitants of villages, cities, islands, and seas, and the circulation of the spirits of individuals manifest in the manifestations of the people of concealment and manifestation, and upon his Family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the opener of the openings of existent things and existing entities, the blessing of fixed and limited litanies and remembrances, to the number of accepted and rejected deeds, approved states, and praiseworthy qualities, and upon his Family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the opener of the openings of hidden and witnessed secrets, the facilitator of difficult and knotted affairs, to the number of limited and extended hopes, narrated traditions, and numbered days, and upon his Family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the opener of the openings of abundant merits and customary generosities, the secrets that gather the sum of obtained and lost benefits, to the number of fruits growing ²⁶⁴ on their roots and harvested, deferred and cash sales. So bless him, O Allah, and his Family, a blessing by which You open for us the locks of closed and blocked doors, and complete for us our hope in what we intend of hoped-for and intended requests, by Your bounty and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Unlettered Prophet, and upon his Family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the opener of the openings of manifest light and hidden secret, the possessor of lofty rank and honored station, to the number of those who clung to the rope of his love and sought refuge, and bit onto his Sunna with their molars and strove in seeking it and honored it, and upon his Family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Unlettered Prophet, the opener of the openings of generosity and munificence, the bearer of the banner of praise, the master of the procession and the standard, to the number of the inhabitants of al-Baqi', Tayba, and the Sanctuary, the servants of the veils, pavilions, the Ancient House, al-Hatim, and Zamzam, and upon his Family and Companions and grant them peace.

and grant him abundant peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad ²⁶⁵, the Prophet, the opener of the openings of sublime honor, high rank, and aspirations, the perfect one in virtues, pure in character and nature, to the number of the good deeds and abundant blessings that Allah brought forth through his hands, and the secrets that He sent down through his blessing to all creation and all nations. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, with a blessing by which we may be among those who seek refuge in his presence and honor him, and attain the merit of his intercession through the blessing of sending blessings upon him, and gain by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and his family and companions, and grant them abundant peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the opener of the openings of knowledge and action, the full moon whose light shone in the horizon of happiness and was perfected, to the number of those who sought intercession through his rank to Allah, so their desire was fulfilled and attained, and they persisted in serving his noble station until they reached what they intended of the highest degrees and arrived, and his family and companions, and grant them abundant peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the opener of the openings of the worlds intended to be created in the precedents of eternity, the beloved praised with various songs and love poetry, to the number of the virtues that his noble form contained and comprised, and the dazzling miracles with which his Lord distinguished him, which rendered the eloquent and articulate unable to oppose them by analogy or example, and his family and companions, and grant them abundant peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the opener of the openings of clear signs and the revealed Book, the essence of honor at whose door glory pitched its tent and celebrated, to the number of those whose star rose in the sky of high stations and set, and those who came from visiting his noble station and returned, and his family and companions, and grant them abundant peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the opener of the openings of those who humbly supplicated to their Lord and implored, the obedient one who submitted to his Lord's command and acted upon what He ordered and complied, to the number of those who anointed their eyelids with the collyrium of His love and applied it, and traveled with their spirits to see his illuminated regions and departed, and his family and companions, and grant them abundant peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the opener of the openings of those who filled their times with the remembrance of their Lord and occupied themselves, the blessed one for whom the doors of contentment and pleasure were opened, so he entered into their presences and entered, to the number of those who restrained themselves from entering the fields of desire and were rational, and purified themselves from the impurities of their faults with the water of repentance, removing the stains of doubts and washing them away. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, with a blessing by which we may be among those who weighed their deeds in all their affairs with the straight balance and acted justly, and raised their aspiration to the stations of the truthful, the martyrs, and the righteous, and camped there and alighted, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and his family and companions, and grant them abundant peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the opener of the openings of the spiritual and physical world, the light of insight of the people of unveilings and direct witnessing, to the number of the stations of the people of proximity and nearness, and the ranks of the people of openings and inspirations, and the eternal secret, and his family and companions, and grant them abundant peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the opener of the openings of reception and theophanies of excellence, the feast of seasons, joy, and congratulations, to the number of the human miracles and the luminosity of the subtle form and the spiritual body, and his family and companions, and grant them abundant peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the opener of the openings of the people of absence in witnessing His divine beauty and annihilation, the greatness of His holy majesty, and the might of His sovereign dominion, to the number of what his Lord praised him for in the verses of the Mighty Book and the Seven Oft-Repeated ²⁶⁶, and the essential sciences and praiseworthy characteristics with which He created him, in which He has no partner or second. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, with a blessing by whose blessing You benefit from us the seeker and the humble, and have mercy through it on the wrongdoer, the disobedient, and the sinner, and spread over us from the cloaks of its covering that which encompasses the far and the near, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. I have dedicated to You the landmarks of elucidation, The scenes of gnosis have reached You, And a community has donned the cloak of Your knowledge, And emerged, captivating minds and praising ²⁶⁷ And seeing a refuge with no second. By Allah, what adorned the necks of mankind With virtue surpassing gold! O Unique One of the kingdom in His tidings, His splendor, and the ranks of entities, O Qibla of entities, exalted is a lineage That calls You among us by Your human name. The pages of Your Uniqueness are recited from The unseen of witnessing by the tongues of the worlds, And the folds of the scenes sway, revealing Themselves like a branch bending with the freshest twigs. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and his family and companions, and grant them abundant peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the chief of chiefs, the delight of gatherings, the full moon of full moons that dispels with his Muhammadan light the darkness of thought and the blackness of nights, to the number of eyes awakened from the sleep of their heedlessness and drowsiness, and hearts occupied with love of their Lord and distracted from His remembrance by intrusive thoughts, doubts, and whisperings, and his family and companions, and grant them abundant peace. ²⁶⁸ O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the mercy of the hopeful, the despairing, and the despondent, the vast ocean of generosity whose bounty is not confined nor limited by measure, to the number of bodies that sway when hearing his sweet mention and move, and what Allah has prepared for the one who blesses him in the Abode of Honor of everlasting bliss, young attendants, and maidens confined in pavilions and bridal chambers, and his family and companions, and grant them abundant peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the desire of the lover who is passionately devoted to his remembrance and companionship, the bride of the kingdom, fragrant in sleeves and garments, to the number of what Allah revived through his mission of the traces of laws and the paths of his sciences that had become obsolete, and what he opened of the sights of eyes blinded by the darkness of ignorance and their insights that were dimmed. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, with a blessing by which You save us from the incitements of devils and the plots of demons, and enrich us from ourselves, the weak, the needy, and the wretched poor, by Your grace and generosity.

O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet ²⁶⁹, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad (146), the Prophet of pure origins and lineages, the intercessor, the beloved, the means and supplications, as many as those who have passed and those who are to come, and those who have drawn near to their Lord with the best acts of obedience and the highest stations of proximity, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet who heals hearts from the diseases of sins and missteps, the fortress of security that protects whoever seeks refuge in it from the onslaughts of error, misguidance, and desires, as many as the ascetics who wander in the regions of the earth and deserts, and the solitary devotees who seclude themselves for worship in the depths of mosques and the corners of retreats, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the spirit of the spirits of the higher and lower worlds, the ascension of the masters of spiritual elevations and descents, as many as the glories and distinctions he attained on the Night of the Ascension ²⁷⁰, and the intimate conversations, direct speech, inspirations, and receptions he was uniquely granted. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which You protect our limbs in secret and in public, preserve us from the onslaughts of trials and tribulations (147) and all afflictions, and illuminate our inner sight with the lights of intellectual and transmitted sciences, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the guide to good deeds, the festival of joys, congratulations, and delights, as many as the evils, punishments, and harms that Allah has warded off from his community through him, and the ugly deeds, faults, and shameful acts He has concealed, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet of lofty ranks, noble ancestors, fathers, and mothers, as many as the openings, blessings, benedictions, success, and support he was given in stillness and motion, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet who seizes by the forelocks ²⁷¹, the fountainhead of virtues, generosities, and miracles, as many as the abundant merits he bestowed, the breaking of norms, the clear signs, the decisive proofs, the brilliant evidences, and the (148) manifest indications, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the one who lifts up those who stumble, the rescuer of whoever seeks refuge in his presence from the blaze of fire and the heat of sighs, as many as the relief of distress from his community, the easing of regrets, the removal of worries, sorrows, and the greatest hardships and calamities, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the mercy for the weak, the poor, and the needy, the mine of forgiveness, patience, and forbearance toward the rabble, the riffraff, and the rude, as many as those who have performed Hajj and Umrah ²⁷², circumambulated the Ancient House ²⁷³, stood at Arafat ²⁷⁴, and those who have passed from among the nations in bygone centuries, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the blessed of sovereignty, the letter Dal of eternity, the letter Ha of mercies, the spirit of the worlds, who returns the greeting to whoever greets him in his grave after death, as many as the fragrant breaths and sweet scents he gave, and the repelling of misleading calamities, terrifying horrors, and onslaughts of hardships he was uniquely granted, (149) and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the forgiving of slips, the physician who heals hearts from outward and inward diseases and subtle ailments, the chosen one upon whom blessing brings about the witnessing of the Essence ²⁷⁵, as many as the deficiencies and humiliations Allah has warded off from his community through him, and the difficult matters and important tasks He has facilitated for them through his blessing. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which You illuminate our hearts with the lights of bestowed openings and the subtleties of divine sciences ²⁷⁶, and by which You make us aware of what is hidden of the secrets of the kingdom and the dominion in the pillar of unveiling and the manifestations of theophanies, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the virtuous and preferred, the great and honored secret, as many as the lofty glory, established honor, sublime might, and deep-rooted pride his Lord granted him, (150) and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, the perfect and perfecting, the sought-after door of Allah in hardships and the hoped-for, as many as the immense standing, high and honored rank, secrets, gifts, and immediate and deferred good he was given, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the possessor of the sacred hadith ²⁷⁷ and the revealed Book, eloquence, rhetoric, and concise, well-arranged speech, as many as the burdens of prophethood and messengership he bore and carried, and the abundant reward and accepted, pleasing deeds his Lord granted him, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet upon whom in the great standing ²⁷⁸ the Speaker relies and who is entrusted, the possessor of the pure religion and the law that does not change or alter, as many as the times he stood before his Lord in the darkness of night and devoted himself, and his face shone when he heard the address that pleases him concerning his community and he beamed. So bless him, O Allah, and his family (151), a blessing by which we become among those adorned with the crown of His care and beautified, and who act according to the requirements of the verses of His Book, both the concise and the detailed, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet who encompasses the secret of Oneness and Uniqueness, the praised and glorified, the sultan of the kingdom seated on the throne of sovereignty among the greatest prophets and messengers, the victorious and supported, as many as the victory, support, and lofty, well-established dominion he was given.

And the message of the intellect and good consideration of the consequences of matters that have become twisted and complicated. And upon his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our Master and Patron Muhammad, the Prophet, possessor of lofty rank and everlasting, eternal glory, swift victory, and succor for those whose condition is straitened and whose affliction is great, and numerous are those who draw near to him by sending many blessings upon him and showing affection, and who repeat the visit to his noble grave every year and come repeatedly. And upon his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. ¹⁵² O Allah, bless our Master and Patron Muhammad, the Prophet, the vicegerent of Allah on His earth, the polished sword of His care, the light of prophethood that erases, through his Hanifite ²⁷⁹ law, the religion of those who became Christians and Jews, equal to the number of those who ascended in the ranks of high stations and became unique, and whose rank before Allah was exalted so that he surpassed his kind and became a master and was made a master. And upon his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our Master and Patron Muhammad, the Prophet, possessor of the kohl-lined eye and the smooth, rosy cheek, the ocean of generosity whose bounty overflowed upon the worlds, encompassing all of them and repeating, equal to the number of those who renounced the world and its familiar things, and devoted themselves to worship and servitude, and stood before their Lord in the darkness of the night with remembrance, recitation, and night prayer. And upon his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our Master and Patron Muhammad, the Prophet, the establisher of the Sunnah after the interregnum ²⁸⁰, the buttressed pillar of religion, the shade of prophethood whose canopy is spread over all creatures, the lush and extended covering, equal to the number of what was given to him in the Abode of Honor of contentment and good pleasure ¹⁵³ and everlasting, eternal bliss and abundant reward, and the immense good that cannot be measured by enumeration nor restricted. And upon his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. So bless him, O Allah, and his Family, with a blessing by which we become among those upon whom a grace has overflowed, so they stored up from it for their Hereafter and took provision, and expanded in it, so that they are spread out from the cushions of its favor in their graves, and covered and pillowed, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless our Master Muhammad and his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our Master and Patron Muhammad, the Prophet, the master of the red and the black ²⁸¹, the mine of forbearance and piety, the pure, the glorious, the most glorious, equal to the number of what his Lord granted him of righteous deeds and sound, correct opinion, and what He bestowed upon him of beautiful praise and everlasting glory. And upon his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our Master and Patron Muhammad, the Prophet, the good, the well-built, the covenanted, the companion of the Divine Presence, the lofty in station and witness, equal to the number ¹⁵⁴ of what a praiser has extolled his worth in assemblies and recited, and a caller has called the servants to his obedience and guided. And upon his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our Master and Patron Muhammad, the Prophet, the pole ²⁸² of lordship, the unique secret, the beloved of Allah named al-Hashir ²⁸³, al-'Aqib ²⁸⁴, Muhammad, and Ahmad, equal to the number of those upon whom his Lord bestowed the favor of seeing him and made happy, and who offered himself for His pleasure and resolved to travel to visit his noble station and exerted himself. And upon his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our Master and Patron Muhammad, the Prophet, the caller of servants to the obedience of his Lord, the divinely guided, the rightly directing, the bride of the noble presences, the one seated and made to sit, equal to the number of those whom he healed with the moisture of his saliva from the sick and the inflamed, and extinguished by his blessing the fires of passion and trials, and praised. And upon his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our Master and Patron Muhammad, the Prophet, the moon of the sphere of prophethood, the luminous, the ascending, the mercy for the elite and the common, the near and the far, equal to the number of those who extolled his lofty rank and noble lineage ¹⁵⁵ the most established, and elaborated in praise of him, repeating, combining, and singling out. And upon his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our Master and Patron Muhammad, the Prophet, the beloved, the most beloved, the friend, the most loving, the lamp of prophethood lit with the oil of the secret and speciality, the bright, the most kindled, equal to the number of those who sought refuge in his most protective sanctuary from the calamities of time and its terrible, harsh horror, and fortified themselves in his strong fortress and leaned their backs against his impregnable pillar, seeking support. And upon his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our Master and Patron Muhammad, the Prophet, the most honored of those who existed and were born, the most majestic of those who were praised and who praised, the best of those who glorified, declared His oneness, magnified, and thanked his Lord for what He granted him, and for that his Lord gave him the banner of praise on the Day of Resurrection, so that the perfection of praise is completed for him in that witness, and he is described in the plains of the Resurrection with the attribute of praise and bears witness. So bless him, O Allah, and his Family, with a blessing whose overflowing ocean of supply does not diminish nor exhaust, and whose lordly ²⁸⁴ secret's gifts cannot be counted from books and records, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. My door is a beautiful, coquettish one ⋄ A moon above a smooth sand dune Whose glances have captured me ⋄ The kiss of a rosy cheek After he hunted me with them ⋄ And likewise every proud one A gazelle of the valley visited lovingly ⋄ A deer of the meadow, soft O my reproacher, leave me be ⋄ The matter has left my hand O my reproacher, love is guidance ⋄ What blame can be directed at it? I am not alone in loving him ⋄ I am originally a follower And He called, "My servant, respond!" ⋄ I said, "At Your service, my Master!" Then I returned to the Imam ⋄ And all are behind the witness My watering-place is the watering-place of the unseen ⋄ And how noble is the watering-place! From the echo of my melodious voice ⋄ The echo has left the path Away from me, for I ⋄ And my Beloved are in a seat In everlasting joy ⋄ And eternal bliss A valley that inherits for us delight ⋄ Here, despite the envious Coffee, oh what a drink! ⋄ From the beverage of Muhammad A lineage I intend by it ⋄ The lawful in the law of Ahmad No one sees it as forbidden ⋄ Except a wrongdoer and transgressor And in its essence it is lawful ⋄ According to the opinion of my Master ¹⁵⁷ And by what he said I say ⋄ His mouth, O critic! It is in origin the drink of ⋄ A people who protected themselves from restriction They have no regard for the laws ⋄ Of religion, except for the purpose

Bring this wine and serve it forth, in the assembly the voice of a singer, the daughter of separation ²⁸⁵ and her nearness, the heart of a unifier ²⁸⁶ slave. Her cup became tender to me, so give the awareness of litanies ²⁸⁷ of repetition ²⁸⁸, where there is no blame from the Law ²⁸⁹, so bestow and make happy. O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the truthful, the confirmed, the pure, the supported by the support of his Lord in his movements and stillness, the successful, to the number of what he was given of insight into the unseen and the hidden secrets of the realized mystery, and what he was granted of the subtle divine knowledges and the gifts of the inspired knowledge ²⁹⁰ that is precise, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the constant of divine love and its delicious, clear wine, the possessor of the beautiful face and the eye lined with encircling light, to the number of those who supplicated before him with sweet pleading and flattered and sought refuge in his lofty presence and clung to the hem of his forbearance, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, possessor of the most radiant forehead and the eyebrow inscribed by the pen of power, defined, and the smiling mouth whose beauty surpasses the beauty of the arranged pearl in the string of its pearls, to the number of those whose prophetic lightning flashed in the horizon of the sky of his heart and shone, and the sea of his chosen generosity overflowed in the sources of his effusions and gushed forth, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the proclaimer of truth with truth, the noble, pure in origin, root, and lineage, to the number of those whose tongue his Lord protected from lying and falsehood in address, response, speech, and utterance, and whose nature He molded upon love, sincerity, intention, and truthful speech, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, possessor of perfect religion and pure, confirmed faith, and honor those whose hearts yearn to visit his noble grave and long, to the number of those whom his Lord honored with seeing him, so they witnessed his beauty with the eye of their insight and realized, and drank from the nectar of his affection and the delicious, aged drink of his love. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which You gather what is scattered of our unity and separate, and make us thereby among those who devoted themselves to his service and generously gave what they had in his love and seeking his pleasure and gave charity, by Your bounty and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the pure, the purified, and the halo of the full moon of depicted beauties, to the number of what he was given of effective judgment, lofty, victorious dominion, clear path, and the easy Hanifite religion, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, possessor of the clean body, the illuminated heart, the perfect share in the pleasure of his Lord, and the abundant portion, to the number of what he was given of support, clear victory, reinforced triumph, obeyed command, and exhortation whose secret penetrates the established hearts, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the abrogator by his law of the law of those who preceded in past centuries and later, the best of those who forbade, commanded, gave glad tidings, and warned, to the number of what he was given of profound wisdoms, beneficial speech inscribed in the compiled registers, perfect secret, and beneficial knowledge for mankind, liberated. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which we become among those who walked in the garments of His care and wrapped themselves, and sought protection in his most protective sanctuary, and in his shady shade from enemies hid and concealed themselves, by Your bounty and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, possessor of high rank, great status, pure lineage, and honored station, to the number of what he was given of perfect disposal in the worlds of the Kingdom and the execution of the firm command, and the delegation of judgment to his Lord in what the decree brings and the destined fate runs, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the string of arranged pearls of prophethood, the beloved bearer of the banner of intercession in the praised station, foremost, to the number of what he was given of blessing and grace for those who bless him and salute him and praise him in a manner befitting his lofty station, honor, glory, and greatness, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the noble before Allah, the honored, the light of insight for those who learned the arts of learning and learned, to the number of what he was given of miracles and wonders that dazzled the minds of those who doubted his prophethood and message and imagined, and what he was granted of divine pleasure for those who believed in what he brought and folded their hearts upon pure love for him and resolved, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the gardens of the scent of fragrant breezes for those who inhaled the fragrance of his Lord's love and breathed, and the model for those who looked with the eye of their thought at what leads them to the ultimate of His pleasure and discerned, to the number of what he was given of victory and support against those who dared against Allah's servants and wronged, and jealousy when Allah's sanctities were violated, and expulsion for those who looked in his honored assembly at what does not concern them and spoke, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the master of those who came later and earlier, the tongue of sciences for those who became skilled in the meanings of the sciences of realities and understood, to the number of what he was given of gifts of good things for those who saw him in their sleep as a true vision and roamed in the gardens of the paradise of his face and enjoyed, and what he was threatened with of disgrace and calamity for those who lied about him with what they did not see and fabricated dreams. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which we become among those who adorned themselves with the sash of his obedience and put on a shirt and turban, and girded themselves with the belt of His care, and adorned themselves with the jewelry of his secrets and put on a signet ring, by Your bounty and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. By the light of Your holiness, by the guarded secret, by what You have hidden from us in the navel of pre-eternity, by the might of Your glory, by the encompassing meaning, and by whom You poured forth the eyes of generosity among mankind.

By the One of the two cycles, the Ahmadī ²⁹¹, the father of all created beings, the secret of the letter and the word ²⁹². Muḥammad, Your servant, distinguished in the ranks of discernment and wisdom, in the cycles and wisdoms. The sun of beauty and the key of speech, and he from whom You poured forth the morning rains of effusion and generosity. Bestow upon me the preservation of the heart from the ambiguities of passions, and make the portion of gentleness from the shares. And reach the servant, O my succor, from You with what suffices him against the calamities and afflictions. And do all that You are, by him who loved me, and guide me to the truth and guide them. O Allah, bless our master Muḥammad, the unlettered Prophet, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muḥammad, the Prophet chosen from the noblest elements and the core of the core, the intimate one whose realities the greatest of the elite and the possessors of intellects have been perplexed to grasp, to the number of what Allah has opened through him of locked doors and what He has multiplied of rewards for the abundance of blessings upon him in the abode of recompense and reward, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muḥammad, the Prophet, the support of the bells, pegs, and poles ²⁹³, sent as a mercy to creation from the Mighty, the Giving King, to the number of what poets have vied in praising him with sublime and elaborate styles, and with excellences preserved from complexity, repetition, and causes, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muḥammad, the Prophet of high rank and station, the pure one acting according to the requirements of the Sunna and the Book, to the number of what he was given of ascension in the stations of proximity and nearness, and the purity of origins and branches and lineage, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muḥammad, the Prophet of noble names, epithets, and titles, the imam of the leading chiefs, nobles, and the excellent, to the number of what he was given of the secrets of wisdom in discourse and response, and pauses and limits, and the preservation of the limbs in going and returning, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muḥammad, the Prophet, the bridegroom of pulpits, presences, and domes, the Messenger to whom his Lord spoke face to face and cared for him with the eye of his head without veil or screen, to the number of what he was given of forbearance, patience, modesty, good manners, and kindness to distant ones, relatives, friends, tribes, and companions, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muḥammad, the Prophet, the basil of the book of pre-eternity and the desire of seekers, the wine of the cups of love, sweet in taste and drink, to the number of what he was given of insight into hidden things, rending the veil, lifting the covers from the secrets of consciences, and uncovering the mask. So bless him and his family with a blessing by which You repel from us the trial of the grave, the questioning, and the reckoning, and suffice us by it from the evil of harms, ailments, and all pains, and protect us by it from the heat of the fire of Hell and its great blaze, sighing, and inflammation, by Your bounty and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless our master Muḥammad, the unlettered Prophet, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muḥammad, the Prophet blessed in the beginning and commencement, the element of honor, pure in origin and branches, to the number of what he was given of reviving the dead, speaking to inanimate objects, awakening the epileptic, securing the fearful coward, calming the terrified panicked, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muḥammad, the Prophet, the one who stood in the night and slept, who humbled and supplicated to his Lord in prostration and bowing, to the number of what he was given of compassion, mercy, humility, submission, abasement before his Lord, groaning, weeping, and shedding tears, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muḥammad, the Prophet, the good one of the covenant and the meadows, the noble one who heals with his antidote the sickness of the ill and pained, to the number of what Allah revived through his blessing of plants and crops, and what grew by the touch of his noble hand of provisions and milk in udders, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muḥammad, the Prophet, the support of the follower and the followed, the beloved called the intercessor and the one for whom intercession is granted, to the number of what he was given on the night of the Ascension of perfect courtesy with Allah in going and returning, and turning entirely to His presence, and the heart immersed in His comprehensive love, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muḥammad, the Prophet, the beloved of lovers, whose love lies hidden between the entrails and ribs, the tradition of mercy traced back through a chain of great imams raised high, to the number of what he was given of perfect disposal in restoring the one-eyed eye and the severed hand, and succoring the distressed in hardships, and calming the terrified thought, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muḥammad, the Prophet, the delight of assemblies and the sun of rising, the pious one commanding good and forbidding evil, warning the community against falling into the forbidden and the prevented, to the number of what mounts have traveled to visit him on riding beasts, ships, and boats, and lovers have sung his praise in melodious tones, rajaz meter, and all instruments and natural dispositions. So bless him and his family with a blessing by which You bestow upon us abundant immersion in praising his noble qualities, and by which You make his love in our hearts perpetual, continuous, unbroken, by Your bounty and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. To Allah I complain, and to none other, Glory be to Him, of a sorrow that has poured forth tears. O my blamer, do not blame, for enough for you are the cracks of time. Would that I knew, will hardship be removed, and will the days of happiness return? I seek forgiveness from Allah—how many a difficulty has been exchanged for ease after its occurrence? Be patient, for Allah's doing is vast in space, and put on the most protective armor of submission. Entrust the matter to Him who wills it, and be content, for the envied is only the contented one. And go to the door of Allah, the giver of gifts, and let there be no humility from you to a servant. For he is like you in incapacity towards Him, benefit and repulsion—how excellent is submission! And dedicate praise to Him whose light has shamed the sun of the horizon at its rising. He is the refuge of creation in their distress, who came with the verses of brilliance. Ṭā Hā ²⁹⁴, to whom came from his Lord revelation by speech and inspiration with awe. Muḥammad, the chosen one, the light of guidance, the good of origin, the pure of branches.

And what can I say in praise of his worth, while his praise is already manifest in the Remembrance ²⁹⁵? O refuge of the distressed, when a calamity sends waves of grief to the hearts. May God bless you, along with your pure Family and noble Companions, the people of bowing. O God, bless our master Muhammad, the Unlettered Prophet, and his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O God, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet of compassion, kindness, and mercy, the fountainhead of modesty, patience, and wisdom, to the number of the righteous deeds he was given, the perfection of obedience, service, and tenderness toward the weak and poor, the acknowledgment of beneficence and gratitude for blessings, and his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O God, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet of abundant fortune in the love of his Lord, the bride of the realms, fragrant of scent and spirit, to the number of the exalted rank he was given, the perfection of sanctity and honor that reaches in this world ²⁹⁶ and the Hereafter, and the loftiness of aspiration, and his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O God, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet adorned with the sash of obedience and infallibility, the fortress of security protecting those who seek refuge in him from temporal calamities and afflictions of punishment, to the number of the relief from worries he was given for his Community, the removal of distress, the easing of hardship, the lifting of terrible difficulties, and the greatest of overwhelming matters, and his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O God, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet faithful to covenants and pledges, the brilliant one with thick, abundant hair, to the number of the forbearance, support, and patience he was given at the first shock, and the success and protection of his limbs from blameworthy deeds, faults, and stubbornness, and his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O God, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet of beautiful voice and melody, the tongue of eloquence and rhetoric, free from stammer and foreign accent, to the number of the innocence from matters of doubt and accusation he was given, and the thoroughness in deciding judgments ²⁹⁷ and justice in rulings of conduct among the Community, and his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. Section: O God, bless his Family, the discerning scholars and imams, and his Companions, possessors of great deeds and abundant virtues, a blessing that removes from the eyes of our insight every veil and darkness, and purifies our innermost beings from every affliction, deficiency, and blame, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. Muhammad is the protector, he repelled polytheism with guidance, and he who brought us the truth with the greatest law. And he for whom God brought existence into being, and honored him with the noblest mission. The imam of guidance, the master of generosity, the hearer of the call, the destroyer of enemies, the fulfiller in adversity, the possessor of chivalry. Noble of countenance, leader of mankind, clear of manifestation, with an open hand and easy giving. A bearer of glad tidings, a warner, an intercessor whose intercession is accepted, a shining lamp, dispelling every darkness. So one like him has perfected the best community ²⁹⁸, and his community has been brought forth as the best community. So there has never been an intercessor for creation like him among people, but he, by God, is the best of creation. Until he said: And every prophet was sent specifically to his people, but the mission of the best of creation encompassed all people. O Messenger of God, be an intercessor for me, for I come complaining of many sins. And be for me on the Day of Reckoning a counterpart with your goodness, and grant me there mercy. For you are the desire of my soul and the ultimate goal, and you are my refuge in the Hereafter and my provision. And love for you is my religion, my creed, and my school, and the protection of my monotheism and the foundation of my faith. Upon you be God's blessings as long as a lightning flashes, and as long as the camel-driver sings at dawn in Mecca. A flourishing, lush garden with towering branches, and a beautiful, radiant meadow, where the birds of lovers warble on its branches with exquisite melodies and fragrant blossoms, containing excellent and beautiful blessings, whose meanings are derived from the jewels of revelation and the sciences of the Quran, composed in rhyming prose in praise of the Beloved of the Merciful, the Lamp of the Worlds, our master and lord Muhammad, the master of the children of Adam and Adnan. Section: O God, bless him and his Family, the noble chiefs, and his Companions, the lion-like brave ones, a blessing that clothes us with the garments of contentment and pleasure, and settles us in the stations of proximity and nearness, and gathers us with those upon whom You have bestowed favor—the prophets, the truthful, the martyrs, and the righteous—in the highest paradises and the spacious gardens, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O God, bless our master Muhammad, the Unlettered Prophet, and his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O God, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the knot of the pearls of prophethood, of precious value and price, the treasure of hidden secrets, whose light appears in the manifestations of truth and affirmation and pure faith, to the number of the favor and exalted rank he was given with his Lord, the King, the Judge, and the qualities and traits that cannot be counted by number nor encompassed by the piercing of minds ²⁹⁹, and his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O God, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the life of souls and bodies, the beauty of the age and time, to the number of what he was given in the Abode of Honor of chambers and lofty palaces, and cushions arranged, and carpets spread, and houris and servant boys, and his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O God, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the model for the great and the nobles, the mirror of witnessing for the people of unveilings and direct vision, to the number of the gifts of generosity, grace, and favor he was given, and the shining lights and meanings of realities of various kinds and colors, and his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O God, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the peak of the summit of glory, who is characterized by the character of the Merciful, the pearl of the necklace, whose love flows in hearts as souls flow in bodies, to the number of the religions abrogated by his Muhammadan religion, and the tyrants, oppressors, and worshippers of idols and statues destroyed by his mission ³⁰⁰, and his Family and Companions, and grant them peace. O God, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the cave of blessing and security, the Kawthar ³⁰¹ of love, whose refreshing water quenches the thirst of the yearning distressed one, to the number of the compassion he was given for his Community, his seeking of pardon and forgiveness for them, his asking for their salvation when crossing the Sirat ³⁰² and the setting up of the Balance ³⁰³, and his Family and Companions, and grant them peace.

O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet of the book of emancipation ³⁰⁴, renowned for blessing and distinction, and the flash of lightning of divine attractions ³⁰⁵, abundant in radiance and brilliance, to the number of what has been given of sincerity in dealing with Allah in secret and in public, and of absorption ³⁰⁶ in Him and immersion ³⁰⁷ in the contemplation of the beauty of His holy Essence and its variegation, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the Hashimite, praised by every tongue, the Messenger of mercy whose mercy encompassed the far and the near, to the number of what has been given of tenderness and compassion toward children, elders, adults, and youths, and the perfection of intercession for the people of crimes, sins, and disobedience, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. (176) O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet, the interpreter of the tongue of the unseen ³⁰⁸, clear in evidence and proof, the forerunner of the forerunners of felicity, announced in the Torah, the Gospel, the Psalms, and the Criterion ³⁰⁹, the tongue of eloquence, rhetoric, and the sciences of expression, concerning whom one of the commentators, the proof of Islam al-Ghazali, said that he is the human mentioned in His words: "The Most Merciful taught the Qur'an, created the human, taught him expression" ³¹⁰, and he said concerning its meaning: It is possible that the human is the person of Muhammad, upon him be the best of prayers and the purest of peace, at every time, moment, age, and season. So bless him, O Allah, and bless his family, the noble ones with fragrant collars and sleeves, and his noble companions, preserved from the accidents of deprivation and deficiency, to the number of what has been given of ascension in the stations of virtue, generosity, and beneficence, and of hearing the address from the presence of his Mighty Lord, the King and Sultan, a blessing by which You illuminate our hearts with the light of sincerity and faith, and by which You preserve our limbs from the afflictions of passion and the causes of misery and abandonment, and by which You seal for us with the seal of felicity at the arrival of death and the departure of the soul from the body, by Your grace (177) and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. Muhammad, the chosen one from the best of Adnan ³¹¹, perfect in creation, possessing beauty and beneficence, his face veiled with lights, served by angels walking behind him like servants. A face before which the Most Merciful manifested, radiant with holy light over humans and the good pleasure of Allah. Glory be to Him who singled him out with beauty uniquely, so he became in his beauty the greatest sovereign. Perfect in creation, his like has not been known; he is like a kingdom in the form of a human. The prophets and the angels from eternity have affirmed him and submitted to him in faith. Prophethood was established for him before the messengers, as a fixed decree and dispensation through the ages. The noble prophets repented through him when they were sent, and through the Gospels and the Criterion. Until all the rulings appeared with the star, he negotiated them with the dawn of proof. Every one of the prophets is a light for him, but besides the Beloved, by Allah, there are two lights (178): the light of his inward has permeated his outward, guiding mankind to awakening and certainty; and the light of his outward is from the light of his inward—both are two seas for the Messenger of Allah. The title of his inward is the lights of his outward; the title of the inward from Taha ³¹²—what a title! His like has never been, Arab nor non-Arab, and two eyes have not seen his like, by Allah. Muhammad, the chosen, the praised, his witness on the Day of Intercession among humans and jinn. Were it not for intercession, his merit would not be known before Allah tomorrow among his peers. O master of the messengers, secret of existence, O treasure of congratulations for us, O essence of essences! O most perfect of creation in form and character, O highest of people in rank and status! I am the servant who praises you, but the generosity of masters does not fulfill the right of servants. If I have fallen short, then kindness is your nature, and the custom of the Arabs is to forgive the offender. Upon you be the purest blessings of Allah, fragrant (179) as long as the breeze touches the crowns of basil, and upon the family, companions, and followers all, as long as the meadow of the ghada ³¹³ stirs the leaves of branches. O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and his family and companions, and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet who ascended the ranks of prophethood and messengership to their highest peaks, the pious one who clung to the clear paths and firmest bonds of the tolerant Hanifiyya ³¹⁴, to the number of what he gave of the divine sciences ³¹⁵ that are countless and endless, and the special characteristics and perfections that are incomparable, matchless, and peerless, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet who quenched the hearts of the thirsty from their drought, the physician who heals hearts with his gaze from their ignorance and the veil of their blindness, to the number of what has been given of perfection in infallibility, asceticism, chastity, and subduing the soul from its desires, and the gifts, openings, and ascension in the stations that You love and are pleased with for him, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. (180) O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet from whose light the suns and moons were abashed and the brightness of their radiance hid, the blessed one of whom times and ages boast for the honor of his mission and vie, to the number of what has been given of the divine descents ³¹⁶ when his spirit ascended to the station of proximity and nearness in the presence of its Lord, and what was granted of the perfection of intercession for his community until he was satisfied and his soul attained its desire, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet whom the great ones of the most holy ³¹⁷ and the dominants ³¹⁸ follow in their journey to Allah and their night journey, the accepted intercessor through whom the inhabitants of the highest heaven ³¹⁹ seek mediation in fulfilling their needs and answering their prayers, to the number of what he received on the night of the Ascension ³²⁰ at the station of two bow-lengths ³²¹ from the address of the Truth and comprehended it, and what the great ones of the near ones ³²² blessed themselves with in their circumambulation of his noble Ka'ba ³²³ and their running, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet whom the spirits answered in the loins of Adam, peace be upon him, when he summoned them to Allah and called them, and (181) he never ceased to observe them with the eye of His care in the station of intimacy before his Lord and tend them, to the number of what he received from his Lord of the gifts of divine sciences and sacred hadiths ³²⁴ and narrated them, and what he watered with the materials of his effusions the hearts thirsty for the contemplation of the beauty of the sublime Essence and quenched them, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet through whom Allah exalted the word of Islam and raised its edifice, the secret one who surpassed the prophets in character and form, and they did not approach him in noble traits and the ranks of his sublimity, to the number of what the virtuous adorned themselves for meeting him with the garments of his love and the jewelry of his obedience and its beauty, and what they vied in multiplying blessings upon him until they thereby attained from his pleasure the object of their hope and desire, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet whose praise the tongues of the eloquent utter, and bless his family and companions and grant them peace.

Those who remember Him in their secret and private conversations, and by His Mighty Name the great ones among the gnostics seek blessing in the eloquent speech of their address and the implied meaning of its content, to the number of the needs that the masters of necessities have conveyed to Him, including the causes of their harm and complaint, and what He has warded off from them ³²⁵ by the secret of His care from distressing evils and afflictions and the magnitude of their trial, and upon the lofty one of our master and lord Muhammad. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet whose law Allah established upon the tolerant Hanifiyya ³²⁶, built upon the foundations of piety, and the hero who protected the egg of Islam ³²⁷ with the sword of His care, and gave rest to the souls of the believers from their fatigue and toil and concern, to the number of those whom He aided through his blessing from the spirits of those turning to Allah with success and strengthened them, and those whom He turned back from the souls of those fleeing from obedience with support to the path of good and guided them, and upon his Family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet whose prophethood the spirits testified when Allah created them and proportioned them and brought them forth from the loins of Adam like atoms ³²⁸, and they acknowledged His lordship and responded to his call when he called them, to the number of what Allah has preserved his community through him from the causes of misery and abandonment and protected them, and what He has specially granted them of perfect faith and love, so that they attained thereby over all other communities honor and might and status, and upon his Family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet whom Allah made his community love in the side of Allah and strengthened their hope and made them know through him a complete knowledge until in hardships they reached to Him as their refuge and upon Him their reliance and through Him their deliverance, to the number of those who sought his aid in repelling calamities and he relieved them and saved them, and those who sought intercession through his great status to Allah and attained their goal and achieved their desire, and upon his Family and Companions and grant them peace. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the Prophet to whom Ridwan ³²⁹ handed the keys of the gardens ³³⁰ and they rejoiced in him and were adorned when he saw them, and they gifted him from their houris and boys and lofty dwellings what minds cannot reach their utmost and highest, to the number of what He gave therein to his community through his blessing of sublime gifts that are limitless and endless, and what He honored him with of exalted honors whose ultimate desire and final goal is the vision of the Generous Face of Allah. So bless him, O Allah, and his Family, a blessing by which we may be among those who persevere in reciting it in the assemblies of the rememberers and recite it and devote themselves to its remembrance in all their times until they attain thereby in the ranks of glory the highest degree and the loftiest, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. That is the bringer of good tidings, the warner, the one sought for aid * The secret of prophethood in the world and its meaning The sun of existence whose birth lights * Filled what is between Canaan and Basra The arch of Kisra ³³¹ split from his awe * And the fire of Persia that child extinguished How many honors does he have that he bestows * And miracles and signs we have known The breast flowed milk for him and the cloud shaded him * And in the horizon the moon split its darkness The trunk yearned for him and water flowed from his hand * Twenty hundred and half of twenty he gave to drink The spider built a house over him to * Repel a group of disbelief whose endeavor was misguided The stallion submitted and gestured in prostration to him * And the gazelle complained of affliction and he healed it Glad tidings of elegant rhymes, indeed they have appeared * With the master of the pure Arabs, their glad tidings So praise be to Allah, we are the victorious through him * In a blessing, how excellent is the final abode, its outcome Its author, may Allah forgive him and honor him with His pleasure, and make his quest and endeavor lead him to obedience to Allah and obedience to His Messenger, said: When I reached in this place these magnificent blessings, beautiful in composition and exquisite in construction, it occurred to me to follow them with blessings similar in style and structure, matching their rhymes in wording and meaning, stimulating the minds of lovers with the beauty of their blessings, delighting the ears of listeners with the sweetness of their charm, swaying the crowns of the distressed with the delicacy of their rhymes, stirring the hearts of the passionate with the grace of their hearing, opening the nostrils of the afflicted with the fragrance of their rose, healing the hearts of the enamored with the antidote of their ecstasy, arousing the states of the wayfarers with the emotions of their succor, fulfilling the hopes of the seekers with the truth of their promise, guiding the elite of the desirous to the path of their righteousness and rectitude, snatching the hearts of the rememberers with the flashes of their felicity, and clothing the great ones among those who have attained with the garments of their love. And I ask Allah to make them an accepted gift for the station of the Master of the Messengers and a means leading to the intercession of the Beloved of the lovers, our master and lord Muhammad, the Imam of the pious and the leader of the white-blazed ones ³³². So bless him, O Allah, and his pure Family and his noble and honored Companions.

A prayer that makes us thereby among Your sincere and certain servants, and gathers us thereby with those upon whom You have bestowed favor—among the prophets, the truthful, the martyrs, and the righteous—by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. So I say, and from Allah I hope to attain the goal and achieve the request: Sublime prayers, abundant, blessed, wondrous, beautiful, whose pearls of verses are blended with multiplied, majestic numbers, encompassing in their rhymed prose the verses of Surah "By the sun and its brightness" ³³³ and the radiant, magnificent flashes of its indications, and the mention of the meanings of its words and what they contain of suitability for praising the perfections of the possessor of the lofty station, the means ³³⁴ and the excellence, our master and lord Muhammad, whose essence was chosen from the best clan and the noblest tribe. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, with a prayer that fulfills the hopes of the one desiring to behold his noble face, quenches his thirst, and makes it (187) for him a means leading to attaining His pleasure in both abodes and a means, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad and the family of our master Muhammad, whose noble tree Allah chose from the purest elements, selected and chose it for Himself before creation and formation, picked it and spread its fame in the highest assembly ³³⁵ and raised it to His holy presence, adorned it among the upper and lower worlds, named it with His glorious names, nurtured it in the lap of His protection, and manifested His divine revelation to it in its morning, to the number of its radiant days that are luminous like "the sun and its brightness," and his dazzling miracles that are illuminating like "the moon when it follows it," and his excellent sciences that are renowned like "the day when it reveals it," and his abundant deeds that are concealed like "the night when it covers it," and his pure states that are lofty in ranks of glory like "the sky and what built it," and his vast precincts that are made easy for all creatures like "the earth and what spread it," (188) and his fragrant breaths that are balanced in the constitution of temperaments like "a soul and what proportioned it, then inspired it" with wondrous craftsmanship by the secret of His wisdom, "its wickedness and its righteousness; indeed successful" is he who purifies it from the impurities of human follies and "has purified it, and indeed failed is he who" conceals its meanings from the eyes of people "and proportioned it," in the hiddenness of his identity he concealed its betrayal and treachery and folded it upon the evil of the inner self. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, with a prayer that purifies the souls of the claimants from the stupidity of their ignorance and the disease of their claim, and admits the sinful believers into the protection of his inviolable sanctuary and the shade of his banner, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and the family of our master Muhammad, the prophet, the opening of the openings of the Furqanic ³³⁶ surahs that derive the gifts of the divine sciences ³³⁷ from the light of his brilliance, the spirit of the spirits of the forms that glorify their Lord in the evening and the morning and stand before their Master, the unique pearl of beauties that Allah created from the purity of His holy light and brought forth, the key (189) to the treasuries of divine unseen things that Allah manifested through his hands the sciences of the Essence to the elite of the elite and spread them, the patient one whose soul was established before its Lord, feeding and watering it, and with the lights of His face sufficed it from the sensory pleasures of the world and enriched it, to the number of his Muhammadan lights that shine on the faces of those who hold fast to his Sunnah like "the sun and its brightness," and the secrets of his Ahmadian ³³⁸ message that travel in the hearts of the knowers of the perfections of his attributes like "the moon when it follows it," and the proofs of his prophetic miracles that are clear in the paths of those who follow his traces like "the day when it reveals it," and the beauties of his chosen essence that travel in the towers of the intellects of those who follow his conduct like "the night when it covers it," and the great things of his lordly majesty whose lighthouse is lofty with the masters of witnessing like "the sky and what built it," and the noble qualities of his character that are extended to all the upper and lower worlds like "the earth and what spread it," and the results of his heart works that are pure from the impurities of wills, plans, and choices like "a soul and what proportioned it, then inspired it" by the decree of His will (190) "its wickedness and its righteousness," meaning He first made it know the path of compulsion so that it knew the destructive things, then made it know the paths of gentleness so that it knew the saving things. "Indeed successful is he who" strives for it in salvation from the reckoning and punishment "and purifies it. And indeed failed is he who" buries it in the land of abandonment and misery and in the darkness of ignorance and error "and proportioned it." So bless him, O Allah, and his family, with a prayer that heals hearts from the disease of their ignorance and blindness and cures them from their apparent and hidden ailments in their secret and their private counsel, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and the family of our master Muhammad, the prophet, the spirit of the life of longing souls and the secret of their meaning, the desire of the masters of truthful states and the goal of their aspiration, the aim of yearning eyes and the light of their pupil and the brightness of their radiance, the fruit of the lofty tree of prophethood whose status Allah magnified among the prophets and exalted, and placed its recognition in the regions of the kingdom and the dominion ³³⁹, and adorned it with the light of His beauty, and made beloved in it everyone among creation who heard him and witnessed its light beyond it, to the number of his great miracles that are widespread like "the sun and its brightness" (191) and his abundant merits that are successive like "the moon when it follows it," and his magnificent signs that are radiant like "the day when it reveals it," and his noble exploits that are pervasive like "the night when it covers it," and his lofty stations that are sublime like "the sky and what built it," and his pure noble qualities that are growing like "the earth and what spread it," and his good states that are content and pleasing like "a soul and what proportioned it, then inspired it" with luminous success to the paths of good and guided it, and made clear to it in the mirror of realities "then inspired it its wickedness and its righteousness; indeed successful is he who" preserved it through obedience from the lights of wickedness and falsehood and "purified it, and indeed failed is he who" occupied it with following corrupt opinions and covered its faults with deceit, falsehood, and obfuscation and debased it. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, with a prayer that You accept from us as a gift to his lofty carpet and are pleased with it, and make it for us a treasure with You, hoping for its reward in the Hereafter, and we praise its outcome, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad, the prophet, the tongue of the masters of eloquence and rhetoric and the address (192) of their erasure, the desirer of the longing soul from its passion and the flame of its ardor, the capital of the supplicants and petitioners and the treasure of their profits and wealth, the mercy of widows, orphans, and the poor, the ultimate hope and the place of their wealth, the means of those who seek means and supplication, the Kaaba of their circumambulation and their refuge and shelter, to the number of his prophetic ascents and his chosen ascensions that are radiant in the sky of high stations like "the sun and its brightness," and his bestowed openings and holy knowledges that are rare in the hearts of his elect and beloved like "the moon when it follows it," and his sublime gifts and divine sciences that are manifest in the breasts of his saints and pious ones like "the day when it reveals it," and his lordly gifts and unseen secrets that pervade the innermost of his gnostics and preachers like "the night when it covers it," and his lordly wisdoms and holy grants that testify that he surpassed the prophets in character, form, elevation, and lofty rank like "the sky and what built it," and his successive abundant favors and multiplying blessings that encompassed

the righteous and the wicked, like ³⁴⁰ "and the earth after that He spread out" ³⁴¹, and it encompassed all the higher and lower worlds ³⁴², its farthest and its nearest, and the beauties of his noble form which his Lord created in the most beautiful composition and the best proportion, like ³⁴³ "and a soul and He proportioned it, then inspired it" with His justice its wickedness and by His pure grace ³⁴⁴ "its piety; indeed he succeeds who purifies it" and among the subtle causes its purity and its cleanness ³⁴⁵ "and indeed he fails who corrupts it" and in the hiding places of abasement and humiliation He cast it, and upon following its desires, its error, and its lusts He kept it, and upon opposing the sunna of His beloved Muhammad ³⁴⁶ He humiliated it and led it astray. So bless, O Allah, him and his family with a blessing by which You pour upon the worlds of our spirits with the abundance of its generosity and its bounty, and perfume the corners of our hearts with the fragrant breezes of its sweet scent and the aroma of its fragrance, by Your favor and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the Prophet for whom the veils and canopies were rent on the night of the Ascension until he passed their farthest and their nearest, the Imam to whom the kings of the spheres granted their expanses so he possessed their first and their last, the Beloved who struck the hearts of lovers with the swords of his longings ³⁴⁷ and cut their life-strings and wore them out, the Noble who awakened the eyes of the heedless with his reminder and roused them from their slumber and drowsiness, the Hero to whom the kings of the earth submitted and granted him their lands and villages, the Master whom the angels of the seven heavens welcomed and presented to him the tables of their treasures and their hospitality, the Ascetic to whom the embellishments of the world presented themselves with their adornment but he turned away from them with the eye of his heart and shunned them, the Forbearing who covered the evil deeds of sinners with the skirt of his forbearance and the sympathies of his compassion and mercy and concealed them, equal to his contemplation of the dominion of the heavens and the earth and the sciences of revelation which he heard from the presence of his Lord and received, and the tranquility of his pure, infallible soul which his Lord created in the most beautiful form and proportioned. So bless, O Allah, him and his family with a blessing by which we become among those whose soul is perfumed with the fragrance of his Muhammadan breaths and the sweetness of its scent, and who is granted success in obedience to him, so that the Ahmad ³⁴⁸ care draws him to the path of happiness and he submits to its rein and is guided by its guidance, by Your favor and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. ³⁴⁹ This is Muhammad, praised is his conduct; this is the secret that built the world and fulfilled it. This is he who, when he was greeted with the message in the plain of Mecca, light filled its plain. There remained no tree there nor stone but greeted him with speech when he met it. And his word to the inanimate objects of existence was upon a knowledge that had for them a body and mouths. And the birds, the wild beasts, and the angels never ceased to offer him greetings to please Allah. From me be peace upon the Light that rejoiced the heavens when he passed above them. And the Throne and the Footstool rejoiced, and the veils of Majesty were filled with light when he arrived at them. O you to whom belongs the overflowing Kawthar ³⁵⁰ as a generosity, O Seal of the Messengers, Yā Sīn ³⁵¹ and Ṭā Hā ³⁵². May my God bless you, O Muhammad, as long as the people drive their mounts towards you. I said: When I reached in this sura the end of its verses in the section, I mentioned what the jewels of its words contained of beautiful allusions and exquisite wisdoms ³⁵³; it appeared to me that I should set the meanings of its allusions with praises befitting the perfections of the master of the procession and knowledge and the apparent creation and character, our master and lord Muhammad, the master of Arabs and non-Arabs, the lamp of prophethood that dispels with its light the darkness of shadows. So bless, O Allah, him and his family with a blessing by which You clarify for us what was hidden from us of the realities of his sciences and insights, and make us thereby among those who are threaded into the string of his love and arranged, by Your favor and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. So I say: Allah the Exalted swore in this sura by the sun and its forenoon ³⁵⁴ to its end, and that is because by the rays of his Muhammadan self the insights of the individual knowers open, and by the light of the moon of his message the paths of guidance of the arrived poles ³⁵⁵ become clear, and by the brightness of the day of his sunna the caravans of the elite who guide to Allah and turn to Him travel, and by him the darknesses of the night of his love keep awake the great individuals who stand before their Lord and the devout sleepers, and by the opening of the doors of the heaven of the sympathies of his mercies the supplications of the poor distressed and the beggars asking are answered, and by the earth of the realities of his knowledges the feet of the firmly grounded individuals and the acting scholars are established ³⁵⁶, and by the noble qualities of his character and the good conduct of his self the morals of those returning to their Lord, the repentant, are refined. Or you say: Allah the Exalted swore by the sun of His care which stood in the zenith of the heaven of the people of high stations and lofty beautiful states, and by the moon

His particularity ³⁵⁷ pervading in the presence of proximity to his Lord when he was at a distance of two bow-lengths or nearer ³⁵⁸, and in the day of his union when his Lord manifested to him and appeared to him in the manifestations of closeness and placed His hand between his shoulders, whereby he came to know the sciences of the first and the last and the meanings of His attributes and His beautiful names ³⁵⁹. Or you may say: Allah the Exalted swore by his Muhammadan sun ³⁶⁰, by whose radiant rays the breasts of the great leading masters expand, and by its forenoon ³⁶¹ in whose time the breezes of joys enter upon those who come to him from among his lovers and his noble discerning companions; and by the moon of his face, by looking at which worries, griefs, and distress are removed from whoever sees him, and great calamities are unveiled; and by the day of his expansion, which is the time of his gathering with his beloved and companions on the carpet of intimacy and in the scenes of piety and respect; and by the night of his striving in his standing, bowing, prostrating, and supplicating before his Lord, the All-Knowing King; and by the heaven of his sciences and knowledges, whose worth has risen high above all other worlds and bodies; and by the earth of his noble dust, which encompassed his limbs and through which his brilliant miracles and proofs of his prophethood appeared, cutting off the backs of idol-worshippers; and by his tranquil ³⁶², noble, well-pleased, pleasing, high in rank, and invincible soul, for through it souls become mighty and purified from the motives of ignorance and the coverings of doubts and illusions. Or you may say: Allah the Exalted swore by the sun and its forenoon ³⁶³, which stood still for his supplication—upon him be the best prayer and peace—and by the moon which split into two halves for him ³⁶⁴, confirming his prophethood when the people of denial and sin belied him; and by the day when it reveals it ³⁶⁵, for it is the time of his birth, preferred over all other months and years; and by the night when it covers it ³⁶⁶, for in it the moon spoke to him and the spirits of the people of veneration and glorification circled around him; and by the heaven and what built it ³⁶⁷, for it is the place of descent of revelation from the presence of his Lord, Possessor of Majesty and Honor; and by the earth and what spread it ³⁶⁸, for in it the spirits of the lovers pledged allegiance to him between al-Ḥaṭīm ³⁶⁹ and Zamzam ³⁷⁰ and the Station of Abraham ³⁷¹; and by the soul and what proportioned it ³⁷², for it was created upon his merciful form ³⁷³, so none has matched it in beauty of shape and goodness of stature. Or you may say: Allah the Exalted swore by the sun and its forenoon, for it was illumined by his light and shone from the brilliance of his radiance and the flashes of his luminosity; and by the moon when it follows it ³⁷⁴, for it resembles the blaze of his forehead when it shines among his companions and his special beloved ones; and by the day when it reveals it, for by its rising the signs of joys appear on the faces of his friends, due to what they have received of glad tidings of good things through the blessing of his supplication and prayer; and by the night when it covers it, for in it the gifts of secrets cover the hearts of his lovers, so they become absent in witnessing his beauty and the perfections of his attributes and names; and by the heaven and what built it, for its gates were opened for him and its inhabitants welcomed him on the night of his Ascension ³⁷⁵ and Night Journey ³⁷⁶; and by the earth and what spread it, for it was made for him a mosque and a purification ³⁷⁷, and Gabriel ³⁷⁸ descended upon it with revelation throughout his life and duration; and by the soul and what proportioned it, i.e., the one honored by his love, so it succeeded in attaining his intercession and was saved by his blessing from painful punishment and its severity and affliction. Or you may say: Allah the Exalted swore by the sun and its forenoon, i.e., by the sun of his Muhammadan beauty, which dwells in the gardens of the people of modesty and allusion; and by the moon when it follows it, i.e., by the moon of his Aḥmadī ³⁷⁹ perfection, by whose light realities become clear to the people of witnessing and vision; and by the day when it reveals it, i.e., by the day of his union, by which the aspirations of those whom Allah has chosen for his service and selected for his love rise in all times and ages; and by the night when it covers it, i.e., by the night of his longing when it covers the hearts of those desiring to see his face, so they rejoice in his remembrance in secret and in public; and by the heaven and what built it, i.e., by the heaven of his knowledges, to which the spirits of the knowers ascend and roam in its dominion to witness the stations of the people of proximity and nearness; and by the earth and what spread it, i.e., by the earth of the hearts of his lovers, upon which the clouds of his prophetic mercies descend, sprouting the trees of gifts, sciences, and gnosis; and by the soul and what proportioned it, i.e., by his pure soul, which his Lord proportioned in the most beautiful composition and the best and most wonderful making. Or you may say: Allah swore by the sun and its forenoon, i.e., like the sun of his sciences, by which the times of worship are distinguished for the elite who uphold his sunnah most perfectly; and by the moon when it follows it, i.e., by the moon of his message, by which the great leaders are guided to the paths of laws and rulings; and by the day when it reveals it, i.e., by the day of his manifestation in the manifestations of theophanies for those who seek intercession through his rank, to be saved from the terror of the Day of Presentation and Crowd; and by the night when it covers it, i.e., by the night of his care when it covers the hearts of his friends, so they ascend in it to the highest degree and loftiest station; and by the heaven and what built it, i.e., by the heaven of his exaltation and high station, to which the greatest of those brought near among angels, prophets, messengers, and all creatures submit; and by the earth and what spread it, i.e., by the earth of his worship, which is the place of his bowing and prostrating and the footsteps of his feet, to which rocks softened and whose dust the elite and common people blessed by kissing; and by the soul and what proportioned it, i.e., by his good soul, by whose goodness the flowers of valleys, plains, and buds became good. Or you may say: Allah the Exalted swore by the sun and its forenoon, i.e., by the Muhammadan sun

Minds are bewildered by the beauty of its vision, and eyes grow weary at the sight of its lights and the splendor of its countenance. And by its forenoon (ḍuḥāhā), through which the masters of means attain the fulfillment of their hope and the perfection of their desire, and by ﴿THE MOON WHEN IT FOLLOWS IT﴾ (al-Qamar 54:2) — that is, by the radiance of his Aḥmadī moon, through which spirits journey to the stations of their exaltation and the witnessing-places of their proximity — and by ﴿THE DAY WHEN IT REVEALS IT﴾ (al-Shams 91:3) — that is, by the day of his light, through which the sciences of realities are unveiled to their people, and the masters of states and the great ones of ecstatic attraction recover from their sobriety and the wine of their intoxication — and by ﴿THE NIGHT WHEN IT COVERS IT﴾ (al-Shams 91:4) — that is, by the night of His love when it covers the spirits of the enamored ones, so that their lions are visited by His remembrance in the decrees of its concealment — and by ﴿THE HEAVEN AND WHAT BUILT IT﴾ (al-Shams 91:5) — that is, by the heaven of His Essence, the manifest and pure, and the towers of His attributes, the luminous and exalted, in which the gleams of lights and the flashes of secrets manifest themselves to the hearts of the knowers, so that through them they receive the hearing of the address from the Presence of their Lord, the Strong, the Helper. And that is because God, exalted is He, has unveiled the towers of this Muḥammadan sun to the elite of His chosen ones and His saints, and its stations to His beloved ones and His noble ones, and its stars to His messengers and His prophets, so that their spiritual spirits (203) may journey by it according to the measure of their powers, and their ṣamadānī (divine) forms may fly within it to the stations of its proximity and the shade of its lote-tree of the utmost boundary. Thus, the planets of the possessors of spiritual spirits and holy gifts journey in the towers of eternal felicity and the perceptions of the Throne-bound intellects; and the stars of the possessors of bestowed openings and divine descents journey in the gleams of the jabarūtī (majestic) lights and the manifestations of the ‘aẓamūtī (grandeur) secrets, and they spend the night in their journey before a Sovereign, All-Powerful. So it has become clear from this that everyone who has a state with God, or an affiliation to God, or a station known to God, or a holding fast to the Sunnah of my master, the Messenger of God (may God bless him and grant him peace) — his spirit journeys in those subbūḥī (transcendent) lights and lāhūtī (divine) witnessing-places. And that is either from a lordly unveiling, or a spiritual secret, or a holy knowledge which the Master has caused to flow through the hand of His Beloved, His Chosen One, His Best from among His creation, His Elect, His Pure One — he whom none has ascended in the ascents of glory and mastery to a station of particularity with which his Master has distinguished him, and a gift for him in pre-eternity, and honored in both abodes is his abode. So no sun shines alongside the sun of his prophethood and messengership, and no moon gives light alongside the moon of (204) his mastery and majesty. For the sun abides in its stations and towers, while the sun of his Muḥammadan care journeys perpetually in its spheres and its highest ranks; and the moon is eclipsed and its light and radiance vanish, while his moon increases in beauty and its manifestation is never hidden. And God has made the sun of his prophethood (may God bless him and grant him peace) a lamp by which the wayfarers to God are guided, and the moon of his messengership a guide by which they journey to THE STATION OF PROXIMITY AND ATTAINMENT TO GOD, while they are, in that, varying in degrees and stations, and diverse in paths, states, and perfections. Thus, the journey of the people of love is in the aspect of God: passionate longing and yearning; the journey of the people of intimacy with God: state and taste; the journey of the people of contraction and expansion: majesty and beauty; the journey of the people of fear and hope: reliance upon God and trust; the journey of the people of severance and abstraction: proximity to God and union; the journey of the people of seclusions and solitude: intimacy and boldness; the journey of the people of intention and affirmation: patience, delegation, and sincerity of dealing with God in the present state and the final outcome; the journey of the people of faith and tawḥīd (divine unity): singling out the Worshipped One with worship and declaring Him transcendent above peers, likenesses, and similars; the journey of the people of asceticism and piety: emptying the hand (205) from this world, whose affair tends toward cessation and passing away; the journey of the people of modesty and courtesy with God: abandoning self-managements and choices, and the promptings of doubt, illusion, and probability; the journey of those whose feet are firmly rooted in the station of compassion, mercy, and tenderness: fear, humility, lowliness, and beneficence toward the needy, widows, and beggars; the journey of those who are compassionate toward the servants of God: supplication for them for pardon, forgiveness, and deliverance from punishment, disgrace, calamity, and chastisement; the journey of those who stand at the boundaries of God: abandoning the ambiguous and the forbidden, and desiring the purification of sustenance and the earning of the lawful; the journey of the ascetics and worshippers: fleeing with their selves to God and dwelling in deserts, wildernesses, and mountain peaks; the journey of the people of taking and giving: overflowing, supply, generosity of souls, and continuous bestowal and giving; the journey of those whose hearts are at rest with the remembrance of God: turning toward God, being content with what He has established them in, and standing at His door with humility, supplication, and entreaty; the journey of the acting scholars: preserving the fulfillment of rights and the establishment of legal rulings, and weighing deeds with the balance of justice and moderation; the journey of the elite of the elite (206): ecstasy, infatuation, bewilderment, and immersion in the love of the Seal of the Prophets and the Master of the Messengers. So may God bless him and his family, as long as the sun of His care shines in the hearts of the Companions and the Family, and the moon of His guidance illuminates the sky of the people of His love and those who hold fast to the rope of his Sunnah, from among men and women; and may He grant him abundant and exalted peace. And praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds. There are people in the witnessing of Majesty, And a folk in the witnessing of Beauty, And a folk who combine every meaning Of gnosis in the ranks of perfection. So the sun of hearts does not set for them, Nor does the shadow of majesty pass away. There appeared from them, through it, lights of holiness, Having, in the gathering, various kinds of connection. The union of the Truth keeps them far from what The one free from attachment imagines of separation. And the light of the Unseen in them shone forth from them, And raised them to the witnessing of the highest things. And the journey of their steeds, barebacked and swift, Are souls outstripping in the field. And their glory, in majesty, is beyond the fancies, The peaks of mountains are humbled by its might. They saw a meaning sanctified beyond other than them, And their companion spent the night with it in every state. So glory be to Him Who made the sun of his Ḥamdī (Praiseworthy) prophethood, for the people of His love, a blazing lamp, and the moon of his Aḥmadī (Most Praiseworthy) messengership (207), for those guided by his guidance, a guide to the path of good and a clear way; and the day of his elect nature, for those who follow his conduct, a ladder by which they ascend to the ranks of high stations and a miʿrāj (ascension); and the night of his means, for those desiring what is with Him, a rain pouring down with torrents of good and a dense cloud; and the heaven of his knowledges, for the masters of realities, landmarks of guidance by which they are guided to traversing his straight path, in which there is no deviation from the way of truth nor any crookedness; and the earth of his guidance, for those holding fast to his Sunnah, deserts of felicity through which they travel to His Presence on clear roads and wide paths; and He established for them upon it the foundation of the rulings of his noble ḥanīfī (upright) law, and clarified for them through it the methods of his excellent straight path. Thus He made the sun of his prophethood a light for the people of righteousness, walking in its radiance and ascending by it to the stations of felicity, singly and in pairs; and the moon of his messengership a beacon for the travelers, watching in it for the dawn of his prophetic openings and journeying toward them in the night; and the day of his election an open door for the wayfarers, entering through it into His Presence and entering therein; and the night of his communion a means of nearness for those striving in His pleasure, reaching Him through it and wrapping themselves in His robes; and the heaven of His nearness a tablet for the knowers (208), looking in it at the secrets of the unseen things, so that the aspects of their realities become clear to them and shine forth; and the earth of the hearts of the people of His love blooms with what has been planted in it of the flowers of His wisdoms, so that the breeze of its secret flows through their joints and veins and mingles with their flesh and blood; and they persevere in sending blessings upon him at every time and moment, so that it becomes a cure for their outward and inward ailments, a beneficial antidote and a remedy. So bless him, O God, and his family, with a blessing whose light shines in the unseen of our innermost secrets and rejoices with joy.

And we rise by its blessing to the stations of the lovers in Him and the beloved ones near Him, and we merge into the thread of their love, merging by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. By Your face I swear, it is the cool of the night ❖ And dominion and the heavenly realm, beauty more radiant The beauties of the cosmos testified that their beauty ❖ From the sea of Your beauty and splendor has been brought forth Rather, from Your existence was the origin of their existence ❖ Their formation, the gauge of Your light, emerged You are the lamp upon existence, its beauty (209) ❖ The lantern of all worlds has been lit O pole of the circle of perfection and the best of those ❖ Before whom perfection stood or ascended O elite of the two worlds, O secret of purity ❖ O light of the lights of existence, the sought-after You are the one who filled beauty alone ❖ And to Him every created thing is in need You are the one who filled hearts with guidance ❖ And His breast, the successful one, was delighted You are the one whose light clothes the worlds ❖ With beauty, becoming for them an embellishing embroidery You are the one whose face dazzled the eyes ❖ And the secret of His beauty melted the people of intellect You are the one who refined the companions in ❖ His gathering, drawing them in with gentleness You are the one who attracted wild beasts to him, when ❖ The familiar one stirred them with longing for their meeting Exalted is He who raised your rank among people ❖ So you established a religion that before you was crooked And you proclaimed the manifest truth, fearing not ❖ In God the blame of any blamer who distressed (210) And you rose in the religion of God, striving ❖ In word and deed, rolling away misguidance And you narrated the news of the unseen to the one who followed ❖ You, preceding all the first, showing the way And you were sent to both weighty kinds ³⁸⁰ as a mercy ❖ Through you, distress was relieved from the people of the two worlds May God, whose majesty is exalted, bless you ❖ As long as the morning rends the trains of darkness Its author, may God pardon him and turn to him and whiten his forehead among the praisers and treat him with all good, said: When I reached in this noble, blessed, and magnificent sura ³⁸¹ this place, the pen delayed and turned its reins, and the writer stopped and withheld his fingers, and they said with the tongue of their state: O you who wrote what befits this station and neglected what his devil stores, you have neglected a grave matter and left what benefits you secretly and openly, namely the machinations of the soul commanding to evil ³⁸², whose calamities of desires destroy mountains of good deeds, and a spark from the sparks of its lapses burns everything that a person has planted throughout his life of righteous deeds and commendable actions. Therefore, some (211) of the knowers ³⁸³ said: Whoever does not accuse his soul at all times and does not oppose it, his affair will end up committing sins and perpetrating forbidden things. And whoever looks at it with approval of anything from it, has been pleased with it and destroyed it and rendered it incapable of doing good and given it respite. How can a rational person be pleased with his soul, while the generous, son of the generous, son of the generous, son of the generous says: "And I do not exonerate myself; indeed the soul is ever commanding to evil, except those upon whom my Lord has mercy" ³⁸⁴? It may carry you to obedience and show you in it an evil that diminishes the merchandise. So beware of it with all wariness, and look into its issues with the eye of verification, and sharpen your gaze, for it strives with its adornment for every ignorant person and hunts with the snares of its tricks every heedless and neglectful person. So we ask God Almighty to protect us from the storms of its wrath, to ransom our necks from the yoke of its captivity, to guard us from the calamities of its deception, its fraud, and its cunning, and to purify our innermost from the insinuations of its faults in secret and in public. Amen, amen, amen, and praise be to God, Lord of the worlds. So I say by way of warning and indication in dispraising the soul commanding to evil and warning against it in the briefest words and most subtle expressions: Know, O sincere seeker (212) and friend holding fast to the rope of God, the trustworthy, that the human soul and the dark, corporeal breath takes on colors in its states like the coloring of a snake in its hole, and it acts upon the limbs and hearts as sorcerers act with their sorcery. How many men has it killed with its poison, whose spirits roamed in the heavenly realm and whose intellects wandered in the carpet of mercy and omnipotence, whose ears delighted in the address of their Master, the Living, the Eternal who does not die, and the lights of their insights pierced above the Throne and beneath the Behemoth ³⁸⁵, and the kings of their aspirations disposed in distant regions and all directions. Our Master has warned us of its afflictions in the sacred hadiths ³⁸⁶ and the revealed books of the Presence, and dispraised it with His words: "Indeed the soul is ever commanding to evil" ³⁸⁷, and other clear verses and evident proofs. And He concluded the oath with it, emphasizing its importance and guarding against its treachery, its cunning, and lack of security from it, saying: "He has succeeded who purifies it" ³⁸⁸, i.e., who preserves it in the preservation of piety and righteousness and guards it from every act that leads to destruction and trial. "And he has failed who buries it" ³⁸⁹, i.e., who covers its corruptions by hiding evil deeds and does not care about what proceeds from his ugly action and evil earning (213) in both secret and private counsel. Sufficient as a preacher in that is the saying of our Master, Exalted is He: "As for he who transgressed and preferred the life of this world, then indeed Hellfire is the refuge. But as for he who feared the station of his Lord and forbade the soul from desire, then indeed Paradise is the refuge" ³⁹⁰. And by this, the difference becomes clear between the blaming soul ³⁹¹ and the tranquil soul ³⁹², the pleased and pleasing spiritual soul, about which our Master said: "O tranquil soul, return to your Lord, pleased and pleasing, and enter among My servants and enter My Paradise" ³⁹³. So the tranquil soul aspires to the most noble of high stations, while the blaming soul inclines by its nature to the lowest depth and the clayey origin. How different is the soul about which our Master said: "Indeed the soul is ever commanding to evil" ³⁸⁷, and the soul about which He said: "O tranquil soul, return to your Lord, pleased and pleasing" ³⁹³! Thus the difference between the two stations has become clear, and the distinction between the two states has become manifest, and it has become evident to me that the tranquil soul is the spirit that issued from the light of the address of eternity, according to what some of the knowers have said, and it is that which the Truth brought into existence from non-existence with the light of pre-eternity, so it became tranquil with Him, with His address, and with His union. So He called it to its first origin (214), and it attained from the First to the Last nothing but the vision of God, pleased with Him through the attributes of servitude, and pleasing to Him through the quality of eternal election. Al-Qasim said concerning its meaning: "O soul connected to the Truth, which became tranquil and was pleased with what He said to it and upon it."

Return to the One who adorned you with this great adornment until He made you fit for returning from Him to Him. It has ended, and God has honored the spirit over the soul by His saying: ﴿And they ask you about the spirit. Say: The spirit is of the command of my Lord﴾ ³⁹⁴, a special characteristic that God has singled it out for due to the loftiness of its station, the veil of its protection, the majesty of its worth, the perfection of its secret, and the constancy of its command. This is because God Almighty clothed it with a garment from the veil of His divinity, granted it a secret from the secrets of His Self-Subsistence ³⁹⁵, gave it eternal life through the life of His Eternity, bestowed upon it a spiritual robe, made it a spirit for dark forms and luminous bodies, and endowed it with a power by which it permeates corporeal structures and spiritual states, just as water permeates growing trees, so that they live by it as the earth lives by pouring rains, and it intertwines with them in a way that never leaves them as long as their forms remain and their entities endure (215). This is because it issued from the sources of the divine rivers ³⁹⁶ and appeared in the manifestations of the majestic treasuries ³⁹⁷, and was distinguished by characteristics that God reserved the knowledge of for the element of Muhammadan lordship ³⁹⁸, and deposited its secret in the jewel of Ahmadian glory ³⁹⁹, for it is the origin of everything and its foundation, the spirit of every existent and the secret of its meaning. Our Master answered concerning it when the disbelievers asked him about it with an answer that mouths did not utter and tongues and lips did not move, namely His saying: ﴿And they ask you about the spirit. Say: The spirit is of the command of my Lord, and you have not been given of knowledge except a little﴾ ⁴⁰⁰, meaning they ask you about the spirit whose knowledge was obscured in the outward forms of knowledge, whose secret was made clear to the knowers in the inspirations of unveilings and the subtleties of imagination and estimation, whose essence was realized for the prophets and saints, whose attributes were shown to them in the pillar of unveiling and clarification, and whose superiority was magnified by the descent of its verses upon the bride of the kingdom praised in the Torah, the Gospel, and the Criterion ⁴⁰¹. For the intellects of all creatures are incapable of grasping the essence of that, and the lights of their insights do not traverse those paths of the unseen world, so no one can be informed of His unseen. And inability to perceive (216) and to delve into those matters leads to confusion and perplexity. They recited: "Take her, for in her beauty there are risings; all is the meaning of description, and she is the Essence. She is the spirit of the forms of beauty, and indeed she perishes, but after her is affirmation. She is the image of beauty towards which her face is turned, and she is alluded to as the 'Hind' ⁴⁰². She is the inner meanings in truth, from your beauty, but she has manifestations. All worlds are under the center of her pole; she is their gathering, and they are scattered for her." The meaning of that is what Ibn 'Abbas ⁴⁰³ said: The spirit is a creation of God's creation, which He formed in the form of Adam, and no angel descends from heaven except that with him is a spirit in the likeness of a human, but it is not a human. Mujahid ⁴⁰⁴ said: The spirits are in the form of the children of Adam; they have hands, feet, and heads, they eat food, and they are not angels. End. So the spirit emerged from under the direct involvement of pre-eternal non-existence, existing by the existence of the Essence and Attributes, and witnessing itself in the mode of manifestation, perfect, comprehensive, characterized by the character of the Real (217), described by His attributes, living a perfect life with no death in it. From the property of its nature is that it inclines toward every beauty and what is deemed beautiful, every pleasant sound, and every pleasant fragrance, due to the goodness of its substance and the softness of its nature. Its outward is God's unseen, and its inward is God's secret, formed in the form of Adam, peace be upon him. Abu Salih ⁴⁰⁵ said: The spirits are in the likeness of people, but they are not people. End. And I said by way of allusion concerning His saying: ﴿And you have not been given of knowledge except a little﴾ ⁴⁰⁶, meaning you have not been given of the matter of the spirit, whose matter He made known to you, whose worth He magnified for you, and whose secret He veiled from you with the veil of light, except a little, by which you cannot attain knowledge of its essence, nor perceive anything of the realities of its modality. So the closest thing to you is that you look into your own existence after non-existence and reflect on the delineation of the form of Adam, peace be upon him, as our Master said: "And in yourselves, do you not see?" ⁴⁰⁷ Yet you have cast that behind your backs and hidden the recognitions of denial and rejection in your hearts, and you have believed the witnesses of your falsehood and lies, and you have crowded the station of prophecy and messengerhood, and you have relied (218) on what occurs to your minds from the coverings of oppression and ignorance and the whisperings of error and misguidance, and you have asked about the matter that is obscure to you, whose body is intertwined with your bodies, and whose effect permeates your joints and veins, and you have not remembered His saying: ﴿Do they not see that God, who created the heavens and the earth, is able to create the like of them?﴾ ⁴⁰⁸

Thus it became clear that the spirit is a subtle substance and a noble luminous form, which God has clothed with the robes of fame and definition, and ascended with it through the ascents of wisdom and disposal, and forbade delving into its reality and modality, and commanded restraint from excessive speech about its quiddity and determination, saying: "And they ask you about the spirit. Say: The spirit is of the command of my Lord, and you have not been given of knowledge except a little." ⁴⁰⁹ That is, they ask you, O Muhammad, about the spirit whose light is connected by the light of the care of your essence, and whose substance is separated from the substance of your spirituality, and whose knowledge is established and obtained from the knowledge of your prophethood, and whose revelation came and descended from the secret of your angelic revelation, and whose course in spiritual and corporeal bodies moved and transferred by the rays of your light. Their intent in asking about that was to cause difficulty and to show incapacity regarding the matter of prophethood supported by the secret of revelation and the light of the revealed Book. ⁴¹⁰ And they did not know that I made your Muhammadan spirit the origin of spiritual spirits in pre-eternity, and your Ahmadite essence the element of luminous individuals and the gathering place of the subtleties of the unseen sciences, the latter and the former thereof. There is no spirit in existence that equals your spirit in ascending to the highest ranks and stations, nor any essence that perceives what your essence is distinguished by of the sciences of realities, the secrets of hidden things, the dazzling miracles, and the highest graces. By the light of your essence, the pillar of the particular and the universal stands, and by the secret of your spirit, the order of the distant and the near is arranged. Whoever seeks to oppose you is overcome by the might of My majestic perfections and incapacitated by the secrets of My overwhelming greatness. How and when can their short unseen knowledge and the wing of their flight—the flight of their disabled, great understanding—and the light of their sick, blind knowledge reach the knowledge of the matter of the spirit? And how can one ask about the reality of its quiddity who is the life of the spirit and the spirit of the spirit, and by the Spirit of Truth and the Holy Spirit the pen of will has traced him in the line of the Tablet? ⁴¹¹ For their knowledge, they took in their question about that the path of disputation and argument as a way, and the proofs of denial and stubbornness as evidence and proof, relying on what they saw in their books and what they obtained of compound ignorance and lack of knowledge of your reality in their consciences and the identity of their breasts. That is because their fathers and rabbis used to claim knowledge of everything, and they neglected the knowledge of God encompassing all their knowledge and the arbitrariness of their intellects and the baseness of their understandings. The suns of prophethood have eclipsed the flashes of their thoughts, and the secrets of the message have obliterated the eyes of their sights, so they became bewildered, having hearts with which they do not understand, and eyes with which they do not see. And it was said to them: "This"—that is, what you claimed of knowledge—"in comparison to the knowledge of God is little." ⁴¹² At that, their dreams stopped at the station of bewilderment and distraction, and their thoughts became dull in the places of doubt and ambiguities, and they abandoned falsehood and testified that the Messenger is true and that what he informed them of is verification and truth, and a distinction for them of truth from falsehood. And the argument of the scholar among them and the ignorant was nullified. Our Lord, exalted, said concerning them: "Do they not see that God, who created the heavens and the earth, is able to create the like of them?" ⁴¹³ "But the wrongdoers persist in disbelief." ⁴¹⁴ * You manifested but were not known, and shone but were not seen. ⁴¹⁵ ❖ You were hidden and not perceived, so how can one recognize? * All loci of manifestation are illuminated by You, ❖ And Your light in secrets is indescribable. * So what is illuminated among them? And are those illuminated? ❖ And do the veils of existence unveil You to the eye? * And what is the eye? What is its object of sight? And who is it ❖ That by His beauty the secrets in the unseen are honored? * And what is the unseen? What is the illumination? What is beauty? What is radiance? ❖ A veil by which spirits are halted in differentiation. * And what is the veil? What are the spirits that are strengthened by it? ❖ Your manifestations, and distinction in union is subtler. * And what is union? What is distinction? Far be it! Clouds have been sent ❖ To wash them away, shedding tears by Your secret. * So for God is what You have granted me of a reality ❖ In whose garden I pluck the nearest wishes. Its author said—and may God make his happiness firm and perpetuate his ascent in the ranks of sciences and gnoses, and may he attain his hopes and purposes in what he hopes for from Him of the gifts of good things—: When I finished speaking about the tranquil soul ⁴¹⁶ that our Lord mentioned in His saying: "O tranquil soul, return to your Lord" ⁴¹⁷ to the end, and about the spirit that the People of the Book asked my master and lord, the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, about, by saying: "Inform us about the spirit," and our Lord, exalted, answered them about it with His saying: "And they ask you about the spirit. Say: The spirit is of the command of my Lord" ⁴¹⁸ the verse, and I gave in that what God has made my heart rejoice with of gnostic gifts and what He has made my tongue speak.

From the holy openings ⁴¹⁹ and a projection into the mirror of my secret from the bestowed stations ⁴²⁰ that allude to the rank of the Imam of the Lordly Presence ⁴²¹, the Bride of the Sovereign Kingdom ⁴²², and the Delight of the Cosmic Creations ⁴²³—my Master and Patron, the Messenger of God (may God bless him and grant him peace)—I have appended to that a discourse on the soul that commands to evil ⁴²⁴, concerning which some masters have expounded at length on its faults, both by allusion and explicitly, warning against its calamities by implication and insinuation. They said: It beautifies the ugly, falsifies the pleasant, covers hearts with the rust of hardness and heedlessness, and veils them from reaching God and entering into the expanse of His Presence. It is concerning this that our Master said: "Indeed, he succeeds who purifies it" ⁴²⁵—that is, by following the Muhammadan Sunna—"and indeed he fails who corrupts it" ⁴²⁶—that is, by opposing the Ahmadine Sharia ⁴²⁷, and by making its corrupt deeds seem fair, covering its intrigues; the evidences of states bear witness to this. Or you may say: "Indeed, he succeeds who purifies it" by the light of life and faith, and guards it in the sanctuary of preservation from the afflictions of passion and the whisperings of Satan; "and indeed he fails who corrupts it" into the abysses of misery and abandonment, distracting it from obedience by keeping company with those whose state is displeasing—women, children, and youths—and defending it with what angers the Lord, such as falsehoods, lies, and slander. Or you may say: "Indeed, he succeeds who purifies it"—that is, occupies it with vigilance over its Master in secret and in public, weighs its deeds by the balance of the pure Sharia, and protects it from the accidents of stripping and deficiency; "and indeed he fails who corrupts it"—that is, covers its evil deeds with what appears pleasing outwardly and is seen with the eye, while concealing it inwardly, blackening his record on the day when the records are spread before the King, the Judge. Or you may say: "Indeed, he succeeds who purifies it"—that is, mentions it with what God has revealed concerning it of clear verses and Quranic chapters, and molds it to perform obedience and the knowledge of tawhid ⁴²⁸ until it knows God by decisive proof and clear evidence; "and indeed he fails who corrupts it"—that is, gives it a false sense of security from evil consequences on the day when scandals appear and the scale is set up, attributing to them most of the miracles and virtues, and turning them away from the path of the people of good who stand for their Master after the eyes have slept and the eyelids have closed. Or you may say: "Indeed, he succeeds who purifies it"—that is, rectifies its states with what pleases God and His Messenger, leads it along the paths of salvation and ways of safety, and makes hateful to it the motives of hypocrisy, show, disbelief, immorality, and disobedience; "and indeed he fails who corrupts it"—that is, incites it to abominations and baseness, teaches it stinginess and miserliness and lack of kindness to loved ones, relatives, and brothers, and frightens it with worry over provision and fear of creation, making it forget the gifts of generosity, bounty, and grace. Or you may say: "Indeed, he succeeds who purifies it"—that is, forbids it from worshipping idols and statues, adorns it with the sash of success and obedience, and purifies it with pure offering; "and indeed he fails who corrupts it"—that is, conceals within it intrigues that he does not reveal to relatives, neighbors, and peers, and shows the opposite to the people of righteousness and religion who remember God with heart and tongue. Or you may say: "Indeed, he succeeds who purifies it"—that is, prefers its action with sincerity and certainty, awakens it from the sleep of heedlessness and forgetfulness, and gives it rest from the toil of this world by reliance on Him whose treasures never run out with giving throughout the ages and times; "and indeed he fails who corrupts it"—that is, incites it to engage in superfluous matters, delving into what does not concern it, and excessive babbling, lowers its rank by indulgence in desires, and adorns for it what it craves of the glitter of this world, which is the cultivation ground of the people of corruption, injustice, and tyranny. Or you may say: "Indeed, he succeeds who purifies it"—that is, employs it in worship with all the limbs and organs, and makes its provision piety until it attains the gifts of pleasure and contentment; "and indeed he fails who corrupts it"—that is, deceives it with wishes and procrastination in all times and seasons, and entices it to commit sins until it falls into the abysses of distance, expulsion, and deprivation. ❖ If you make your intentions pure and are not ❖ a follower of the soul in desire and demand, ❖ and you investigate its states and faults ❖ and become an explorer of what is hidden from it, ❖ you will reach, by God's permission, the noblest rank, ❖ and the secrets will say to you: "Welcome and greetings." Or you may say: "Indeed, he succeeds who purifies it"—that is, blocks its channels with contentment, asceticism, and scrupulousness, purifies it from every blameworthy attribute, and keeps it away from the path of those who deviate from the Muhammadan Sunna and innovate; "and indeed he fails who corrupts it"—that is, covers its faults with the garb of those who claim affiliation with God, so his status becomes great in the eyes of people, and his rank rises in following passion and committing desires, and it expands. Or you may say: "Indeed, he succeeds who purifies it"—that is, proclaims to it the manifestation of truth in a time of ignorance, and declares it, and turns it back from its error by the deterrents of admonition and prohibition, and suppresses; "and indeed he fails who corrupts it"—that is, loosens its reins in the arenas of amusement and pleasures, and grazes, and is deluded by what he has acquired of abundant wealth, and accumulates, and does not care about what has taken hold of his heart of love for leadership and status, until the witness of heedlessness seals him with the seal of deprivation and stamps upon it, so that he may desist, repent to God from his blameworthy deed, and return, and remove the yoke of doubts and illusions from his neck, and cast it off, and turn with his heart and body to God, and humble himself, and weep, his eye shedding tears of regret for what he has neglected of fulfilling rights. * Alas for the slip I made and the life * I wasted in sins without repenting, * While the calls of guidance invite to God, * Yet I do not respond to them. * Even if I filled all regions * With wailing, it would not suffice * For my brokenness, sighing, tears, and lamentation. * Yet, though my sin is great * And my transgression exceeds every offense, * And I persist in sins and do not * Hand over my reins to the Watchful, the Near, * I still hope for God's pleasure and forgiveness, * Overwhelming and vast, covering all sins, * Seeking refuge from them with the best intercessor * Among creatures on the day of intense distress, * The most excellent of messengers and all mankind, * Ahmad the Chosen, the Beloved of hearts. * Upon him be blessings and peace from my Lord * As long as a dove sings on a fresh branch, * And upon his family and companions, the masters, * As long as a hopeful one attains a portion. Or you may say: "Indeed, he succeeds who purifies it"—that is, immerses it in the seas of obedience, annihilates it, and brings it near to the presence of its Master through righteous deeds, and draws it close, and disciplines it with good manners toward God until it attains its goal and achieves its wish; "and indeed he fails who corrupts it"—that is, distracts it with the glitter of this lowly world, and seduces it, and guides it to plunge into forbidden things until it inflicts upon the body what harms it from its disease and great affliction. Or you may say: "Indeed, he succeeds who purifies it"—that is, leads it to do good, guides it, makes known to it the path of reaching God, and frees it from the captivity of desires and ransoms it; "and indeed he fails who corrupts it"—that is, makes it base and ugly, harming those who do good to it, and loving those who call it to immorality and betrayal. Or you may say: "Indeed, he succeeds who purifies it"—that is, judges it by the standard of verification until it is purified from the impurities of its intentions and attributes, and weighs its deeds by the balance of justice and success so that it is saved from the disease of hypocrisy and show, and from the pitfalls of sins and perils, and he delivers it; "and indeed he fails who corrupts it"—that is, casts it into the dungeon of deceit and lies, and with the smoke of whims and illusions covers its faults and hides them. Or you may say: "Indeed, he succeeds who purifies it"—that is, disciplines it with the etiquette of servitude until it knows its Creator, and He brought it into being and nurtured it with the best upbringing, and taught it what it was ignorant of that would set it right with God in its beginning and its end; "and indeed he fails who corrupts it"—that is, conceals within it

Every one of its branches is a deception that entices hearts, both near and far, with its snares, and conceals within its hiding places plots that bring upon him evil things he had feared and dreaded. And from Sa'id ibn Hilal, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: When the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, recited these verses, he would pause and then say: 'O Allah, grant my soul its piety and purify it; You are its Guardian and Master; purify it, for You are the best of those who purify it.' Then he would recite: 'Thamud denied [the truth] in their transgression' ⁴²⁹ — meaning they denied the messengers through their tyranny and aggression. And from Ibn 'Abbas: the name of the punishment that came upon them is 'al-taghwa' ⁴³⁰, and he said: 'Thamud denied' their punishment, and 'bi-taghwaha' ⁴³¹ was chosen because it rhymes with the verse endings; the original is 'bi-tughyaniha' ⁴³², for when 'fa'la' ⁴³³ is derived from a verb with a weak letter (ya'), the weak letter is replaced with a waw in the noun to distinguish between the noun and the adjective, as in 'al-taqwa' ⁴³⁴ and the like. The common reading is with a fatha ⁴³⁵ on the ta', while al-Hasan and Hammad ibn Salama read with a damma ⁴³⁶ on the ta', which is a dialectal variant like 'al-fatwa' and 'al-futya' ⁴³⁷. 'When the most wretched of them arose' ⁴³⁸ — he is Qudar ibn Salif, the slayer of the she-camel; he was a blue-eyed man with a deformed body, and his mother's name was Qadira. So 'the messenger of Allah said to them: [Beware of] the she-camel of Allah' ⁴³⁹ — an incitement and warning, i.e., beware of the consequence of [harming] Allah's she-camel and her drinking [turn]; i.e., leave her drink and her share of water, do not compete with her for it, as Allah Almighty said: 'For her is a [share of] drink, and for you is a [share of] drink on a known day' ⁴⁴⁰. 'But they hamstrung her, so their Lord destroyed them for their sin' ⁴⁴¹ — i.e., He enveloped them with punishment for their denial of His messengers and their hamstringing of the she-camel. It is said: 'damdama' ⁴⁴² upon them the grave, and a 'nāqatun madmūmatun' ⁴⁴³ means a camel covered with fat; if you repeat the enveloping, you say 'damdamta'. Ibn 'Abbas said: 'wa damdama' means He destroyed, and it is said He shook them violently. 'fasawwāhā' ⁴⁴⁴ — i.e., He leveled that land over the young and the old; and it is said He leveled the community, i.e., He sent down punishment upon its young and old. The she-camel was hamstrung by a man from Thamud, and all of them were pleased with his deed, so Allah Almighty included them all in the punishment for their approval of it. Muwarrij said: 'al-damdamah' is destruction and annihilation. Some linguists said: 'al-damdamah' is fatness; the Arabs say 'nāqatun madmūmatun': i.e., fat. Ibn al-Zubayr read: 'qadamdama' ⁴⁴⁵, and they are two dialects, like their saying 'tanaqqa'a' and 'istanqa'a' ⁴⁴⁶ when it changes. And His saying: 'fa lā yakhāfu' ⁴⁴⁷ — the people of the Hijaz and Syria read 'fa lā', and likewise it is in their copies [of the Quran]; the others read with a waw ⁴⁴⁸, and it is likewise in their copies. 'uqbahā' ⁴⁴⁹ — i.e., its consequence. Al-Hasan said: meaning, Allah does not fear any consequence in destroying them. Ibn 'Abbas, al-Dahhak, al-Sarri, and al-Kalbi said: it refers back to the slayer, i.e., the most wretched of them does not fear the consequence of what he did. In the speech there is fronting and delaying; the implied order is: 'When the most wretched of them arose, then he does not fear its consequence.' And it is said: the messenger of Allah, Salih, does not fear. And it is said that the better reading for the first meaning is with 'fa', and for the second with 'waw'. Whoever reads 'fa lā' means: Allah does not fear the consequence of destroying them; whoever reads 'wa lā' means: the slayer does not fear the consequence of what he did. End.

And oppose the self and Satan, and disobey them both. Do not obey from them a disputant nor an arbiter. Do not incline to a word that appears to them, for none has been saved from them except a person whom God has protected. Do not observe in them any kinship or obligation. They are your disease, so beware of them as pain. They never attain a hope except they cause affliction with sickness. So make your ear deaf to their whispers. And if they entrust you with safety when they judge, how often has a sudden calamity from them frightened an arbiter! So do not be healthy for them if they show an arbiter. Evil is what you fear from their harm. And say: Who among them in creation has been safe? And do not trust from them any kinship or oath. Both command evil, not justice. Indeed, ruin destroys through them when they prevail. So repel their judgment with injustice when they judge. And if they offer you sincere advice, suspect them, for you know the deceit of the disputant and the arbiter. They are the two enemies, do not be deceived by them. Their evil has become general and their deceit has increased. And be suspicious of their whispers in advice. And if they triumph or show an arbiter, and they establish deceit and seduction and prevail, adhere to opposing them in what they judge. For if they dominate, they harm when they judge. And give deafness and grant victory through you. By God, beware of them and disobey when they judge. They are the two enemies, so beware, do not be negligent of them. And seek sufficiency from God, and He will suffice you against the evil of their deceit. And do not stop at what they say nor at what they judge. If they show you affection when they judge, and deceive you with false speech and make it firm, be a brother of deafness and show muteness. Then one of them said: Know that reminding the self is according to its strength in entanglement and confusion, and its movement in the world of meaning and sense. So every self whose attachment is to knowledge and wisdom, do not remind it with other than that, otherwise it would be a repellent and punishment for it. And every self overcome by simple ignorance, admonition for it is a reminder and stimulation. And every self overcome by argumentation, rarely can it be repelled by any stratagem. God Almighty said: {Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good admonition, and argue with them in the best way} ⁴⁵⁰. And He said: {Have you seen the one who takes his desire as his god, and God has led him astray with knowledge, and sealed his hearing} ⁴⁵¹ and his heart, and placed a covering over his vision? Then who will guide him after God? Meaning that nothing benefits it except resorting to God. And in the tradition: No people engage in argumentation except they are deprived of action ⁴⁵²—meaning, and God knows best, the argumentation of the self, which is establishing proofs with what agrees with desire, so that no knowledge or action remains safe from its intrusion, and it becomes firmly established in its possessor in a way that he does not perceive due to its dominance over him. For when desire becomes firmly established, it produces knowledge in accordance with it. Therefore, the stratagem against it is rare, until it was said: Carving mountains with fingernails is easier than the removal of desire when it becomes firmly established. End quote. And I say: Such a trait is what turns the seeker back and to the lowest of the low, and places the scholar in the flood of the heedless. And I think that most people, indeed the majority of them, have returned after arrival only due to neglecting this terrifying principle. Consider this by His saying in the Hikam ⁴⁵³: It is from the ignorance of the disciple to think ill of delayed punishment, saying: If this were bad manners, it would cut off supply and necessitate distance. For it may cut off supply from him without his awareness, even if it is only the prevention of the disciple, and it may take the place of distance without your knowledge, even if it is only that He leaves you with what you desire. * From its fault is its enabling with desire * Until it hinders the servant from what he intended * And that is from his error and heedlessness * And his lack of wakefulness in his state * Its cure is in preventing it from its desire * And leaving what prepares it * And taking it with firmness and compulsion * While avoiding all distractions * Abu Hafs al-Haddad said: * Whoever does not have a restrainer that compels him * Whenever it calls to the opposite of the matter * Because it is the locus of every affliction * From its fault is his satisfaction with it in action * And his lack of disdain for what it did * And that is from his low aspiration * And his abandonment of the precious state * Its cure is in seeking increase * And research, eagerness, and acquisition * Ali al-Murtada al-Adnan said: * Whoever does not increase is in decrease * They said: The constancy of a person in his actions * Is an increase in his deeds I say: One of the masters ⁴⁵⁴ has elaborated in speech about it, innovating and originating, until he likened it to the cow mentioned in His saying: {Indeed, God commands you to slaughter a cow} ⁴⁵⁵—the verse. Rather, he interpreted it as such, saying: The cow is the tyrannical self, the soul that commands evil, and the one that stirs up blameworthy traits that grow in the fields of desire. God Almighty commanded them to kill it from the transient life until they reached the eternal life, and by opposing it they attained the rank of reviving the dead, witnessing the unseen, and discerning hearts. Then he said: {Neither old nor virgin, but between that} ⁴⁵⁶—meaning a self that has not begun with weakness in lethargy nor with pride in aversion, but it is one of strength and connection in the youth of heedlessness and fame. And His saying: {Yellow, bright in color, pleasing to the beholders} ⁴⁵⁷—meaning it appears in the garb of servitude out of hypocrisy and reputation, a single garment whose exterior is safety and interior is treachery, by which it deceives the beholders among the ignorant. And in the tongue of the finders, it has donned the garment of compulsion with the attribute of union. So when it appears from the eye of union, the Truth, glorified be He, manifests from it with His existence by His specific attribute that does not admit the imprint of lordship from the compelling and subtle attributes. So the eyes of the beholders among the people of union saw that attribute, and their secrets were delighted and their lights shone. Between secrets and lights, they annihilated from looking at others. {Neither submissive that it plows the earth nor does it water the tillage} ⁴⁵⁸—meaning it is not submissive in My servitude, nor does it plow the earth of the heart, which is the farm of My love, nor does it water the seed of love in the law of the intellect, which is the abode of My nearness. {Sound} ⁴⁵⁹—meaning empty of acts of worship, and it is remote from them, worshipping from the rulings, having no desire to dispute with Me nor fear of My punishment, because it was created from misguidance and is barren of guidance. {No blemish in it} ⁴⁶⁰—meaning no mark on it, because it never befriends the truth. And one of them said: None is fit for My honor and the manifestation of My sainthood upon him except one who has not subdued his self by resting in anything of the contingent beings, nor sought after accidents in any state, and has accepted it soundly from the varieties of opposing accidents, with no blemish in it—meaning no trace of anyone upon him by resting in him or relying on him. So he is the one who stands by Me, looks to Me, and relies on Me. I manifest upon him the traces of My power and make him one of the witnesses of My might. Whoever witnesses him becomes absorbed in witnessing Me, for he has donned the cloak of might. And he recited after it: When I look at the world with my eye and ear ❁ in it, and speak with my tongue

Some of them said: They understood this verse—and God knows best—that in killing the soul is the reviving of the heart, and in the life of the heart is the life of the spirit. When the spirit is purified by the purity of the heart from the turbidities of the soul, all the dead are revived by its breaths and traces, just as Jesus (peace be upon our Prophet and upon him) revived the dead, because he was purified by its purity from the attributes of souls. Through that, signs and miracles appeared from him. It was said concerning it that God commanded them to kill a living being to revive their dead, thus informing you that your heart will not be revived by the lights of knowledge nor by understanding the discourse unless you kill your soul through exertion and spiritual exercises, so that your body remains a temple with no attribute of its attributes, and the persistence of your form does not affect you. Then your heart lives, and your soul becomes a vestige with no reality, while your heart has a reality upon which nothing of the sent messages remains except that. Then in the light of your insight, the knowledge of existents ⁴⁶¹ and known things is kindled, and doubts, conjectures, and illusions are eliminated, supported by His saying: "I was his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, and his hand with which he strikes." ⁴⁶² End. * From its defects is its display of obedience * And its love for seeing the congregation * For its action a distinction it makes * For the sake of glorifying the one it sees * Its cure is its glorification of its Lord * Since losing that is the root of its defect * Whoever knows the Truth ⁴⁶³ observes Him alone * And the one who regards others deserves after that * And seeking deliverance is through sincerity ⁴⁶⁴ * For there is no escape from that * So God does not love a heart that is shared * Likewise He does not love an action that is shared * And He is Self-Sufficient, having no partner * So associating partners ⁴⁶⁵ is not permissible in His right * And whoever has partners in his intention * He leaves him and that partner * Thus its meaning came in the hadith * And it was authentically transmitted to those of confirmation ⁴⁶⁶ * From its defects is its seeing itself * And its kindness to itself for the sake of its senses * And that is due to the dominance of illusions * And the lack of fear of sins * For whoever fears the day of his entering the grave * Cannot conceive of kindness to himself * Its cure is seeing the grace of God * And abandoning every heedless and distracted one And taking up seriousness and diligence, And abandoning the company of the deficient. And whoever is pleased with himself And does not see the defect he has committed, For the company of contentment increases contentment And drives the servant to evil destiny. And the company of the diligent and discerning Increases in seriousness and diligence. And al-Wasiti ⁴⁶⁷ said a good saying: "The closest thing to hatred is the one who cares for it." And whoever sees its beautiful actions As being good and virtuous, Then that necessitates that it does good In what it does, since it is not sinful. ⁴⁶⁸ So suspect your soul at all times, Holding fast to God in this matter. Then know that the soul is terminologically called five types: the animal soul ⁴⁶⁹, the commanding soul ⁴⁷⁰, the inspired soul ⁴⁷¹, the blaming soul ⁴⁷², and the tranquil soul ⁴⁷³. All of them are names of the spirit, for the reality of the soul is nothing but the spirit, and the reality of the spirit is nothing but the Truth ⁴⁷⁴—so understand. The animal soul is so named with respect to its management of the body only. As for the philosophers, the animal soul with them is the blood flowing in the veins, but this is not our school. Then the commanding soul is so named with respect to what it does from the demands of the sensual nature by indulging in animal pleasures and disregarding commands and prohibitions. Then the inspired soul is so named with respect to what God Almighty inspires it with of good; everything the soul does of good is from divine inspiration, and everything it does of evil is by natural exigency, and that exigency is like an act, so it is as if it commands itself to do those exigencies—hence it is called commanding—and for divine inspiration it is called inspired. Then the blaming soul is so named with respect to its beginning to return and desist, as if it blames itself for plunging into those perils—hence it is called blaming. Then the tranquil soul is tranquil through Him with respect to its stillness and tranquility through Him; that is when blameworthy actions and blameworthy thoughts are completely cut off. As long as blameworthy thoughts are not cut off from it, it is not called tranquil but rather blaming. When blameworthy thoughts are completely cut off from it, it is called tranquil. Then when spiritual effects appear on its body, such as folding the earth ⁴⁷⁵, knowledge of the unseen, and the like, it has no name except the spirit. Then when praiseworthy thoughts are cut off just as blameworthy ones were cut off, and it is characterized by divine attributes and realized by essential realities, the name of the knower ⁴⁷⁶ becomes the name of the Known, and his attributes His attributes. God speaks the truth, and He guides to the way. End. * Whoever finds fault with it has the life to come * Only through death in the present life * Through hunger, humiliation, and opposition * And abandoning everything and attachment ⁴⁷⁷ * And it does not live by the existence of the Truth * Except through its death by the loss of creation * And that is due to its insolence and ill-omen * And its ignorance of its own worth in its knowledge * Its cure in that is the very same as its disease * Since it opposed what was of its desires * So it became submissive to the Truth and following it * By abandoning falsehood and its elevation * Yahya ibn Mu'adh al-Razi ⁴⁷⁸ said * A word of utmost conciseness: * "The servant's drawing near through the death of his soul * To his Lord is decreed by the line of his soul." * He also said: "Hunger is like food * For the body of the truthful in stature." * I said: And in its excess is harm * When bodies and thoughts become bankrupt. * So take the praiseworthy middle path * And be content with what is present and available. * Matters are blame and rejection * Since He may create for it wisdom and judgment. When I mentioned what some of the righteous imams ⁴⁷⁹ and the expert scholars interpreted it in His saying: "Indeed, God commands you to slaughter a cow" ⁴⁸⁰—and that it is the cow that God commanded to be slaughtered—and what came to me from the words of the imams regarding what suits its meaning, befits its explanation, agrees with its reality in the states of blaming and praising it, and clarifies the loss of its trade and the hidden aspects of its profit, I appended to that a simile for it that God cast into the mirror of my secret, and inscribed with the pen of will in the identity of my thought and the sky of my reflection. That is, I likened it to the venomous speckled snake that kills with its venom the temple of every person who desires closeness to his Lord and arrival, and to the blameworthy gray-haired old woman who strives with her adornment for every ignorant person and steals with the sweetness of her tongue the heart of every heedless one neglectful of obedience and forgetful, who has surpassed the chameleon in its changing through all the different colors at various times and seasons, and surpassed the flower of this world in its artifice and self-adornment with its finery for ignorance and the weak-minded, and its beautifying what is blameworthy.

Legally, for the people of desires among the youths, the elders, and the middle-aged, and their obscuring (249) of falsehoods upon the masters of false claims, until they neglected the rulings of the Sacred Law and wasted its branches and its roots. How many a disciple (murīd) has it cut off from reaching his Master, and closed in his face the doors of opening and acceptance. How many a wayfarer (sālik) has it distanced from goodness, and deprived him of the stations of proximity and entry. How many a worshipper has it robbed of the sweetness of faith, after he had been among the great masters and leading chiefs. That is because it has tyrannical states by which it assaults the wayfarers and rages, and illusions and fantasies by which it separates, in secret and in public, between a man and his heart, and intervenes; and chronic diseases whose treatment is difficult for the skilled physician and prolonged; and actions vitiated by defects upon which a man relies, so they demolish what he built of righteous deeds and accepted speech; and the results of weak analogies by which it seeks to affirm what the rational and transmitted have denied. So woe to it and away with it! How far it is from deeds of goodness, and how swift it is to deeds of evil, frivolity, lewdness, and meddling! And destruction upon it, destruction! How many men did it disable who were (250) speaking of the unseen, while the light of their insights was not afflicted by eclipse or waning! How many a preacher tried to kill it with the sword of exhortations, polished with the water of deterrents and prohibitions, but he did not achieve his goal from it, nor did he attain the utmost of his wish and request. How many a traditionist (muḥaddith) sought to confine it with the restraints of fear, but it was not confined, and it said: "I am I; I will not turn back from my desire, nor will I depart from the hearts of those desiring to follow me, nor will I cease." Sufficient for me is Allah against it, as if it were, in its overwhelming assault and its violent attacks, the bold enemy whose chest is filled with rancor and deep-seated grudges, or as if it were created with the accursed Iblis from the fire of the scorching wind, and drank with him from the cisterns of corruption, calamity, and the terrifying matter, and increased upon him manifold, by what issues from it of self-admiration, pride, boasting, hypocrisy, and waging war against the people of obedience with the sword of its illusions and the spear of its misguidance, drawn, and the abundance of faults and preoccupation with what does not avail of corruptions which natures reject and intellects loathe. * Among its faults are evil thoughts * It becomes familiar with them and the base state (251) * So it ascends through their familiarity, opposing * And its being in agreement with its action * For the thought becomes established through repetition * Imprinted in the strength of the thoughts * And that is from its lack of watchfulness * And the absence of constant remembrance * Its remedy is to reject it at the beginning * Through fear and remembrance over the long term And acting for the rectification of his heart And his being watchful of his Lord And the body, upon it, among creation Because he is solitary for the Truth For in the hadith of the Chosen Mustafa The deed of the righteous is stated upon it "Allah does not look at your forms Nor at your deeds, but at your hearts" Until he said: "The best of them is the one with tenderness and purity And the worst of them is the one with harshness and dryness" If it is not remedied by striving against the soul It stirs up every ailment and confusion (252) We seek refuge in Allah from its evil, its deceit, its corruption, its misguidance, and its treachery. For it has rushed into what Allah forbade it, out of tyranny and transgression, and it has taken the gatherings of jesting with jokes and lewdness as a habit and a register, and the places of heedlessness, sleep, and rest as pride, intoxication, and solace, and the garments of hypocrisy and seeking reputation as a banner, a covering, a mark, and a title. It has deemed sweet the pasture in the presence of the covenant, and it has not listened to what Allah admonished it with of deterrents. So the consequence of its affair was destruction and loss. Its eyes were blinded by the darkness of ignorance and stupidity, as if it had not heard, from what is recited upon it, a hadith or a Qur'an. And the caller of truth calls out: "Is there any repentant from a sin, that I may relent upon him? Or any seeker of forgiveness for his mistake and his burden, that I may forgive him? Or any returner to Me with a broken heart, that I may pardon him and overlook him, and not take him to task for what his hands have sent forth of his ugly deed and evil earning, as a favor from Me, generosity, pardon, generosity, and beneficence?" Among its faults is the multiplication of sins Until the hardness of hearts settles Its remedy is the abundance of seeking forgiveness (253) And repentance that removes persistence And the company of the righteous and fasting Then attending remembrance and standing In the last part of the night and at dawn With remembrance, supplication, and seeking forgiveness And the remembrance of the congregation does not benefit in it Unless that is with the people of the congregation Nor fasting without silence and seclusion Nor standing without truthfulness and supplication Then likewise the company of the righteous Except with respect and veneration And a man complained to the Mustafa Of hardness of heart, his affair being disobedience He said: "Bring it near to remembrance so that it may depart" It is impossible that the heart be extinguished and not And he said: "Whoever commits a sin, a spot appears in his heart, its blackness is established If he repents from that or seeks forgiveness That which is a spot disappears, for it is forgiven But if he persists in his misguidance It increases him in blackness with a spot (254) Until the heart becomes such that it does not distinguish Evil and good, but rather acts rashly" Then the Imam of the knowers recited to him What has come in Surah al-Mutaffifin Of the mention of "ran" (rust) occurring in the heart Acquired from committing sin (End). So when the diseases of it had long afflicted my ailing body, and what I attempted of repelling it from its desire and following its aims overcame me, and what I saw of its turning away from doing good deeds and its aversion, and its lack of fulfillment of the covenants it undertook on the day of "Alastu" (Am I not your Lord?), and its lack of rising, bewildered me, I reminded it with the words of those Imams who have passed, so that it might reflect on the affairs of this world and its extinction, and contemplate the consequences of the Hereafter and what occurs to souls after death of the trial of the graves and the terrors of the Day of Resurrection, which melt hearts and blacken faces after their whiteness. And I presented to it verses of Imam al-Busiri, may Allah have mercy on him, which are his words: "For my commanding soul to evil has not been admonished By its ignorance of the warning of gray hair and decrepitude (255) Nor has it prepared from beautiful deeds a hospitality For a guest who alighted at my head without ceremony If I had known that I would not honor him I would have hidden a secret that appeared to me from him with concealment Who is there for me to restrain its rebellion from its misguidance As one restrains the rebellion of horses with bridles? So do not seek, through acts of disobedience, to break its desire Verily, food strengthens the desire of greed And the soul is like a child; if you neglect it, it grows up on Love of suckling, and if you wean it, it is weaned So turn away its desire and beware of befriending it Verily, desire, when it is befriended, deafens or blinds And tend it while it is grazing in deeds And if it deems the pasture sweet, do not brand it How many a deadly pleasure has it made seem fair to a man From where he did not know that the poison is in the fat" Until he said:

And oppose the self and Satan, and disobey them both ❖ And if they both offer you sincere advice, then suspect them. And do not obey from them an adversary nor an arbiter ❖ For you know the deceit of the adversary and the arbiter. Perhaps it [the self] might desist from its oppression and error ²⁵⁶ and the ugliness of its action, and awaken from the wine of its intoxication and the stupidity of its ignorance. Then I found it ruling over hearts, and the clouds of its oppression and darkness dense over the inner beings, and the waves of the seas of its sedition turbulent and clashing over creatures. None escapes it except whom God protects from its evil, and frees from the noose of its captivity, and cures from its affliction and harm. So I said: I seek refuge in Your pleasure from Your wrath, and in Your pardon from Your punishment, and in You from You. I cannot enumerate praise upon You; You are as You have praised Yourself. I ask Your forgiveness and repent to You. And some Sufis have interpreted His saying, the Exalted: {Say, 'If you possessed the treasures of the mercy of my Lord, then you would surely withhold for fear of spending'} ²⁵⁷ in a noble sense and derived from it a delightful, subtle meaning. They interpreted it as referring to the human soul that commands to evil, saying concerning it: The Truth, Glorified be He, informed about the nature of the commanding, soul-like self that it was created miserly, greedy for the world and its accumulation, and withholding from seeing the Hereafter and its permanence, and from knowing the world and its transience. And this self ²⁵⁸ when it accompanies the truthful, loving spirit, the holy intellect, the angelic heart, and the majestic secret, it melts from its nature, departs from its miserliness, and becomes still from greed, generous in giving. This is the self of the saints. And the self of the prophets was created generous, not greedy. The self of the common people remains in its original state except rarely; for God, Glorified be He, sometimes creates a generous disbeliever and a generous sinner, and creates a miserly believer and a miserly scholar. And Hamdun said: God informed about the true nature of the dispositions of creatures, saying: If you possessed what I possess of the varieties of mercy and the treasures of good, your dispositions would overcome you with stinginess and miserliness. End quote. God has informed of the ill-omen of the self ❖ And its affliction and confusion. In [the story of] Joseph and elsewhere in [Sura] al-Jathiya ❖ And [Sura] al-Nazi'at, and it is a growing eye. From following its desire and the self ❖ And abandoning what necessitates contentment and intimacy. And in the hadith of the Chosen, the Exalted ❖ Three things in the nature of the son of Adam: They are trial, desire, and lust. ²⁵⁹ So let him who has strength admonish us with patience, remembrances, and struggle, so that by that he may see the ultimate goal. And gird yourself in searching for your faults, and flee to God from your sins. For the servant has no one but his Lord, and He is the One who gives him what he desires. Among its faults is the illusion of salvation through [good] deeds, remembrances, and acts of obedience, while it remains in its fault, persisting in its great sin. And that is due to ignorance of the matter of religion and the requisites of opening and empowerment. For the righteous person, there is a saying whose root is from the continuity of the branch; from it the opening is hoped for. Rabi'a al-Adawiyya said to him a true, strong word: The door is open, and you flee from it by your action; so how can you approach? So he who misses his path does not reach the goal, and before him he has descended. ²⁶⁰ And how can he escape who has loosened for his self the rope of his heedlessness regarding his lust? The cure for this disease that has become prevalent is to take up piety with wholesome food. A sage said—and it is a good saying, verified in clear terms: Do not hope for salvation from your sins, nor expect sobriety with your faults. End quote. And another interpretation was derived from this verse, namely His saying, the Exalted: {So the messenger of God said to them: 'The she-camel of God and her drink'} to the end of the sura. This interpretation is that what is meant by 'the she-camel of God' is the human soul that bears the burdens of legal obligations, the sciences of gifted truths, and the states of incoming gifted thoughts. This is because it is pledged in the prison of servitude and required to fulfill the right of Lordship. Nothing clears its liability except the fulfillment of the trust it bore, as in His saying, the Exalted: {Indeed, We offered the trust} ²⁶¹ the verse. So none is more honored by God than the one who preserved the trust and fulfilled its covenants with sincerity of dealing with God and perfection of religion. And it is the soul ²⁶² of the believer, the tranquil soul, about which our Lord, the Exalted, said: {O tranquil soul, return to your Lord, well-pleased and pleasing} with what you have done of good deeds and left of evil deeds. So enter among My righteous servants, those for whom I have raised ranks and guided to paths of rectitude and ways of salvation. And enter My Paradise, for I have permitted them the abode of triumph and honors, and I have settled them therein in the noblest stations and highest ranks. And none is more sinful or greater in calamity than the one who wasted that trust and broke its covenants that I took from him on the day of 'Am I not your Lord?' and occupied himself with immorality, lying, and treachery, and wore from the garment of lust under the guise of obedience what beautified him in the eyes of people and adorned him, and concealed from the cloaks of hypocrisy, show, and self-admiration what ruined his state with God and his condition. And it is the soul that commands to evil, about which our Lord said: {Indeed, the soul is a persistent enjoiner of evil} and praised whoever purified it—i.e., opposed its desire—by His saying: {He has succeeded who purifies it} and condemned whoever corrupted it—i.e., covered its corruptions by following its lusts—by His saying: {And he has failed who buries it}. And I have presented this subtlety concerning its states, meanings, outward and inward corruptions, its calamities, its rebellion ²⁶³ against obedience, its inclination to ease, its desire for the embellishments of the world and its demands, and its forgetfulness of the remembrance of death and what one encounters in its presence of momentous and wondrous matters. And the comparison by some masters of it to the cow mentioned in His saying, the Exalted: {Indeed, God commands you to slaughter a cow} the verse. And their interpretation of it as such, and what some of them said concerning His saying, the Exalted: {So kill yourselves} i.e., by disavowing it and suppressing it from its desire, because complying with it is not suitable for the carpet of intimacy. Some said: {So kill yourselves} i.e., annihilate it in the absence in God. As long as discrimination and intellect accompany you with it, you are in the eye of ignorance until your intellect is lost, your thought disappears, and you lose your attribution. After that, perhaps and maybe. And al-Wasiti said: The repentance of the Children of Israel was killing themselves, and for this community it is more severe: the annihilation of their selves from their desire while the forms of the bodies remain. Some said: And from good manners with the self branches the shortening of hope by tearing the sudden descent of death, seeing the nearness of the term, reflecting on the swiftness of those who have passed, confining it in the prison of contentment, locking the door upon it with the lock of chastity, and cutting off the whisperings of greed and avarice ²⁶⁴ and contentment.

By the prior division in pre-eternity and the existence of stillness, and the appearance of fears. In this sense is His saying, the Exalted: "He has succeeded who purifies it, and he has failed who corrupts it." ⁴⁸¹ Some of them said: The self is a hidden fire; when the Truth appears to it, none is safe from it but a fool, and none is wary of it but a wise person. Trust in its resolve and good opinion of it, even by merely bringing that to mind without reflection, resembles sprinkling water on a dying fire—it only increases its blaze. Know this. Al-Junayd ⁴⁸², may God have mercy on him, said: "Do not rely on your self, even if its obedience to you in obeying your Lord is constant." They recited in this regard: "Beware of your self, do not feel secure from its calamities, for the self is more wicked than seventy devils." It has agreed with the accursed Iblis ⁴⁸³ in insolence, arrogance, and seduction when following desires and what leads to evil outcomes and committing harm. ❖ One of its faults is its lack of familiarity with the Truth ❖ by rejecting what necessitates guidance and truthfulness. ❖ And that is due to its neglect in the present moment ❖ and its abandonment of what necessitates perfection. ❖ Whoever neglects it, it destroys him (263) ❖ and leads him into misguidance and caprice. ❖ Its nature is contrary to obedience ❖ and inclined to negligence and waste. ❖ Its cure is to exit from it entirely ❖ for its Lord, in its origin and its branches. ❖ Ibn Zadan ⁴⁸⁴ said: "He who exits for his Lord, what path does he follow?" ❖ He said: "By abandoning everything from which he exited, and not looking at what has passed from him." ❖ It was said: "This is the ruling for one who has a foothold; what then is the ruling for one who exits from non-existence?" ❖ He said: "The existence of the pleasure of the beginner is a substitute for the bitterness of the predecessor." ❖ Whoever finds the taste of the Truth in his self, then he is a traveler with truthfulness. ❖ As for others, let them suspect their deeds, since they do not find its perfection in themselves. I said: I have also likened it to the she-camel mentioned by our Master, the Exalted, in His saying: "The she-camel of God and her drink" ⁴⁸⁵, the verse. That is because it carries the burdens of legal obligations and the promptings of heart-thoughts, and the natures (264) of human follies and base actions, and it delivers whoever subdues it from its desires to the stations of nearness and proximity and the witnessing of election and love, for they have tamed and trained it in righteous work and used it to attain beneficial action, and weighed what it strives for with the balance of just equity. In this sense, our Master said: "He has succeeded who purifies it." ⁴⁸⁶ This is only accomplished with God's help and support, reliance on Him, and seeking refuge in Him for His granting of success and guidance. It deceives with its wiles those who follow their caprice among the people of idleness, procrastination, laziness, and deeds filled with hypocrisy, show, and various defects, because they have deluded it with long hope and ample respite, and aided it in sins and the commission of offenses and slips. They wasted their time in "perhaps" and "maybe" and did not occupy themselves with what concerns them—diligence in acts of obedience and righteous deeds—and postponed their repentance from morning to evening, not knowing that death is closer to them than the jugular vein. The self is counted and numbered for each one, and the term is known and limited, neither decreasing nor increasing. When Iblis, may God curse him, saw what honor this self had received—lofty merits of high rank and station, and what it had obtained of distinctions and advantages with its Master (265), the Bestowing King, and what was prepared for it of gifts and good things in the abode of recompense and reward, due to its agreement with the people of right guidance, direction, and correctness, and its assistance to them in acting according to the Sunna and the Book—he turned to blaming and reproaching himself, and out of regard for what he was threatened with of distance, expulsion, and evil reversal, he occupied himself with inciting his helpers and troops from the people of ignorance and obstinacy, his retinue, his children, and his followers from those of misguidance, error, and corruption. He began to set his snares in every blessed place, adorning the ugly absurdities of his nonsense with every praiseworthy description and sound saying, and revealing what he had hidden of the intrigues he had insinuated into every shaykh and disciple, and the wiles by which he sways the heart of every divinely guided and rightly guided one, seeking their friendship so that they would help him to hamstring that she-camel extracted from the sources of decree and destiny, whose story is mentioned in the revealed books and authentic traditions. The wretched ones assisted him in fulfilling his desire and obeyed him in his ugly deed, evil opinion, and belief. They opposed what God commanded them and committed what He forbade them, thus violating the sanctity of that human self and breaking the covenant of that bodily soul. They entered upon it in its paradisal veil, surrounded by joy (266) and congratulations, and found it eating in God's earth and awaiting what would come to it from God's gifts, while the caller called: "Do not touch it with harm, lest a mighty punishment seize you." ⁴⁸⁷ They cast that behind their backs and manifested from the hidden stores of misguidance and wretchedness what was concealed in the essence of their breasts. They spread the troops of their falsehood and lies, and unfurled the banner of their rebellion against obedience and their aversion. They paid no heed to the saying of the Truth: "Leave it to eat in God's earth" ⁴⁸⁸ and to be nourished by the milk of God's gentleness, to drink from the spring of God's good pleasure, to spend the night in the protection of God's guarantee, to seek what brings it near to God, and to avoid what leads it to God's punishment. "Leave it, for it carries your burdens to a land you would not reach except with difficulty" ⁴⁸⁹—that is, by journeying through the stations of divine pleasure, the holy places, the sovereign ranks, and reaching the Lordly presence. "Leave it to eat in God's earth"—for the land is God's land, the sanctuary is God's sanctuary, and the creatures are God's dependents. Nothing is lawful except what God has made lawful, and nothing is unlawful except what God has made unlawful. "Leave it to eat in God's earth"—for with it are its water-skin, its sandals, its treatment, its remedy, its piety, its healing, its sustenance, and its nourishment. Its eating and nourishment are the remembrance of God; its water-skin and sandals are standing (267) at God's limits; its treatment and remedy are striving in what pleases God; its piety and healing are reaching God; and the resting place of its saddlebags is seeking refuge and joining to God's side. "Leave it to eat in God's earth"—its pasture is the clove of safety, its drink is the jasmine of regret, its path is the way of obedience and uprightness, its aim is the removal of liabilities and the lifting of blame, its abode is the house of recompense and honor, and its desire is the intercession of the owner of the mole ⁴⁹⁰—our Master and Lord Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, the one singled out for leadership, shaded by the cloud, the intercessor whose intercession is accepted in the arenas of the Resurrection. "Leave it to eat from the fruits of struggle and patience, to be nourished by compliance with prohibition and command, to thrive by hearing the discourse in secret and public, and to be adorned with the ornaments of reward and recompense. Leave it to feed from the manifestation of sincerity and closeness, to drink from the waters of right guidance and religions, to be clothed in the garments of truthfulness and trusts, and to spend the night in the protection of command and safeguards. Leave it to eat the seed of success and guidance, to pluck the flowers of might and attentions, to ascend the degrees of the secret and sainthood, and to fortify itself against destructive evils with the fortress of preservation and care. Leave it to eat from the trees of obedience (268) and piety, to avoid the sources of abandonment and misery, and to breathe the fragrances of contentment and good pleasure at the arrival and meeting, and to act...

With what pleases Allah and His Messenger in the abode of eternity and permanence, its summit consumes in the land of Allah, and do not harm it, lest that deprive you of reaching the highest stations and following the paths of blessing and safety, and being characterized by the attributes of the people of glories, merits, and miracles. Then stood up one for whom wretchedness was decreed, and he opposed Allah with defiance, hypocrisy, and enmity, and threw himself into the abysses of loss, ignorance, and stupidity, and hamstrung the she-camel with the sword of his opposition to the legal rulings and his compliance with Iblis in corrupt and vile desires, base innate opinions, and natural acquired actions. They violated what Allah commanded them in the words of His Messenger: "The she-camel of Allah and her drink." The accursed one continued to dispute the witness of the soul in his claim and to dominate it with force and overpowering to turn him away from obedience to his Lord and to beautify for him from the ugly deeds what would seduce him into the abysses of his destruction and trial, and to cover for him the light of truth with the wing of his darkness, and to extinguish for him the lamp of truth with the delirium of his speech and ugly words, until he overcame him with his flimsy arguments and his calls, from following which ⁴⁹¹ he fell into the valley of error and the force of the abyss. He sought help in overpowering him with his rebellious armies and his wretched troops, whose hearts are devoid of the light of affirmation and faith, and whose natures are actions turning away from good and obedience, barefoot. So they denied him in what he warned them of the descent of punishment if they did so, and the standing for reckoning if they violated what they were commanded, and they were arrogant and haughty, so they hamstrung her with the sword of deviation, misguidance, and slander, and conspired to bury her in the land of humiliation and disgrace. "So their Lord destroyed them for their sin" [91:14], meaning He destroyed them for their ugly deed and great sins, and encompassed them with punishment contrary to their intention and disgrace to expose their faults, because they violated what they were commanded in the clear Quran and followed what their souls suggested to them of corrupt desires and the share of Satan. It is narrated that one of the worshippers asked Allah to show him Iblis and his plots, but he did not find that for a while. He said, "If I had occupied myself with my own faults, it would have been better for me." Then he heard a caller saying, "This speech of yours is better than all your worship." That was between sleep and wakefulness. It was said to him, "Open your eyes." He opened his eyes and saw no one among people except the devils around him like flies, circling with all kinds of plots and tricks, while Allah protected him from them. End. ⁴⁹² One of its faults is following its desire And striving for what pleases it And that is from ignorance of it and of the wealth And its origin is neglecting it in every state Its cure is preferring its Master Occupying it with everything that pleases Him And suspicion of the soul upon the seeker And subduing it throughout the days Because it is commanding [to evil], possessing desire Influencing every other than whisper And it has been narrated from one known as al-Qari Carving mountains, he said with nails Is easier than opposing its desire Wherever it may be settled in its strength Have you not seen that it has come in al-Jathiya An indication sufficient for what we mentioned So cling to Allah from your desire And cling from the evil that has befallen you One of its faults is showing good deeds And doing the opposite in secret And that is from the dominance of hypocrisy And its love for praise and commendation Its cure is rectifying the inner self And a repentance that erases the offense And knowledge, if its Lord sees it In every state, it constantly forbids it ⁴⁹³ The Messenger said, and it is an apparent statement "Sufficient evil for a young man is a corrupt heart" And he sees the fear of the Lord of people For creation with hypocrisy and disguise Abu Uthman al-Jiri said "Outer humility with wickedness With an inner that causes persistence So it obliterates the lights and illuminations And that is pure evil and hypocrisy It incites in religion and in morals" It is narrated that Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, passed by one day on his way to Friday prayer, and [Iblis] said to him, "You have missed the prayer and the congregation and the Friday [prayer] are over." Umar scrutinized him and recognized him, so he seized him by his collar and choked him and said, "Woe to you!" Then [Iblis] said to him, "O Umar, was I not the pole of the worshippers and the model of the ascetics? Then you commanded a prostration, but I refused and was arrogant, and I became among the disbelievers, and I was expelled and banished and cursed until the Day of Judgment." Then he said, "Behave, O Umar! Was obedience in my hand, or wretchedness? I used to spread my prayer rug under the Throne, and I did not leave any spot in the heavens without a prostration or bowing for me there. And with this ⁴⁹⁴ closeness, it was said to me, 'Get out of it, blamed and expelled. Get out of it, for you are accursed, and upon you is the curse until the Day of Judgment.' So if you, O Umar, have felt secure from Allah's plan, then none feels secure from Allah's plan except the losing people." So Umar said to him, "Go, for I have no power over your speech," and he released him and passed on.

Except for your Lord, listen and seek guidance. In remembrance, strive earnestly, you will find success and support. As much as you can, command the soul to what is praiseworthy. He sees himself as rejected, and woe to the one who is rejected. The heart is in hardness, far from its sincerity and effort. Has anyone seen a remnant of his heart? From its worry and affliction, an increasing hardship. And if he misses out on some fortune through it, he dies of grief. And in all matters, rely on the Merciful. And the Truth will grant him a good and abundant life. Do not be diligent in seeking the soul's shares. So witness it from Him for Him; whoever witnesses has not failed. From masters who have beheld their Beloved eternally. Their lot is praised above the hopes of its people. Their character, and He manifested and appeared before them. For a station whose rank in unveiling is praised. The visitation and the paths—woe to the one who is far. And do not associate anyone with God in what you seek. Then those whom He has favored among creation with support. And those who have stations of witnessing—this is it. My God, my Lord, and my Master: my soul has cast me into places of injustice and suspicion, and into the arenas of destruction, affliction, and calamities, and into the stations of arrogance toward destinies, contentment with them, audacity, and violation of sanctities. It has made me forget what You have bestowed upon me of gifts, grace, and favor, and gratitude for blessings. It has pledged me through its acquisition away from what would bring me to You of acts of righteousness and obedience. O Originator of things after non-existence, and Nurturer of them from chronic illness after sickness, indeed I have been worn down by what has befallen my body of its inward and outward diseases, its overwhelming and conquering calamities, and its pervasive defects.

And the deficient soul ⁴⁹⁵—whenever I opened for it a door of contentment and acceptance, it closed it by doing evil and striving for what deprives it of attaining its desires and wishes. It is like a ghoul ⁴⁹⁶ in its audacity, or a deaf stone in its hardness, or a bitter colocynth ⁴⁹⁷ in its bitterness. How often I called it to do good, and it refused; and I distracted it from doing evil, and it hastened to it and rushed. Neither what I presented to it of warnings from its earlier scriptures ⁴⁹⁸ affected it, nor did the chronic ailments and fatal diseases that befell its body deter it. Nor did hearing the address of the Truth ⁴⁹⁹ about the outcome of its deeds in the Hereafter and the terrible horrors and immense torment it will face benefit it. I have complained to You of what terrifies me about its great matter that prevents good and its fleeting nature. So I ask You, O my Master, by the state of Your beloved, our master and lord Muhammad (may God bless him and grant him peace), sent from the noblest loins and the noblest tribes, and by what he has with You of bounties, virtues, merits, praiseworthy qualities, and traits, to suffice me against its evil and the evil of accursed Iblis ⁵⁰⁰ and the tyranny of their erring enemy, and to protect me from their plots and the snares and traps they have set for me. O God, O Guardian, O Preventer, O Strong, O Helper, O Repeller, guard me with Your care from their misguidance, deception, cunning, wiles, machinations, treachery, armies, helpers, scouts, evil, insolence, whisperings, and omens, and do not give them power over us (O God) because of our sins, nor return our deeds and ugly faults to us, nor burden us with what we cannot bear of repelling them and their destructive causes. For we have no power over any of that except through Your lordly support, Your help, Your eternal secret ⁵⁰¹, the secret of Your remembrance, and the splendors of the light of Your face that fill the pillars of Your Throne, the majesty of Your authority, Your disposal in Your kingdom, and the force of Your subjugation, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Most Generous of the generous, O Lord of the worlds.

O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, to the number of all the worlds ⁵⁰², their intelligent and noble, their leader and guide, their short and tall, their rough and beautiful, their generous and miserly, their insignificant and majestic, their healthy and ill ⁵⁰³, their single and substitute, their companion and intimate, and the multiples of multiples of that. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, to the number of all the worlds, their many and few, their clan and tribe, their mighty and abased, their stay and departure, their path and way, their leader and guarantor, their origin and descendant, their deputy and agent, and the multiples of multiples of that. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, to the number of all the worlds, their healthy and sick, their traveler and resident, their fertile and barren, their chief and wise, their eminent and great, their corpulent and handsome, their wealthy and destitute, their served and servant, and the multiples of multiples of that. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, to the number of all the worlds, their new and old, their noble and interlocutor, their foolish and forbearing, their infant and weaned, their good and blameworthy ⁵⁰⁴, their friend and intimate, their narrator and companion, their debtor and creditor, their tables and bliss, and the multiples of multiples of that. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, to the number of all the worlds, their ignorant and learned, their righteous and wrongdoer, their shown mercy and merciful, their frowning and smiling, their discloser and concealer, their awake and sleeping, their breakfasting and fasting, their night-praying and standing, their excuser and blamer, and the multiples of multiples of that. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, to the number of all the worlds, their judged and judge, their praiser and reviler, their sitting and standing, their wanderer and bewildered, their swimmer and diver, their poet and versifier, their sleeper and regretful, and the multiples of multiples of that. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, to the number of all the worlds, their tawhid ⁵⁰⁵ and faith, their acceptance of truth and submission, their knowledge of sciences and transition, their firm footing in the sciences of realities and their possibility, their witnessing of the effects of divine power and their sight, their trust in what is with Allah of good and their certainty, their neediness towards Allah in all their times and moments, and the multiples of multiples of that. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, to the number of all the worlds, their alert and heedless, their high and low, their rising and setting, their opener and closer, their inferior and superior, their deficient and perfect, their famous and obscure, their insane and rational, their holder and spender, their to and worker, their rich and beggar, their seeker and strayer, their last and first, their supplications and means, their mornings and evenings, their assemblies and tribes, their spouses and lawful wives, their correspondence and letters, their veils and proofs, and all their affairs and concerns and questions, and the multiples of multiples of that. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad ⁵⁰⁶ and upon the family of our master Muhammad, to the number of all the worlds, their substances and accidents, their health and illnesses, their approach and turning away, their needs and aims, their redness and whiteness, their fulfillment and breach, their justice and objection, their gardens and meadows, their rivers and basins, and the multiples of multiples of that. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, to the number of all the worlds, their breaths and glances, their recitations and memorizations, their sermons and exhortations, their signals and expressions, their sleep and awakening, their tenderness and harshness, their softness and roughness, and the multiples of multiples of that. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, to the number of all the worlds, their kings and sultans, their rebels and devils, their weak and poor, their gardens and orchards, their flowers and sweet basil, their books and registers, their arenas and fields, and the multiples of multiples of that. ⁵⁰⁷ O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, to the number of all the worlds, their outward and inward, their landmarks and abodes, their watering places and resting places, their dwellings and habitations, their soil and mines, their treasures and storehouses, and the multiples of that. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, to the number of all the worlds, their secrets and entities, their sects and religions, their good deeds and beneficence, their spirits and bodies, their tongues and colors, their eyes and eyelids, their molars and teeth, their hearts and minds, their soldiers and helpers, their heads and shrouds, their heads and debts, and the multiples of multiples of that. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, to the number of all the worlds, their names and attributes, their faith and guides, their counsels and callers, their strange things and hidden things, their darkness and tyranny, their knights and champions, their victories and protectors ⁵⁰⁸, their commands and provinces, and the multiples of multiples of that. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, to the number of all the worlds, their living and dead, their languages and voices, their provisions and times, their periods and moments, their sweetness and pleasures, their affections and mercies, their gatherings and presences, their good deeds and evil deeds, their character and friendships, their rewards and recompenses, and the multiples of multiples of that. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, to the number of all the worlds, their kinds and familiar things, their direct vision and unveilings, their stations and ranks, their virtues and miracles, their conversation and speech, their war and peace, their striking and sword-fighting, their agreement and opposition, their wrongdoing and slips, their regret and sorrows, their weeping and tears, their groaning and sighs, their glances and steps, their hypocrisy and boasting, their insolence and obstinacy, their argument and debate, their assemblies and lectures, their hastening to good and their eagerness, and the multiples of multiples of that. ⁵⁰⁹ O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, to the number of all the worlds, their supplication and intimate prayer, their remedy and treatments, their inspirations and illuminations, their witnesses and signs, their disobedience and obedience, their incapacity and ability, their sincerity and dealings, their guidance and misguidance, their patience and struggles, their ascension and witnessing, and the multiples of multiples of that.

O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad, to the number of all the worlds ⁵¹⁰, all of them: their just ones and their judges, their jurists and their grammarians, their hadith scholars and their narrators, their friends and their enemies, their riders and their pedestrians, their oppressors and their transgressors, their tyrants and their rebels, their enviers and their slanderers, their riders and their walkers, their rich and their poor, their protectors and their shepherds, and the multiples of multiples of that. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, to the number of all the worlds, all of them: their fathers and their grandfathers, their barren and their fertile, their lineage and their pillars ⁵¹¹, their lover and their envier, their brave and their lions, their armies and their soldiers, their banners and their flags, their hated and their beloved, their visitors and their delegations, their prosperity and their felicity, their acceptance and their rejection, their descent and their ascent, and the multiples of multiples of that. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, to the number of all the worlds, all of them: their forms and their statures, their hair and their cheeks, their standing and their sitting, their sleep and their wakefulness, their maidens and their young girls, their beds and their cradles, their tied and their garments, their jewelry and their coins, their necklaces and their collars, their present and their absent, and the multiples of multiples of that. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, to the number of all the worlds, all of them: their non-existent and their existent, their witnessed and their unseen, their accepted and their rejected, their wretched and their fortunate, their parent and their child, their bowing and their prostrating, their covenants and their pledges, their oaths and their contracts, their laws and their limits, their affirmation and their denial, their persistence and their arrival ⁵¹², and the multiples of multiples of that. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, to the number of all the worlds, all of them: their benefactor and their ingrate, their red and their black, their gazelles and their lions, their present and their pillar ⁵¹³, their blame and their provisions, their weapons and their garments, their pride and their swords, their valleys and their highlands, their mountains and their plains, their miles and their cold winds, their hopes and their intentions, and the multiples of multiples of that. So send, O Allah, blessings upon his family, a blessing that renews for us thereby the faculties of Muhammadan love after their stagnation, and kindles the flint of their lights after their extinction, and protects us through its blessing from the heat of a blazing fire and its fuel, and makes us thereby among those whom You have placed in the highest paradises, so they attain its bliss and eternity, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. May Allah bless you, O light of existence ⁵¹⁴, O you by whose mission existence was honored. May Allah bless you, our Lord, to the number of souls, and as many as the letters adorned on scrolls. May Allah bless you to the number of all beings, and the number of locusts and insects. May Allah bless you, our Lord, to the number of birds, and the number of the fill of valleys and seas. May Allah bless you, our Lord, to the number of wild beasts, and as long as the suns continue in their orbits. May Allah bless you, our Lord, to the number of sands, and the weight of rock with the solid mountains. May Allah bless you as long as the pen writes on the Tablet, O refuge of mankind and nations. Then peace, ever-accumulating. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, to the number of all the worlds, all of them: their males and their females, their elders and their youths, their poles ⁵¹⁵ and their misleaders, their dreams and their nightmares, their abandoned and their balance, their bodies and their graves, their questions and their researches, their cloth and their furniture. From his smiling mouth I see at dawn, at sweet speech, a delicate glance. The jewel of teeth therein flowed, chains of saliva like the ebb of pure wine. He steps, and the earth folds for him; at his easy walk the companion tires. The stature is a branch of the willow when it bends, in his sweeter secret, the graceful, elegant one. The palm, the palm, from it spread to creation from Taha ⁵¹⁶ by wiping and saliva. The purest of people in lineage and branch, and who is like the Messenger of Allah, and he is the noble one. May the Lord on high bless him, as long as his fragrant scent wafts with fragrance. The blessed book has ended. O Allah, forgive its writer, its acquirer, its reader, his parents, his teachers, his children, his family, their neighbors, and the believing men and women. Amen. On the 11th of Rabi' al-Thani, year 1321 ⁵¹⁷.

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1. al-‘ulūm al-ladunniyya : Divine sciences or knowledge granted directly by God to the saints, without intermediary.
2. tajalliyāt : Divine self-disclosures or manifestations of God's attributes.
3. a‘dād : Numbers; here referring to the numerical values or counts of prayers and remembrances.
4. adhkār al-ṣalawāt : Remembrances or formulas of blessings upon the Prophet.
5. awrād wa wazā’if : Litanies and daily devotional practices.
6. al-Shādhilī : Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili (d. 1258), founder of the Shadhili Sufi order.
7. al-Shāfi‘ī : Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i (d. 820), founder of the Shafi'i school of Islamic law.
8. Risāla : Al-Shafi'i's seminal work on usul al-fiqh (principles of jurisprudence).
9. Dhakhrat al-Muḥtāj : The Treasure of the Needy, the title of the book being introduced.
10. al-‘adad al-basīṭ : The simple number; likely the total count of the prayer formula.
11. al-Mawlawiyya : Relating to the Mawlawi (Mevlevi) Sufi order, founded by Jalal al-Din Rumi.
12. ḥanīfiyya : The primordial monotheistic religion, often identified with Islam.
13. Lawḥ al-Ḥifẓ : The Preserved Tablet, the heavenly tablet on which all destinies are recorded.
14. insirām : Cessation or termination; here emphasizing the eternal nature of the prayer.
15. yā ahla al-ḥayy : O people of the abode; a poetic address to the inhabitants of the Prophet's neighborhood in Medina.
16. ḥamām : Dove or pigeon; often used in Arabic poetry as a symbol of longing and love.
17. al-Muṣṭafawī : Relating to al-Muṣṭafā (the Chosen One), i.e., the Prophet Muhammad.
18. al-aqṭāb : The poles; in Sufism, the highest-ranking saints who are the spiritual axis of the universe.
19. al-riḍā : Divine contentment or satisfaction; a key concept in Islamic spirituality.
20. nakāl : Exemplary punishment or chastisement meant as a deterrent.
21. al-Shāfi‘ī : Abū ‘Abdillāh Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfi‘ī (d. 204 AH/820 CE), founder of the Shāfi‘ī school of Islamic jurisprudence.
22. al-fatḥ : Divine opening or victory; in Sufi terminology, spiritual illumination or conquest.
23. al-ḥisāb : The Reckoning on the Day of Judgment when deeds are accounted.
24. dīwān al-shuhadā’ : The register or record of martyrs in the afterlife.
25. al-aḥādīth al-qudsiyyah : Sacred hadiths: sayings of the Prophet Muhammad in which he conveys divine revelation not part of the Quran.
26. umm al-kitāb : The Mother of the Book, a reference to the Quran or the Preserved Tablet (al-Lawḥ al-Maḥfūẓ).
27. al-burāq : The mythical steed that carried the Prophet Muhammad during the Night Journey (Isrā’).
28. al-futūḥāt al-rabbāniyya : Divine openings or illuminations granted by God to the spiritual seeker.
29. al-tajalliyāt al-iḥsāniyya : Theophanies or manifestations of God's beneficence and grace.
30. al-raḥamāt al-raḥmāniyya : Mercies specifically attributed to the divine name 'al-Raḥmān' (the All-Merciful).
31. al-nafaḥāt al-īmāniyya : Spiritual breaths or inspirations that strengthen faith.
32. al-Shāfi‘ī : Imam Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi‘i, founder of the Shafi‘i school of Islamic jurisprudence.
33. al-mawāhib al-riḍwāniyya : Gifts that bring about God's good pleasure (riḍwān).
34. al-mukāfāt al-rabbāniyya : Divine recompenses or rewards from the Lord.
35. raḥmāniyyat al-dhāt : The mercy inherent in God's Essence, a Sufi concept of the all-encompassing mercy of God.
36. dhawī al-baṣā’ir al-‘irfāniyya : Those possessing spiritual insight or gnostic vision.
37. al-ḥaqā’iq al-ṣamadāniyya : The realities pertaining to God as al-Ṣamad (the Self-Sufficient, the Eternal).
38. al-asrār al-fardāniyya : The secrets of God's unique oneness (al-fardāniyya).
39. kīmiyā’ al-sa‘āda al-muqaffala : The alchemy of sealed happiness; a metaphor for a spiritual formula that transforms the soul and leads to eternal bliss.
40. jannat al-rūḥ wa al-rayḥān : The garden of spirit and fragrance; a reference to Paradise and its delights.
41. rabbāt al-ḥijāl : Ladies of the howdahs; a poetic reference to noble women riding in camel litters.
42. ḥawqala : The phrase 'lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illā billāh' (There is no power or strength except with Allah), often abbreviated as 'ḥawqala'.
43. khalīl Allāh : The Friend of Allah; a title of the Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim).
44. ḥūr : Houris; the beautiful, pure companions of Paradise.
45. raml ‘Ālij : A vast desert of sand dunes in Arabia, used as a metaphor for an immense quantity.
46. al-aḥādīth al-qudsiyya : Sacred hadiths; sayings of the Prophet Muhammad in which he conveys the words of God.
47. al-afrād al-wāṣilīn : The solitary ones who have reached; a Sufi term for advanced saints who have attained union with God.
48. al-aqṭāb al-kāmilīn : The perfect poles; in Sufism, the highest ranking saints (quṭb) who are the spiritual axis of the universe.
49. al-Shafi‘i : Imam Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi‘i (767–820 CE), founder of the Shafi‘i school of Islamic jurisprudence, known for his deep devotion to the Prophet Muhammad.
50. invoking blessings upon him : The act of sending salawat (blessings and peace) upon the Prophet Muhammad, a form of devotion and prayer.
51. watering-places : Metaphor for spiritual sources or stations of divine grace, often associated with the Prophet's intercession.
52. Najd : A region in the Arabian Peninsula, often symbolically associated with the beloved in classical Arabic love poetry.
53. the Chosen One : A title for the Prophet Muhammad, meaning 'the chosen' or 'the elect'.
54. Ridwan : The angel keeper of Paradise, or divine pleasure.
55. sukuk : Documents, deeds, or legal instruments.
56. al-hawd al-mawrud : The Prophet's pond in Paradise from which believers drink.
57. al-wasila : The highest station in Paradise granted to the Prophet Muhammad.
58. al-maqam al-mahmud : The Praised Station, a rank of intercession granted to the Prophet.
59. al-makan al-mashhud : The witnessed place, referring to the Prophet's station on the Day of Judgment.
60. al-ahmar wa al-aswad : Literally 'the red and the black,' meaning all of humanity (Arabs and non-Arabs).
61. shatahat : Ecstatic utterances or paradoxical sayings of Sufis.
62. jadhabat : Spiritual attractions or divine pulls experienced by mystics.
63. kushufat : Unveilings or spiritual disclosures granted to saints.
64. qutb : Pole or axis, the highest spiritual authority in Sufi hierarchy.
65. irfan : Gnosis or mystical knowledge of God.
66. futuhat : Spiritual openings or illuminations.
67. talwin : Coloration, a Sufi term for the state of spiritual transformation.
68. tayaran : Flight, referring to the soul's spiritual ascent or ecstatic flight.
69. tajallī : Divine self-disclosure or manifestation; a Sufi term for God's unveiling of His attributes to the seeker.
70. al-Lawḥ al-Maḥfūẓ : The Preserved Tablet, the heavenly tablet on which all destinies and divine decrees are inscribed.
71. al-Mathānī : The Seven Oft-Repeated Verses, a reference to Surah al-Fatiha or the seven long surahs of the Quran.
72. Ahmadine : Relating to Ahmad, one of the names of the Prophet Muhammad, meaning 'most praiseworthy'.
73. world of dominion and sovereignty : Al-mulk wa al-malakut: the visible and invisible realms; the physical and spiritual worlds.
74. definition : At-ta'rif: a Sufi term referring to the state of being known or defined by divine attributes.
75. effusions : Imdadat: spiritual outpourings or emanations from the Prophet to his followers.
76. sainthood : Al-wilaya: spiritual authority or closeness to God; the state of being a saint (wali).
77. hanif : One who is upright and monotheistic, following the primordial religion of Abraham.
78. Taha : A name of the Prophet Muhammad, derived from the letters Ta and Ha at the beginning of Surah Taha.
79. palm trunk : Reference to a miracle where a palm trunk yearned for the Prophet and he embraced it.
80. Enwrapped : Al-muzzammil: one who is wrapped in garments; a title of the Prophet from Surah Al-Muzzammil.
81. Mudar and Fihr : Tribes of the Quraysh; the Prophet's lineage traces back to them.
82. al-nabī al-ummī : The unlettered Prophet; refers to Prophet Muhammad who could not read or write, emphasizing the miraculous nature of the Quran.
83. al-mawālī : Friends or clients; here referring to the lovers of the Prophet.
84. al-tajallī : Unveiling or manifestation; a Sufi term for the divine self-disclosure.
85. al-tamallī : Enjoyment or delight; often used in Sufi poetry for spiritual pleasure.
86. al-jaryāl : Wine; a Sufi metaphor for divine love or spiritual intoxication.
87. sulāf al-ghuyūb : Pure wine of the unseen; refers to esoteric knowledge or divine secrets.
88. karmat al-quds : Vine of the Holy; a metaphor for the divine source.
89. al-tafṣīl wa al-ijmāl : Detail and summary; terms in Quranic exegesis for specific and general verses.
90. al-mujtabā : The Chosen One; a title of Prophet Muhammad.
91. al-qawālī : Odes or poems; here referring to praise poems for the Prophet.
92. ʿuqūd al-fawāṣil : Strings of pearls; a metaphor for eloquent speech or poetry.
93. al-mashāhid wa al-maḥāfil : Witnessed gatherings and assemblies; refers to spiritual or communal gatherings.
94. wasīlat al-wasāʾil : Means of means; the Prophet as the supreme intercessor.
95. al-bukūr wa al-aṣāʾil : Dawn and evening; times of prayer and blessing.
96. quṭb al-anbiyāʾ : Pole of the prophets; a Sufi term for the highest spiritual authority.
97. ʿulūm al-bayān : Sciences of rhetoric; includes eloquence and clarity of speech.
98. muṭahhir al-jinān : Purifier of gardens; a title for the Prophet, referring to his role in purifying hearts.
99. ʿilliyyīn : The highest station in Paradise; mentioned in the Quran (83:18-19).
100. insān ʿayn al-aʿyān : Pupil of the eye of essences; a Sufi term for the Prophet as the perfect human and the essence of creation.
101. al-ikhwān : Brethren; here referring to fellow believers in the spiritual community.
102. shafā‘atihi al-kubrā : His supreme intercession; the Prophet's major intercession on the Day of Judgment.
103. al-ḥūr wa al-wildān : Houris and immortal youths; celestial beings in Paradise described in the Quran.
104. al-ra’ūf al-raḥīm : The kind and merciful; attributes of the Prophet mentioned in the Quran (9:128).
105. yawm al-ḥashr wa al-nashr wa hawl al-mawqif al-‘aẓīm : The Day of Gathering and Resurrection and the terror of the great standing; eschatological terms.
106. ‘ayn al-na‘īm : The eye of bliss; a metaphorical expression for the Prophet as a source of spiritual delight.
107. Kawthar : A river in Paradise granted to the Prophet; also the name of Quranic chapter 108.
108. Tasnīm : A spring in Paradise mentioned in the Quran (83:27); also used as a name for a high spiritual station.
109. kanz al-ghinā wa al-‘adīm : The treasure of wealth and poverty; a paradoxical description indicating the Prophet's spiritual richness encompassing both states.
110. nūr al-‘izz al-qadīm : The light of eternal might; a reference to the Prophet's pre-eternal light.
111. al-najī : The intimate friend; refers to Prophet Abraham (Khalīl Allah) or Prophet Moses (Kalīm Allah).
112. al-khalīl : The friend; specifically Prophet Abraham, known as Khalīl Allah.
113. al-kalīm : The speaker; specifically Prophet Moses, known as Kalīm Allah.
114. al-kitāb al-ḥakīm : The wise Book; a reference to the Quran.
115. Quran 68:1-4 : The verse cited: 'Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe, you are not, by the grace of your Lord, a madman. And indeed, for you is a reward uninterrupted. And indeed, you are of a great moral character.'
116. al-‘ulūm al-ladunniyya : Divine sciences; knowledge granted directly by God without conventional means.
117. mushāhadatī : My witnessing; a Sufi term for direct spiritual vision or contemplation of God.
118. khuluq ʿaẓīm : Great moral character; Quranic description of the Prophet Muhammad (Q. 68:4).
119. mashāhid al-taʿyīn : Witnessings of specification; Sufi term for the divine determinations or particular manifestations.
120. fiṭrataka : Your primordial nature; the innate disposition created by God.
121. al-lāhūtiyya : Divine; from lāhūt, the realm of divinity in Sufi cosmology.
122. al-malakūtiyya : Angelic or celestial; from malakūt, the realm of dominion or the angelic world.
123. al-raḥmūtiyya : Merciful; from raḥmūt, a term for the attribute of mercy.
124. al-subbūḥiyya : All-holy; from subbūḥ, a divine attribute meaning 'glorious' or 'holy'.
125. al-quddūsiyya : Most sacred; from quddūs, 'the Holy'.
126. yaʿsūb : Leader or prince; literally 'leader of bees', used metaphorically for a chief.
127. fuʾād : Inner heart or core; a deeper level of the heart in Sufi psychology.
128. shāwus : Peacock; a symbol of beauty and pride, here used for the Prophet's exalted status.
129. wilāya : Sainthood or spiritual authority; the state of being a friend of God (walī).
130. khudh al-ʿafwa : Take forgiveness; Quranic verse (Q. 7:199) commanding forgiveness and good conduct.
131. aqṭāb wa abdāl : Poles and substitutes: high-ranking saints in the Sufi hierarchy; the 'pole' (quṭb) is the highest, and 'substitutes' (abdāl) are a rank of saints who replace one another.
132. mā anta bi-niʿmati rabbika bi-majnūn : Quran 68:2: 'You are not, by the grace of your Lord, a madman.' Addressed to Prophet Muhammad, refuting accusations of madness.
133. sharik naʿlika al-sharīf : The dust of your noble sandal: a metaphor for the Prophet's humility and the blessedness of his footsteps.
134. wa-inna laka la-ajran ghayra mamnūn : Quran 68:3: 'And indeed for you is a reward never ending.'
135. nūn : The Arabic letter Nun (ن), the first letter of Surah 68 (Al-Qalam), often interpreted mystically as a symbol of the inkwell or the divine pen.
136. ḍammihā (88) : Reference to the diacritical mark 'ḍamma' (u) on the letter Nun, and the number 88 may indicate a specific numerical or mystical value.
137. wa-innaka la-ʿalā khuluqin ʿaẓīm : Quran 68:4: 'And indeed you are of a great moral character.'
138. ʿarūsik al-muṭahhar : Your purified bride: a reference to the Prophet's wife or metaphorically to his soul or the Islamic community.
139. sunnatik : Your sunna: the prophetic tradition, practices, and teachings of Muhammad.
140. yawm al-mawqif : The Day of Standing: the Day of Judgment when all creatures stand before God.
141. nūn wa-l-qalami wa-mā yasṭurūn : Quran 68:1: 'Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe.'
142. (89) : Likely a marginal note or verse number; possibly indicating a specific point in the text.
143. nabbiʿ ʿibādī annī anā al-ghafūr al-raḥīm : Quran 15:49: 'Inform My servants that I am the Forgiving, the Merciful.'
144. wa-man yaʿtaṣim bi-llahi fa-qad hudiya ilā ṣirāṭin mustaqīm : Quran 3:101: 'And whoever holds fast to God has been guided to a straight path.'
145. (90) : Another marginal note or verse number.
146. (91) : Marginal note or verse number.
147. rūḥik al-ḥamdiyya : Your praiseworthy spirit: referring to the Prophet Muhammad's spirit, often called the 'Muhammadan Reality' (al-ḥaqīqa al-muḥammadiyya).
148. al-Muṣṭafawī : Mustafawi: derived from 'al-Muṣṭafā' (the Chosen One), a title of Prophet Muhammad.
149. al-Mawlawī : Mawlawi: related to 'Mawlā' (Lord), or a reference to the Sufi order of Mawlawiyya (Mevlevi), but here likely a title of the Prophet.
150. (92) : Marginal note or verse number.
151. kāf wa nūn : The Arabic letters Kaf and Nun (ك ن), which form the imperative 'Kun' (Be), referring to God's creative command.
152. (93) : Marginal note or verse number.
153. ajr : Reward or recompense, often used in the Quranic context of prophetic compensation.
154. shafāʿa al-kubrā : The Great Intercession, a unique privilege of Prophet Muhammad on the Day of Judgment.
155. ṣirāṭ mustaqīm : Straight path, a Quranic term for the right way of faith and conduct.
156. al-ghafūr al-raḥīm : The Forgiving, the Merciful, two of God's names.
157. Nūn : An Arabic letter, used as a Quranic oath; also interpreted as a name for the inkwell or the whale.
158. majnūn : Madman or possessed, a term used by the Quraysh to dismiss the Prophet's message.
159. karāmāt : Miracles or wonders performed by saints, distinct from prophetic miracles (muʿjizāt).
160. ʿayn shuhūdī : The eye of witnessing, a Sufi term for direct spiritual vision of God in all things.
161. khuluq ʿaẓīm : Great moral character, referring to Quran 68:4 describing the Prophet.
162. muqarrabūn : Those brought near, a rank of angels or saints close to God.
163. malāʾika al-muhayminūn : Dominating angels, possibly referring to the highest angels like Jibril, Mika'il, etc.
164. al-muṣṭafā : The Chosen One, a title of Prophet Muhammad.
165. al-ʿināya al-muḥammadiyya : Muhammadan care, a Sufi concept of the Prophet's spiritual influence.
166. Quran 46:31 : Verse calling people to respond to the messenger of God.
167. al-mufliḥūn : The successful, a Quranic term for those who attain salvation.
168. Quran 46:32 : Verse warning against rejecting the caller of God.
169. الْوُدِّ : Al-Wudd: Divine love or affection, a station of intimate friendship with God.
170. الْعُلُومِ اللَّدُنِّيَّةِ : Al-'Ulum al-Ladunniyya: Divine or inspired knowledge granted directly by God to His saints, often associated with Sufi gnosis.
171. اللَّاهُوتِيِّ : Lahuti: Divine or theological, pertaining to the essence of God; here referring to knowledge of the divine realm.
172. آصِفَ : Asif: Asif ibn Barkhiya, the vizier of Prophet Solomon, known for bringing the throne of the Queen of Sheba in an instant.
173. كُرْسِيِّي : Kursi: The Footstool of God, mentioned in the Quran (2:255), symbolizing His dominion and encompassing all things.
174. al-khuluq al-ʿaẓīm : The 'exalted standard of character' mentioned in Quran 68:4, referring to the Prophet Muhammad's sublime moral nature.
175. Nūn : An Arabic letter, often interpreted as a symbol of divine light or knowledge; also the name of a whale in some traditions.
176. al-aqṭāb : Spiritual poles or saints in Sufism who are considered the highest spiritual authorities of their time.
177. al-jahābidha : Expert examiners or masters of spiritual discernment.
178. mā anta bi-niʿmati rabbika bi-majnūn : Quran 68:2, meaning 'By the grace of your Lord, you are not possessed.'
179. ajran ghayra mamnūn : Quran 68:3, meaning 'a reward never ending' or 'uninterrupted.'
180. al-iṣṭifāʾiyya : Stations of being chosen or elected by God.
181. al-ijtibāʾiyya : Ranks of being selected or favored by God.
182. khuluq ʿaẓīm : Quran 68:4, 'exalted standard of character.'
183. miskat al-khitām : The 'seal of the seal,' a phrase indicating the finality and perfection of prophethood.
184. wa mā yasṭurūn : Quran 68:1, 'and what they inscribe.'
185. qibla : The direction of prayer for Muslims, originally Jerusalem, later changed to Mecca.
186. a-anta bi-niʿmati rabbika bi-majnūn : A variant reading of Quran 68:2, with an interrogative form.
187. Abū Qubays wa al-Ḥajūn : Two hills near Mecca; Abū Qubays is a mountain, al-Ḥajūn is a cemetery.
188. Zuhriyya : Referring to the tribe of Zuhra, a clan of Quraysh, to which the Prophet's mother Āmina belonged.
189. Ṣamadānī : Derived from 'al-Ṣamad' (the Eternal, the Self-Sufficient), a divine attribute; here indicating perfections related to God's self-sufficiency.
190. Raḥmānī : Derived from 'al-Raḥmān' (the Most Merciful), indicating attributes of mercy.
191. ladunī : Divine or inspired knowledge granted directly by God, often associated with mystical insight.
192. Rūḥ al-Qudus : The Holy Spirit, often identified with the Angel Gabriel in Islamic tradition.
193. qāba qawsayn aw adnā : Quran 53:9, describing the Prophet's proximity to God during the Miʿrāj (Ascension), meaning 'two bow-lengths or nearer.'
194. al-shafāʿa al-kubrā : The Great Intercession, the Prophet Muhammad's intercession for all humanity on the Day of Judgment.
195. ladduniyya : Divine knowledge granted directly by God, without intermediary.
196. samadiyya : Eternal, self-subsisting; attribute of God as the Eternal Refuge.
197. arshīyya : Relating to the Throne (al-‘Arsh), the highest celestial realm.
198. farshīyya : Relating to the carpet (al-Farsh), the lower earthly realm.
199. furqāniyya : Relating to the Furqan, a name for the Quran meaning 'the Criterion'.
200. Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim : The basmala: 'In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'.
201. Qalam al-Qudra : The Pen of Power, a divine instrument of creation and decree.
202. al-Maqām al-Maḥmūd : The Praiseworthy Station, a rank of intercession granted to the Prophet Muhammad on the Day of Judgment.
203. al-Ḥawḍ al-Mawrūd : The Pond of Abundance, a celestial pool from which the Prophet's community will drink on the Day of Judgment.
204. al-Liwā’ al-Ma‘qūd : The Congregated Banner, the standard of praise under which the believers will gather on the Day of Judgment.
205. al-Kawthar : A river in Paradise, also the name of a Quranic surah, symbolizing abundant good.
206. ‘Awārif al-Ma‘ārif : A classic Sufi work by Shihab al-Din al-Suhrawardi (d. 1234), on spiritual wayfaring.
207. al-Thaqalayn : The two weighty ones: humans and jinn.
208. ma‘ārif : Gnoses; spiritual knowledge of divine realities.
209. ‘awārif : Spiritual gifts or bestowals from God.
210. Ṭāhā : One of the names of the Prophet Muhammad, also the title of Quranic surah 20.
211. al-muqarrab : The near-stationed ones; refers to the highest ranks of angels and prophets who are brought near to Allah.
212. al-muqarrabīn : The near-stationed angels; those of the highest rank in the angelic hierarchy.
213. kīmyā' al-sirr al-muddakhar : The alchemy of the hidden secret; a Sufi term referring to the transformative spiritual power of the Prophet.
214. al-ḥadīth al-ṣaḥīḥ al-sanad : Hadith with an authentic chain of transmission; a technical term in hadith sciences.
215. al-nabī al-ummī : The unlettered Prophet; refers to the Prophet Muhammad who could not read or write, as mentioned in the Quran.
216. al-nabī : The Prophet; here used as a title for Muhammad.
217. Kināna wa Muḍar : Two major Arab tribes; the Prophet Muhammad belonged to the Quraysh tribe, which is a branch of Kinana, and Mudar is an ancestor.
218. al-nabī : The Prophet; repeated as a title.
219. al-aḥmar wa al-aswad wa al-ʿajam wa al-ʿarab : The red and black, the non-Arabs and Arabs; a phrase indicating all of humanity, with 'red' often referring to non-Arabs and 'black' to Arabs, or vice versa.
220. al-kāmil, al-wāfir, al-madīd, al-mutaqārib, al-muqtaḍab, al-hazaj, al-rajaz, al-ramal, al-sarīʿ : Names of Arabic poetic meters (baḥr) used in classical prosody.
221. al-shafīʿ al-maqbūl : The accepted intercessor; refers to the Prophet Muhammad's role as intercessor on the Day of Judgment.
222. Sa'ir : One of the names of Hellfire in the Quran, meaning 'blazing flame'.
223. al-arab : The ultimate desire or object of need; here referring to the Prophet Muhammad as the one through whom needs are fulfilled.
224. al-hashir : The gatherer; a title of the Prophet Muhammad meaning he will be the first to be resurrected and will gather people on the Day of Judgment.
225. al-'aqib : The final; a title of the Prophet Muhammad meaning he is the last of the prophets.
226. al-turuq wa al-madhahib : Paths and schools; referring to the spiritual paths (turuq) and legal schools (madhahib) in Islam, indicating the Prophet's purity in all of them.
227. Āl : Family or household, often referring to the Prophet's family including his descendants and close relatives.
228. Ṣaḥābah : Companions of the Prophet Muhammad who believed in him and met him.
229. al-Nafs al-Lawwāmah : The blaming soul, a term from the Quran (75:2) referring to the self that reproaches itself for wrongdoing.
230. Iblīs : The personal name of Satan in Islamic tradition, who refused to prostrate to Adam.
231. Ṣiddīqīn : Truthful ones, a high rank of righteousness; often refers to those who are extremely veracious and confirm the truth.
232. Firdaws : The highest level of Paradise, mentioned in the Quran (18:107, 23:11).
233. ʿIlliyyīn : The highest station in Paradise, mentioned in the Quran (83:18-19), the record of the righteous.
234. al-Dhikr al-Mubīn : The clear reminder, a reference to the Quran.
235. Ṭāhā : One of the names of the Prophet Muhammad, also the title of Surah 20 of the Quran.
236. Aḥmad : Another name of the Prophet Muhammad, meaning 'most praiseworthy'.
237. al-Nabī al-Ummī : The unlettered prophet, referring to Muhammad who could not read or write, as mentioned in the Quran (7:157).
238. Ṣafī : Chosen one, a title for prophets and saints.
239. Ṭāhir al-Furūʿ wa al-Uṣūl : Pure in branches and roots, meaning his lineage and descendants are pure.
240. ʿUrwat Allāh al-Wuthqā : The firm handle of Allah, a Quranic phrase (2:256) meaning the strongest bond of faith.
241. Ḥabl Dīnihi al-Muwaṣṣal : The connected rope of His religion, referring to the Quran or the Prophet as the link to Allah.
242. al-Zahrāʾ : Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, known as al-Zahra' (the radiant).
243. al-Batūl : The virgin, a title for Mary (mother of Jesus) and also for Fatimah, meaning one who abstains from worldly things.
244. Bāb Allāh al-Maḥlūl : The opened door of Allah, a metaphor for the Prophet as the means to approach Allah.
245. Wasīlah : Means or intermediary, often used in supplications to seek nearness to Allah through the Prophet.
246. Sarawāt : Nobles or chiefs, plural of sārī, referring to the elite among the Prophet's family or companions.
247. Ḥijāb al-Sitr al-Masdūl : The veil of the lowered screen, a metaphor for the Prophet's protection or concealment of divine secrets.
248. al-Māḥī : The effacer, one of the Prophet's names, meaning he erases disbelief and sin.
249. al-Sabʿ al-Mathānī : The seven oft-repeated verses, referring to Surah al-Fatihah or the seven long surahs.
250. al-Fīl : The elephant, referring to the Year of the Elephant (570 CE) when Abraha attacked Mecca with elephants, and the Prophet was born.
251. Iʿrāb : Syntax or grammatical inflection, here used metaphorically for clarity and eloquence.
252. al-Fātiḥ : The opener, a name of the Prophet meaning he opens what is closed (e.g., guidance).
253. al-Khātim : The seal, meaning the final prophet.
254. al-Muṣṭafā : The chosen one, a title of the Prophet Muhammad.
255. Rūḥ al-ʿAwālim : Spirit of the worlds, a Sufi concept of the Prophet as the spiritual essence of creation.
256. Abū al-Ṭāhir : Father of the pure one, a kunya (honorific) of the Prophet.
257. Abū al-Qāsim : Father of Qasim, the Prophet's kunya after his son Qasim.
258. salīl al-'awātik wa al-fawāṭim : Descendant of the 'Awatik (noble women of Quraysh) and Fatimahs (referring to Fatima al-Zahra and other Fatimahs).
259. hawājim al-shadā'id : Onslaughts of hardships; a phrase indicating overwhelming difficulties.
260. al-maqām al-maḥmūd : The Praiseworthy Station; a rank granted to the Prophet Muhammad on the Day of Judgment.
261. bi-kaffi hawākum abadan li-jāmī : In the hand of your love is my rein forever; a poetic expression of being led by love.
262. al-ḥaṭīm : The Hatim; a semicircular wall near the Kaaba, considered part of the sacred area.
263. ahl al-ghayba wa al-ḥuḍūr : People of absence and presence; Sufi terms referring to those in states of spiritual absence (from creation) and presence (with God).
264. al-thimār al-nābita : Growing fruits; metaphor for beneficial outcomes or spiritual fruits.
265. sayyidina wa mawlana : Honorific titles meaning 'our master and our lord,' used to show deep respect for the Prophet Muhammad.
266. al-sab' al-mathani : The Seven Oft-Repeated verses, referring to Surah Al-Fatiha or the seven long surahs of the Quran.
267. tustalibu al-'uqul wa tuthni : A poetic phrase meaning 'captivating minds and praising,' indicating the overwhelming beauty and eloquence of the Prophet's attributes.
268. tawariq al-awham wa al-shukuk wa al-hawajis wa al-wasawis : Intrusive thoughts, doubts, preoccupations, and whisperings that distract from remembrance of God.
269. al-ummī : The unlettered Prophet; refers to Prophet Muhammad who did not read or write, emphasizing the miraculous nature of the Quran.
270. Laylat al-Isrā' : The Night Journey; the miraculous night journey of Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Jerusalem and his ascension to the heavens.
271. al-ākhidh bi al-ḥujuzāt : One who seizes by the forelocks; a metaphor for authority and control, implying the Prophet's intercessory power.
272. Ḥajj wa 'Umrah : The major and minor pilgrimages to Mecca; Islamic rituals.
273. al-Bayt al-'Atīq : The Ancient House; a reference to the Kaaba in Mecca.
274. 'Arafāt : A plain near Mecca where pilgrims stand during Hajj; a key ritual.
275. shuhūd al-dhāt : Witnessing of the Essence; a Sufi term for direct contemplation of the Divine Essence.
276. al-'ulūm al-ladunniyyāt : Divine sciences; knowledge granted directly by God to the saints, often through spiritual unveiling.
277. al-ḥadīth al-qudsī : Sacred hadith; a saying of God narrated by the Prophet, distinct from the Quran.
278. al-mawqif al-'aẓīm : The great standing; refers to the Day of Judgment or the station of intercession.
279. ḥanīfī : Relating to the pure monotheistic faith of Abraham, often used to describe the original, unadulterated religion of Islam.
280. fatrah : The period of interregnum between prophets, when no prophet was sent.
281. al-aḥmar wa al-aswad : A phrase meaning all of humanity, regardless of race or color; the red and the black symbolize different ethnic groups.
282. quṭb : A spiritual axis or pole, the highest rank in the Sufi hierarchy of saints.
283. al-Ḥāshir : One of the names of the Prophet Muhammad, meaning 'the gatherer'—he will be the first to be resurrected and will gather people on the Day of Judgment.
284. al-ʿĀqib : One of the names of the Prophet Muhammad, meaning 'the last'—the final prophet.
285. bintu bayn : Literally 'daughter of separation', a poetic term for wine that causes separation from worldly concerns.
286. muwaḥḥid : One who affirms the oneness of God (tawḥīd), a monotheist or unitarian.
287. awrād : Plural of wird, litanies or regular devotional recitations, often from the Qur'an or prayers.
288. wardid : A poetic form meaning 'repetition' or 'frequent recitation', possibly a play on wird.
289. sharī‘a : Islamic law, the divine law revealed to Prophet Muhammad.
290. al-‘ilm al-ladunnī : Divinely inspired knowledge, knowledge from God's presence, often associated with Sufi gnosis.
291. al-Aḥmadī : Referring to the Prophet Muḥammad, derived from his name Aḥmad, emphasizing his praiseworthy nature.
292. sirr al-ḥarf wa al-kalim : The secret of the letter and the word; a Sufi term referring to the esoteric reality of divine speech and creation.
293. aqṭāb : Poles; in Sufism, the highest spiritual authorities, often considered the axis of the spiritual world.
294. Ṭā Hā : One of the names of the Prophet Muḥammad, also the title of Surah 20 of the Quran.
295. al-Dhikr : The Remembrance; refers to the Quran or the act of remembering God.
296. al-dunyā : The present world, this life.
297. al-qaḍā' : Divine decree or judgment; here, judicial decisions.
298. khayra ummah : The best community; refers to the Muslim community as described in the Quran (3:110).
299. thawāqib al-adhhān : Piercing intellects; sharp minds.
300. al-awthān : Idols; objects of worship other than God.
301. Kawthar : A river in Paradise; also a surah of the Quran.
302. al-Ṣirāṭ : The bridge over Hell that all must cross on Judgment Day.
303. al-Mīzān : The scale used to weigh deeds on Judgment Day.
304. kitāb al-ʿitq : The 'book of emancipation' refers to the Prophet Muhammad as a means of liberation from spiritual bondage.
305. jadhabāt ilāhiyya : Divine attractions; spiritual pulls or ecstatic states drawing the soul toward God.
306. ghayba : Spiritual absence or absorption in God, a state where the mystic is unaware of creation.
307. istighrāq : Immersion or total absorption in the contemplation of God.
308. lisān al-ghayb : Tongue of the unseen; the Prophet as the interpreter of divine mysteries.
309. al-Furqān : The Criterion; a name for the Qur'an.
310. ʿallamahu al-bayān : Qur'an 55:4; 'He taught him expression.' Al-Ghazali interpreted 'the human' here as Prophet Muhammad.
311. Adnān : Ancestor of the Prophet Muhammad, from the northern Arab tribes.
312. Ṭāhā : A name of the Prophet Muhammad, from the Qur'anic chapter 20.
313. ghaḍā : A type of desert tree, often used in Arabic poetry.
314. al-ḥanīfiyya al-samḥā : The tolerant monotheistic religion of Abraham, often referring to Islam.
315. ʿulūm ladunniyya : Divine or esoteric sciences granted directly by God.
316. tanazzulāt ʿindiyya : Divine descents or spiritual effusions from God's presence.
317. al-quddūsiyyūn : The most holy ones; high-ranking angels or saints.
318. al-muhayminūn : The dominants; angels or beings of authority in the spiritual hierarchy.
319. al-ṣafīḥ al-aʿlā : The highest heaven or the supreme realm.
320. laylat al-isrāʾ : The Night Journey of the Prophet Muhammad to Jerusalem and ascension to heaven.
321. qāba qawsayn : Two bow-lengths; a Qur'anic phrase (53:9) indicating extreme proximity to God.
322. al-muqarrabūn : The near ones; angels or saints brought close to God.
323. kaʿba : The Ka'ba in Mecca; here metaphorically referring to the Prophet's spiritual station.
324. aḥādīth qudsiyya : Sacred hadiths; sayings where God speaks through the Prophet but not part of the Qur'an.
325. bissirri 'ināyatihi : By the secret of His care: refers to a hidden divine grace or special providence.
326. al-ḥanīfiyya al-samḥā : The tolerant Hanifiyya: the original monotheistic religion of Abraham, characterized by leniency and ease.
327. bayḍat al-islām : Egg of Islam: a metaphor for the core or essence of Islam, often referring to the Muslim community or its territory.
328. mithl al-dharr : Like atoms: refers to the primordial covenant (Alast) when all souls were taken from Adam's loins and testified to God's lordship.
329. Riḍwān : The angel in charge of Paradise.
330. al-jinān : The Gardens: i.e., Paradise.
331. Kisrā : The title of the Persian emperor (Chosroes). The splitting of his arch is a miracle associated with the Prophet's birth.
332. al-ghurr al-muḥajjalīn : The white-blazed ones: refers to the believers who will be distinguished on the Day of Resurrection by the marks of ablution (wudu) on their faces, hands, and feet.
333. Sūrat al-Shams : Chapter 91 of the Quran, beginning with 'By the sun and its brightness.'
334. al-wasīla : The means of nearness to Allah; also a title of the Prophet Muhammad in Islamic tradition.
335. al-malaʾ al-aʿlā : The highest assembly of angels in the divine presence.
336. al-Furqān : The Criterion; a name for the Quran, meaning that which distinguishes truth from falsehood.
337. al-ʿulūm al-ladunniyya : Divinely inspired knowledge, directly granted by Allah to His saints.
338. Aḥmadiyya : Derived from Aḥmad, another name of the Prophet Muhammad, meaning 'most praiseworthy.'
339. al-malakūt : The spiritual realm or dominion, often referring to the invisible world of angels and divine sovereignty.
340. al-barr wa al-fājir : The righteous and the wicked; a reference to the two types of souls mentioned in Surah Ash-Shams.
341. wa al-arḍa ba‘da dhālika daḥāhā : Quran 79:30: 'And the earth after that He spread out.'
342. al-‘awālim al-‘ulwiyya wa al-sufliyya : The higher and lower worlds; refers to spiritual and physical realms.
343. nafsin wa mā sawwāhā fa alhamahā : Quran 91:7-8: 'And a soul and He proportioned it, then inspired it.'
344. taqwāhā qad aflaḥa man zakkāhā : Quran 91:9: 'Indeed he succeeds who purifies it.'
345. wa qad khāba man dassāhā : Quran 91:10: 'And indeed he fails who corrupts it.'
346. al-Muḥammadiyya : Muhammadan; referring to the Prophet Muhammad's sunna (tradition).
347. ashwāqihi : His longings; spiritual yearning for the Divine.
348. al-‘ināya al-Aḥmadiyya : Ahmad's care; Ahmad is another name of the Prophet Muhammad, meaning 'most praiseworthy'.
349. 195 : Page number reference in the original text.
350. al-Kawthar : A river in Paradise; also the name of Surah 108.
351. Yā Sīn : The letters Ya and Sin; title of Surah 36, often used as a name for the Prophet.
352. Ṭā Hā : The letters Ta and Ha; title of Surah 20, also used as a name for the Prophet.
353. al-ishārāt wa badī‘ al-ḥikam : Allusions and exquisite wisdoms; Sufi interpretive insights.
354. al-shams wa ḍuḥāhā : The sun and its forenoon; opening of Surah Ash-Shams (91:1).
355. al-aqṭāb al-wāṣilīn : The arrived poles; highest ranking saints in Sufism.
356. al-rāsikhīn : The firmly grounded; those deeply rooted in knowledge (Quran 3:7).
357. khuṣūṣiyya : Particularity or special characteristic, often referring to the unique spiritual station of the Prophet Muhammad.
358. qāba qawsayn aw adnā : Qur'anic phrase (53:9) describing the Prophet's proximity to God during the Ascension, meaning 'two bow-lengths or nearer'.
359. al-asmā' al-ḥusnā : The Most Beautiful Names of God, referring to His attributes.
360. shams muḥammadiyya : The Muhammadan sun, a metaphor for the Prophet's spiritual light and guidance.
361. ḍuḥā : Forenoon or morning brightness, also the title of Surah 93 in the Qur'an.
362. nafs muṭma'inna : The tranquil soul, a Qur'anic term (89:27) for the soul at peace.
363. ash-shams wa ḍuḥāhā : Qur'anic oath (91:1): 'By the sun and its forenoon'.
364. inshiqāq al-qamar : The splitting of the moon, a miracle attributed to the Prophet Muhammad.
365. an-nahār idhā jallāhā : Qur'anic phrase (91:3): 'By the day when it reveals it'.
366. al-layl idhā yaghshāhā : Qur'anic phrase (91:4): 'By the night when it covers it'.
367. as-samā' wa mā banāhā : Qur'anic phrase (91:5): 'By the heaven and what built it'.
368. al-arḍ wa mā ṭaḥāhā : Qur'anic phrase (91:6): 'By the earth and what spread it'.
369. al-Ḥaṭīm : A semicircular area adjacent to the Kaaba in Mecca, associated with the Prophet's family.
370. Zamzam : The sacred well in Mecca, believed to have sprung for Hagar and Ishmael.
371. Maqām Ibrāhīm : The Station of Abraham, a stone near the Kaaba where Abraham stood during its construction.
372. nafs wa mā sawwāhā : Qur'anic phrase (91:7): 'By the soul and what proportioned it'.
373. ṣūra raḥmāniyya : Merciful form, a Sufi concept that the Prophet was created in the form of God's mercy.
374. al-qamar idhā talāhā : Qur'anic phrase (91:2): 'By the moon when it follows it'.
375. Mi'rāj : The Ascension of the Prophet Muhammad through the heavens.
376. Isrā' : The Night Journey of the Prophet from Mecca to Jerusalem.
377. masjidan wa ṭahūran : The earth was made a mosque (place of prayer) and a means of purification for the Prophet's community.
378. Jibrīl : The angel Gabriel, who brought revelation to the prophets.
379. Aḥmadī : Relating to Aḥmad, another name of the Prophet Muhammad, meaning 'most praiseworthy'.
380. al-thaqalayn : The two weighty kinds: humans and jinn.
381. sura : A chapter of the Quran; here used metaphorically for a section of the text.
382. al-nafs al-ammāra bi-l-sū’ : The soul commanding to evil; a Quranic term for the lower self that incites sin.
383. al-‘ārifīn : Knowers; Sufi gnostics who have direct knowledge of God.
384. Quran 12:53 : Quote from the Quran, Surah Yusuf, verse 53.
385. al-bahīmūt : Behemoth; a mythical creature in Islamic cosmology supporting the earth.
386. al-ahādīth al-qudsiyya : Sacred hadiths; sayings of God narrated by the Prophet Muhammad, not part of the Quran.
387. Quran 12:53 : Same as note 5.
388. Quran 91:9 : Quote from the Quran, Surah Ash-Shams, verse 9.
389. Quran 91:10 : Quote from the Quran, Surah Ash-Shams, verse 10.
390. Quran 79:37-41 : Quote from the Quran, Surah An-Nazi‘at, verses 37-41.
391. al-nafs al-lawwāma : The blaming soul; a Quranic term for the self that reproaches itself for sin.
392. al-nafs al-muṭma’inna : The tranquil soul; a Quranic term for the soul at peace with God.
393. Quran 89:27-30 : Quote from the Quran, Surah Al-Fajr, verses 27-30.
394. min amri rabbī : From the command of my Lord; a Qur'anic phrase indicating the spirit's origin from God's creative command.
395. qayyūmiyya : Self-Subsistence; a divine attribute meaning that God sustains all existence independently.
396. al-anhār al-lāhūtiyya : The divine rivers; a Sufi term for the emanations of divine attributes.
397. al-khazā’in al-jabarūtiyya : The majestic treasuries; a Sufi term for the intermediate realm of divine power.
398. al-siyāda al-muḥammadiyya : Muhammadan lordship; the spiritual reality of the Prophet Muhammad as the source of all creation.
399. al-majāda al-aḥmadiyya : Ahmadian glory; referring to the Prophet Muhammad's spiritual essence (Ahmad being another name of the Prophet).
400. Qur'an 17:85 : The verse about the spirit, emphasizing its divine origin and limited human knowledge.
401. al-furqān : The Criterion; a name for the Qur'an.
402. al-hindāt : A poetic term for beautiful women, used here metaphorically for the spirit.
403. Ibn ‘Abbās : A companion of the Prophet and renowned early Qur'anic exegete.
404. Mujāhid : A prominent early Qur'anic commentator and student of Ibn 'Abbas.
405. Abū Ṣāliḥ : A transmitter of traditions, possibly referring to a hadith narrator.
406. Qur'an 17:85 : The same verse, emphasizing the limited knowledge given to humans about the spirit.
407. Qur'an 51:21 : A verse urging reflection on one's own creation as a sign of God.
408. Qur'an 17:99 : A verse affirming God's power to recreate, used here to argue for the spirit's reality.
409. rūḥ : Spirit; in Islamic theology, often refers to the human soul or a subtle spiritual substance created by God.
410. ta‘nīt wa ta‘jīz : Causing difficulty and showing incapacity; a rhetorical strategy to challenge the Prophet's authority.
411. Rūḥ al-Qudus : Holy Spirit; in Islamic context, often identified with the Angel Gabriel or a divine spiritual force.
412. qalīl : Little; referring to the limited knowledge humans possess compared to God's infinite knowledge.
413. āyah : Verse; specifically Quran 17:99 or similar.
414. kufūr : Disbelief; ingratitude; rejection of faith.
415. tajallā : Manifested; a Sufi term for divine self-disclosure.
416. nafs muṭma’inna : Tranquil soul; a Quranic term for the soul at peace, often associated with the highest spiritual state.
417. āyah : Verse; Quran 89:27-28.
418. āyah : Verse; Quran 17:85.
419. al-futūḥāt al-qudsāniyya : The holy openings or divine illuminations granted to the mystic.
420. al-manāziʿ al-wahbiyya : The bestowed stations or spiritual ranks granted by God.
421. imām al-ḥaḍra al-rabbāniyya : The Imam of the Lordly Presence, referring to the Prophet Muhammad as the leader of the divine presence.
422. ʿarūs al-mamlaka al-sulṭāniyya : The Bride of the Sovereign Kingdom, a metaphorical title for the Prophet Muhammad.
423. bahjat al-ikhtirāʿāt al-akwāniyya : The Delight of the Cosmic Creations, referring to the Prophet as the joy of all created beings.
424. al-nafs al-ammāra bi-l-sūʾ : The soul that commands to evil, a Quranic term for the lower self inclined toward sin.
425. qad aflaḥa man zakkāhā : Quran 91:9: 'Indeed, he succeeds who purifies it.'
426. qad khāba man dassāhā : Quran 91:10: 'And indeed he fails who corrupts it.'
427. al-sharīʿa al-aḥmadiyya : The Ahmadine Sharia, i.e., the Islamic law as brought by Prophet Muhammad (Ahmad).
428. tawḥīd : The oneness of God; the core Islamic doctrine of monotheism.
429. بِطَغْوَاهَا : Bi-ṭaghwāhā: 'in their transgression' — a Quranic term referring to their exceeding bounds in sin.
430. الطَّغْوَى : Al-ṭaghwā: a noun form meaning 'transgression' or 'tyranny', used here as a name for the punishment.
431. بِطَغْوَاهَا : Bi-ṭaghwāhā: variant reading with fatha on ṭā', meaning 'by their transgression'.
432. بِطُغْيَانِهَا : Bi-ṭughyānihā: 'by their transgression' — the original form before substitution.
433. فَعْلَى : Faʿlā: a noun pattern (e.g., ṭaghwā) derived from verbs with weak letters.
434. التَّقْوَى : Al-taqwā: 'piety' — a noun from the root w-q-y, with substitution of wāw for yā'.
435. فَتْحَة : Fatḥa: the short vowel 'a' in Arabic.
436. ضَمَّة : Ḍamma: the short vowel 'u' in Arabic.
437. الْفَتْوَى وَالْفُتْيَا : Al-fatwā wa al-futyā: two dialectal forms meaning 'legal opinion'.
438. إِذِ انْبَعَثَ أَشْقَاهَا : Idh inbaʿatha ashqāhā: 'When the most wretched of them arose' — Quran 91:12.
439. نَاقَةَ اللَّهِ : Nāqata Allāh: 'the she-camel of Allah' — a miraculous camel sent to Thamud.
440. لَهَا شِرْبٌ وَلَكُمْ شِرْبُ يَوْمٍ مَعْلُومٍ : Lahā shirbun wa lakum shirbu yawmin maʿlūm: 'For her is a drink, and for you is a drink on a known day' — Quran 26:155.
441. فَعَقَرُوهَا فَدَمْدَمَ عَلَيْهِمْ رَبُّهُمْ بِذَنْبِهِمْ : Faʿaqarūhā fa-damdama ʿalayhim rabbuhum bi-dhanbihim: 'But they hamstrung her, so their Lord destroyed them for their sin' — Quran 91:14.
442. دَمْدَمَ : Damdama: 'He destroyed' or 'He enveloped' — a verb indicating complete destruction.
443. نَاقَةٌ مَدْمُومَةٌ : Nāqatun madmūmatun: 'a fat she-camel' — from the same root, meaning covered with fat.
444. فَسَوَّاهَا : Fa-sawwāhā: 'and He leveled it' — referring to the earth or the community.
445. قَدَمْدَمَ : Qadamdama: a variant reading of 'damdama' with an added qāf.
446. تَنَقَّعَ وَاسْتَنْقَعَ : Tanaqqaʿa wa istanqaʿa: two forms meaning 'to change' or 'to become putrid'.
447. فَلَا يَخَافُ : Fa lā yakhāfu: 'then he does not fear' — a Quranic reading with fa.
448. وَلَا يَخَافُ : Wa lā yakhāfu: 'and he does not fear' — a Quranic reading with waw.
449. عُقْبَاهَا : ʿUqbāhā: 'its consequence' — the outcome or result.
450. Sūrat al-Naḥl : Quran 16:125
451. Sūrat al-Jāthiyah : Quran 45:23
452. Ḥadīth : A prophetic tradition, though not found in major collections; often cited in Sufi works.
453. al-Ḥikam : Aphorisms of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh al-Sakandarī, a classic Sufi text.
454. al-Sādāt : Masters or saints in Sufi hierarchy.
455. Sūrat al-Baqarah : Quran 2:67
456. Sūrat al-Baqarah : Quran 2:68, describing the cow as neither old nor young.
457. Sūrat al-Baqarah : Quran 2:69
458. Sūrat al-Baqarah : Quran 2:71, describing the cow as not submissive.
459. Sūrat al-Baqarah : Quran 2:71, describing the cow as sound (musallamah).
460. Sūrat al-Baqarah : Quran 2:71, describing the cow as without blemish (lā shiyata fīhā).
461. al-mawjūdāt : Existent beings; all created things.
462. kuntu sam‘ahu... : A divine saying (hadith qudsi) indicating the servant's annihilation in God.
463. al-ḥaqq : The Truth; one of God's names, also used for ultimate reality.
464. al-ikhlāṣ : Sincerity; purifying one's intention solely for God.
465. al-tashrīk : Associating partners with God; polytheism or subtle forms of it.
466. al-tathbīt : Confirmation; firmness in faith and knowledge.
467. al-Wāsiṭī : A Sufi master, likely Abu Bakr al-Wasiti (d. 932).
468. ma’thamā : Sinful; blameworthy action.
469. al-nafs al-ḥayawāniyya : Animal soul; the life principle governing bodily functions.
470. al-nafs al-ammāra : Commanding soul; the soul that incites to evil.
471. al-nafs al-mulhama : Inspired soul; the soul that receives divine inspiration.
472. al-nafs al-lawwāma : Blaming soul; the self-reproaching soul.
473. al-nafs al-muṭma’inna : Tranquil soul; the soul at peace with God.
474. al-ḥaqq : The Truth; here meaning the divine essence.
475. ṭayy al-arḍ : Folding the earth; a spiritual power of traversing distances instantly.
476. al-‘ārif : Gnostic; one who has direct knowledge of God.
477. ulfa : Familiarity; attachment to worldly things.
478. Yaḥyā ibn Mu‘ādh al-Rāzī : A famous Sufi saint (d. 871).
479. al-a’imma al-akhyār : Righteous imams; spiritual leaders.
480. baqara : Cow; refers to the cow in Surah al-Baqara (2:67).
481. tazkiyah : Purification of the soul; a key concept in Islamic spirituality.
482. Al-Junayd : Abu al-Qasim al-Junayd al-Baghdadi (d. 910 CE), a famous early Sufi master.
483. Iblis : The devil; Satan in Islamic tradition.
484. Ibn Zadan : A Sufi figure; possibly Abu Bakr ibn Zadan or similar.
485. Naqat Allah : The she-camel of God; a miraculous she-camel sent to the people of Thamud as a sign.
486. Qad aflaha man zakkaha : Quran 91:9; 'He has succeeded who purifies it.'
487. Wa la tamassuha bi su'in : Quran 91:11; 'Do not touch it with harm.'
488. Dharuha ta'kul fi ardi Allah : Quran 91:12; 'Leave it to eat in God's earth.'
489. Illa bishiqqi al-anfus : Quran 91:13; 'Except with difficulty.'
490. Sahib al-shamah : The Prophet Muhammad, described as having a mole on his back.
491. تَبَعِهَا : Refers to the soul's desires and promptings that lead to ruin.
492. انْتَهَى : Indicates the end of a quoted story or narration.
493. يَنْهَاهُ : Refers to knowledge that constantly forbids the soul from evil.
494. الْقُرْب : Refers to Iblis's former high station and closeness to Allah before his fall.
495. al-nafs al-qāṣirah : The deficient or failing soul, often referring to the lower self that falls short of spiritual aspirations.
496. ghūl : A mythical creature in Arabic folklore, often a shape-shifting demon that leads travelers astray.
497. ḥanẓal : Colocynth, a bitter fruit used metaphorically for extreme bitterness.
498. kutubihā al-awā’il : Earlier scriptures, possibly referring to previous revealed books or the primordial covenant.
499. khiṭāb al-ḥaqq : The address of the Truth, i.e., God's speech or revelation.
500. Iblīs : The proper name of Satan in Islam, the accursed one who refused to prostrate to Adam.
501. sirr al-ṣamadānī : The eternal or self-sufficient secret, a Sufi term for a divine mystery related to God's attribute of being Self-Sufficient (al-Ṣamad).
502. al-ʿawālim : The worlds; all realms of existence, including the physical and spiritual realms.
503. ʿalīl : Ill; sick or afflicted.
504. dhamīm : Blameworthy; dispraised.
505. tawḥīd : The oneness of Allah; the core Islamic belief in the absolute unity of God.
506. Muhammad : The Prophet Muhammad, the final messenger in Islam.
507. marada : Rebels; those who rebel against authority, often used for devils.
508. ḥumāt : Protectors; defenders.
509. mujāhadāt : Struggles; spiritual striving or jihad.
510. al-ʿawālim : Literally 'the worlds'; refers to all realms of existence, including the physical and spiritual worlds.
511. ʿamūdihā : Literally 'its pillar'; may refer to the main support or lineage of a world.
512. wurūdihā : Literally 'its arrival'; could refer to the coming of beings or events.
513. ʿamūdihā : Here possibly meaning 'its pillar' or 'its mainstay'.
514. nūr al-wujūd : Light of existence; a title for the Prophet Muhammad, indicating he is the source of spiritual illumination.
515. aqṭābihā : Poles; in Sufism, refers to the highest spiritual authorities or saints.
516. Ṭaha : One of the names of the Prophet Muhammad, derived from the Quranic chapter Taha.
517. 1321 : Year 1321 in the Islamic calendar corresponds to 1903-1904 CE.