Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi

Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi — Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi

Whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth glorifies God. The maker of the world and the world's folk, the nurturer of mankind and jinn, the creator of earth and heaven, the wonder-worker of the emplaced and place, reports that everything in heaven and earth, whether wind, fire, water, mountains, seas, sun, moon, stars, trees, and all animate and in- animate things, praise Him for purity, mention His name with honor, and testify to His oneness. This glorification and tawḤīd throw tumult into the Adamic heart and are rejected by intellect, but the religion of the submission accepts them and the Creator of the creatures testifies to their cor- rectness. Whenever success-giving is someone's companion and felicity his helper, he will accept them, unperceived, with spirit and heart and will come forth with reverence, surrender, and attesta- tion. Then tomorrow, he will find his place in the gathering place of the sincerely truthful and the assemblies of the friends on the seat of everlasting exaltedness. Beware, O chevalier! Take care not to give one iota of innovation access to your heart. When you hear something that your intellect does not perceive, suspect only your intellect. Do not take the road of interpretation, because going after interpretation is a tested poison. It is to remove a thorn from the foot with a thorn. A knowing man will not test poison, for that would be to hurry to his own destruction. He will not pull a thorn from his foot with a thorn, for he knows it would only increase the pain. That chevalier said it beautifully: “Seek not the road of tawḤīd with intellect, scratch not the spirit's eye with a thorn. By God, can anyone ever take benefit from God without God? As trainer and leader on the path of the religion- consider none better than the Qur'an and the reports. Only the hand of MuḤammad's heart can undo the locks on the treasury of secrets.” [DS 201-2]

Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi — Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi

To Him belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. The seven heavens and the seven earths are His kingdom and property. They are kept by His help, penetrated by His will, and driven by His decree. All creatures are incapable, and He is powerful and potent. All are weak, and He is subjugating and strong. All are ignorant, and He is knowing and knowledgeable. The artifacts and determined things are a mark of His power, the beings and newly arrived things are the explication of His wisdom, the existents and the known things are the proof of His existence. Increase does not befall Him, nor does decrease come upon Him. He is the powerful, eternal, knowing, wise, the God of all.

Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi — Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi

He is the First, the Last, the Outward, and the Inward, and He is knower of everything. He is the First, for He knew the nonbeings, the Last for He knows what He knew, the Outward through what He made, the Inward, hidden from imaginations. He is the First: He was before every created thing, without beginning. He is the Last: He will be after everything, without end. He is the Outward: He stands over everyone, without any one to overpower or prevent. He is the Inward: He knows all hidden things, without veil. He is the First through beginninglessness, the Last through endlessness, the Outward through unity, and the Inward through eternity. He is the First through awesomeness, the Last through mercy, the Outward through proofs, the Inward through blessings. He is the First through be- stowal, the Last through recompense, the Outward through laudation, the Inward through loyalty. He is the First through guidance, the Last through sufficiency, the Outward through rulership, the Inward through kind favor. He is the First of every blessing, the Last of every tribulation, the Outward of every argument, the Inward of every wisdom. In terms of allusion He is saying, “O child of Adam, in relation to you the people of the world are four groups: A group who are useful to you at the beginning of the state and the first of life, and they are parents. A group who are useful to you at the end of life and the weakness of old age, and they are children. Third is the group of friends, brothers, and all the Muslims who are with you outwardly and show tenderness. Fourth is the group of wives and women, who are your inner, inside realm and are useful to you.” The Lord of the Worlds is saying, “Do not rely and depend on these and do not fancy that they themselves are your caretakers and caregivers, for I am the First and the Last. I am suited to be the beginning and end of your work and state. I am the Outward and the Inward. I keep you in My own keeping and I set straight your final ends. I am the First, for I tightly bound the hearts of the passionate with beginningless compacts. I am the Last, for I hunt the spirits of the truthful with My promises.

Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi — Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi

And He is with you wherever you are. “My servants! My creatures! Wherever you are, I am with you through solicitude, mercy, and kind favor. Wherever in the world there is someone poor, wounded by offenses, helpless in the hand of an adversary, I am his patron. Wherever there is someone with a ruined life, made indigent by the passing days, I am looking after him. Wherever there is someone burnt, struck by grief, I am the happiness of his spirit. Wherever there is someone weeping in shame, his head turned while not having anyone, I am his proof. I am the Lord who is far from the path of retribution. I lift up all those thrown down and fleeing, for I am clement and ever-merciful to the servants.”