Tafsir of Al-Hijr 15:99

(And worship your Lord): Continue in that which you are upon regarding the worship of Him, Exalted be He. It has been said: The explicit mention [of this command] with the aforementioned address serves as a confirmation of the previously stated manifestation of kindness toward him—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and as an indication of the cause for the command to worship.

(Until the certainty comes to you): Meaning death, as has been narrated from Ibn Umar, al-Hasan, Qatadah, and Ibn Zayd. It is called by this name because it is certain to befall every living being. Attributing the "coming" to it is to signal that it is directed toward the living, seeking to reach them. The meaning is: Continue in worship as long as you are alive, without neglecting it for even a moment. Ibn Bahr said: "Certainty" is the victory over the disbelievers which was promised to him—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

Whatever the case, it does not mean what some atheists claim, which they term "unveiling" (kashf) and "witnessing" (shuhud). They say that once a servant attains this, the obligation of worship falls away from him, asserting that such worship is only for the veiled. By this, they have defected from the religion and exited the bond of Islam and the community of Muslims.

Some trustworthy people have mentioned that this command came after the Night Journey (al-Isra) and the Ascension to the Heavens. Does one imagine that he—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—did not have the morning of unveiling and witnessing clarified to him at that time, and that the Great Bestower of Generosity and Bounty did not favor him with certainty? God is Greatest! No one whose heart contains the weight of an atom of faith, or who possesses a mustard seed’s worth of intellect with which to be included in the ranks of humanity, would dare to claim such a thing. Furthermore, throughout his life, he—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—never ceased performing the rites of worship and fulfilling the burdens of obligation. He did not deviate from the straight path by even a hair's breadth. Therefore, to say that this "certainty" had not come to him—upon him be prayer and peace—until he passed away is false; for this reason, he remained in the rigors of obligation until he arrived at the Lord of the Worlds. I do not know of anyone, however long they may have wandered in the wilderness of misguidance, who would let such a thought pass through their mind.

Yes, some noble scholars have mentioned in the words of the Almighty: (And We know) [v. 97], etc., a discourse containing something of what the Sufis mention, but it is leagues away from the intentions of those wretches. It is mentioned in al-Kashf that the Almighty—after He demolished the foundations of the ignorant assertions of the disbelievers and flashed lightning and thundered through what He manifested of His treatment of those who speak like those wicked ones—followed that speech with His saying: (And We know), emphasizing this with such profound certainty, issuing from a station of intense indignation and majesty, in order to relieve His beloved—upon him be prayer and peace—of the utmost distress. Then, He guided him to what is higher than that, which qualifies him for the intimate conversation of a companion with a companion, and said: (So glorify the praises of your Lord), an indication of directing oneself entirely to Him and stripping away all that is "other," adorning oneself with the qualities of those who turn to Him with sincere acceptance and neediness, for that is what requires glorification and praise for the one who understands them. Then the Almighty said: (And be among the prostrators), as a sign of the nearness concealed within it, for prostration is the ultimate form of humility and neediness, and it is the manifestation of annihilation (fana) until the very self vanishes, and the participation of permanence (baqa) with the One who commanded him to worship.

His saying—Exalted be His status—: (And worship your Lord), etc., is apparent in its outward sense, while its inward sense intimates that the journey in Allah—the Almighty—never ceases, and the witnessing upon which one settles is never truly attained. For there is no "catastrophe" [referring to spiritual trials] but that above it is a greater one. When it disappears, He appears; and when He appears, He causes me to disappear.

From the tongue of this station [it is said]: "My Lord, increase me in knowledge." This, and it is not hidden from what was mentioned by more than one of the exegetes, that there is a correspondence between the conclusion of this Surah and its opening, and that His saying—the Almighty—: (And We know), etc., is in response to: (And they said, "O you upon whom the Reminder has been sent down") [v. 6]. And Allah—the Most High—knows and is most wise.

(From the chapter of allusion regarding the preceding verses: What they said, the summary of which is): (Inform My servants that I am the Forgiving, the Merciful) [v. 49]; meaning, tell them that I forgive the fleeting thoughts of the hearts of the gnostics after they realize the places of their danger and remedy what is required of them, and I have mercy on them with kinds of emanations, and I cause them to reach the highest states of unveiling and witnessing. (And that My punishment is the painful punishment) [v. 50]; and that is the punishment of being veiled and expelled from the door.

Ibn Ata said: This verse is a guidance for him—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—on how to provide guidance. It is as if it were said: "Place My servants between fear and hope so that the path of uprightness in obedience may be valid for them. For whoever is dominated by his hope becomes idle, and whoever is dominated by his fear falls into despair." Some have mentioned that it contains an indication of prioritizing the aspect of fear over hope, because the Almighty applied the two attributes of mercy to His own Self—Mighty and Majestic is He—yet He did not apply the punishment in that same manner. You know that it is mentioned in many books that it is appropriate for a person to have balanced hope and fear, except at the time of death, when it is appropriate for his hope to be greater than his fear. In this station, there is a long discourse that should be sought from its proper place.

(By your life, they are in their drunkenness, wandering blindly) [v. 72]: Al-Nawawi said: Meaning, by the life which you have been distinguished with among all the worlds. Al-Qurashi said: This is an oath by the life of the Beloved—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The Almighty only swore by it because it was through Him—the Almighty.

(Indeed, in that are signs for those who discern) [v. 75]: Meaning, those who possess physiognomy. They have mentioned that physiognomy has ranks: some are attained by the eye of the outward, some are what the ears of the gnostics perceive of what the Truth speaks through the tongues of the creation, and some is what appears in the form of the discerner from the manifestations of the Truth—the Almighty—and His making it speak and exist for him, until all the hairs of his body speak with different tongues; so he narrates and hears from the outward aspect of his self that which indicates the occurrence of unseen matters. Some is attained by the senses of the inward, where it finds, through its subtlety, the beginnings of the unseen things in that which flashes. Some is attained from the nafs al-ammarah (the commanding self) by what appears in it of longing and vibration—and that is the secret of its love, for Allah—the Almighty—when He desires to open a door of the unseen, casts into the soul the traces of its manifestations; if they are beloved, it longs, and if they are hateful, it recoils in fear. And no one knows that except the one who is truly divine in character. Some is attained by the heart, either through inspiration or unveiling; some is attained by the intellect, which is what occurs from the heaviness of the unseen revelation upon it; some is attained by the spirit, with or without an intermediary; some is attained by the eye of the inner secret and its ear; and some is attained in the "secret of the secret" through the appearance of the brides of the decrees of the unseen, clothed in divine, lordly, spiritual forms. He sees the acting of the Essence in the attributes, and hears the attributes by way of conversation and address from the Essence without an intermediary, and there is the end of unveiling and physiognomy. Al-Junayd—may Allah be pleased with him—was asked about physiognomy and he said: "Divine signs that appear in the inner secrets of the gnostics, so their tongues speak of that, and they coincide with the Truth." And they have other expressions for this.

(So forgive with gracious forgiveness) [v. 85]: It is narrated from Amr ibn Dinar, from Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, from his father Ali—may Allah ennoble his countenance—that he said: "Gracious forgiveness is a forgiveness without reproach in it, and without resentment thereafter, along with returning to the state that existed before the involvement in the opposition." It is also said: Gracious forgiveness is comforting the sinner by removing the shame from him and treating the site of the pains of the sin in his heart.

(And We have given you seven of the often-repeated) [v. 87]: These are the seven attributes: namely, Life, Knowledge, Power, Will, Sight, Hearing, and Speech. The meaning of them being "often-repeated" (mathani) is that their establishment for him—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—was doubled and repeated. They were for him—upon him be prayer and peace—firstly in the station of the existence of the heart, its being molded by its morals, and its characterization by its attributes; and secondly, in the station of permanence through the True Existence. It is also said: The meaning of them being "often-repeated" is that they are the secondary attributes of the ones established by His Essence—the Almighty—and their derivations. It has come: "The servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory acts until I love him; and when I love him, I become his hearing with which he hears, and his sight with which he sees..." (the Hadith).

(And the Great Quran) [v. 87]: This is, in their view, the Essence that encompasses all the attributes.

(Do not extend your eyes toward that by which We have given enjoyment to categories of them) [v. 88], etc.: Some have said regarding this: The Truth—the Almighty—became jealous for him—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—that he should deem anything of the universe beautiful or cast his gaze upon it, and He desired from him—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—that his times be spent on Him, his states be bound to Him, and his precious breaths be imprisoned with Him. And he—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—was as He desired of him—the Almighty—and for that reason, he was in the highest place: (The sight did not swerve, nor did it transgress) [v. 17].

(So glorify the praises of your Lord and be among the prostrators. And worship your Lord until the certainty comes to you) [v. 98-99]: There has passed from al-Kashf that which is sufficient for those who desire the allusion among the seekers of guidance. This, and I ask Allah—the Almighty—to protect us from the evil of destiny and to favor us with success in what He loves and is pleased with, by the sanctity of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and his family and all his companions—may Allah be pleased with them all—regarding that which has transpired in the interpretation of the Book of Allah—the Almighty—by the pen.