Tafsir of An-Nisa' 4:126

[And to Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth.] It is possible that this is connected to His saying—the Most High—"And whoever does righteous deeds..." as a justification for the obligation of performing good works. The passage between them—"And who is better in religion..."—is a parenthetical clause. This means that all beings in the heavens and the earth, whether they be existing things or creations, belong to Him in terms of creation and sovereignty; nothing of them escapes His dominion. Thus, He recompenses each according to the requirements of their deeds: if they are good, then with good, and if they are evil, then with evil.

It is also possible that it is connected to His saying—the Majestic—"And Allah took Ibrahim..." based on the meaning that He chose and selected him. That is, He is the Owner of all His creation, so He chooses whom He wills among them, such as Ibrahim—upon him be prayer and peace. Thus, it serves to explain that his selection—upon him be prayer and peace—was by the sheer will of Allah.

It is also said: It is to explain that Allah’s taking of Ibrahim—upon him be prayer and peace—as a Khalil (intimate friend) was not due to His—the Glorified—needing that for any of His affairs, as is the habit of created beings, for the basis of their friendship is their need for one another in their interests. Rather, it was merely for his honor and glorification. It also contains an indication that his friendship—peace be upon him—did not remove him from the state of servitude to Allah—the Most High.

[And Allah is ever, of all things, encompassing.] This refers to an encompassing of knowledge and power, based on the fact that the reality of encompassment applies to physical bodies, so Allah—the Most High—is not described by that literally. Therefore, interpretation and the use of metaphor are necessary, as maintained by the later scholars (al-khalaf). The sentence is a concluding confirmation (tadhyil) for the content of what preceded it, in all its various aspects.

[And when you travel throughout the earth], meaning: when you journey in the land of preparedness to fight the enemy of the self or to attain the states of perfection, [there is no blame upon you for shortening the prayer], meaning: to decrease your bodily works, [if you fear that those who disbelieve may disrupt you], meaning: those who veil you from the Truth among the powers of illusion and imagination. The gist is a license for the masters of the path, when they fear the sedition of these powers, to reduce bodily works and increase in heart-centered works, such as reflection and remembrance, so that the heart may be purified and its light shine upon the powers. Their perniciousness then diminishes, and consequently, the bodily works become pure. According to the specialists, it is not permissible to abandon the obligatory duties for this reason, as some ignorant people have claimed.

[And when you are among them], and you are not absent from them by your traveling into the unseen of the Unseen and the majesty of witnessing, swimming in the seas of "I have a time with Allah in which I am not encompassed by any angel brought near or prophet sent," [then stand among them for the prayer], meaning: the bodily works. [Let a group of them stand with you]—let them do as you do, and let them take their weapons from the powers of the soul, and gather their senses so that it may be possible for them to attain resemblance or to stand upon the secrets that are in your actions, so that whispers may not mislead them. [And when they have prostrated] and reached the ultimate goal in knowing what you have set up for them and performed it in its proper manner, [let them be behind you], standing guard for you against the objections of the ignorant, or fulfilling your necessary needs. [And let another group come]—those who have not prayed yet—[so let them pray with you] and do as you do, [and let them take their precaution and their weapons] just as the first group took their weapons. These are commanded to take precautions as well to urge greater vigilance, lest they become remiss in them, relying on the fact that those who came before them took them from the Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).

The essence of this indication is that the teaching of religious laws and etiquette to the students should be done group by group so that it may take hold in them as firmly as possible. It is said: The first group is an indication of the elite, and the second is the common folk; that is why the first was satisfied with the command to take weapons, while for the second, precaution was also commanded.

[Those who disbelieve desire]—they are the powers of the commanding self—[that you neglect your weapons], which are the powers of the spirit, [and your equipment], which are the divine knowledges, [so that they may swoop down upon you in one attack] and pelt you with the arrows of calamities and doubts and destroy you. [And there is no blame upon you if you are troubled]—if you are struck by a downpour of rain, meaning: the rain of the clouds of manifestations—[or if you are ill] with the fever of longing and passion and become unable to perform the works of the spiritual powers—[that you put down your weapons] and abandon the works of those powers until that cloud clears, the rain stops, the earth of your hearts is shaken with the flowers of Allah's mercy, and the fever of longing is extinguished by the waters of nearness. [And take your precaution] when putting down your weapons, and guard your hearts from turning to other than Allah—the Most High. [Indeed, Allah has prepared for the disbelievers] of the soul’s powers [a humiliating punishment], meaning: one that disgraces them, and this occurs upon the guarding of the heart and the illumination of the spirit.

[And when you have completed the prayer], meaning: when you have performed it, [then remember Allah] in all situations: standing in the station of the spirit through witnessing, sitting in the place of the heart through unveiling, and upon your sides, meaning: your movements in the place of the self through spiritual struggle. [And when you are secure] and have reached the place of permanence, [then establish prayer]—perform it in the most perfect manner, for the heart is then safe from the soul’s whispers, which are in the position of ritual impurity (hadath) for the specialists. [Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers a decree of specified times], so it does not fall away from them as long as intellect and life remain. [And do not weaken in pursuit of the people] who fight you—they are the soul and its powers, for they suffer from you due to your preventing them from their desires, just as you suffer from them due to their opposition to your journey toward Allah—the Most High. [And you expect from Allah]—you hope from Him—[what they do not expect], for you hope for the enjoyment of the Paradise of nearness and witnessing, and that does not cross their minds, or you fear separation from Him while they do not fear it. [And Allah is ever Knowing] of your conditions and theirs, [and Wise], so He overflows upon the recipients according to their capacities.

[Indeed, We have sent down to you the Book], meaning: the knowledge of the details of the Attributes and the rulings of their manifestations, [in truth], while that Book is clothed in sincerity, [that you may judge between the people]—their elite and their commoners—[by that which Allah has shown you], meaning: by that which Allah—the Most High—has taught you of wisdom. [And do not be for the treacherous]—those who did not fulfill the trust of Allah that was deposited in pre-eternity regarding what was mentioned of their preparedness, such as the possibility of obeying Him and complying with His command—[an advocate], defending them from punishment and letting the creation rule over them with humiliation and disgrace. [Or say to Allah]: "My Lord, why were they abandoned and suppressed?" For they are wrongdoers, and Allah—the Most High—has the conclusive argument against them. And seek forgiveness from Allah for the natural inclination that was necessitated by the mercy which enveloped you; [indeed, Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful], so He does what you ask of Him and more.

[And do not argue on behalf of those who deceive themselves] by wasting their rights. [Indeed, Allah does not love one who is a deceiver of himself, sinful], being inclined toward desires. [They conceal their intentions from people] by hiding their vices and the qualities of their souls, [but they cannot conceal from Allah]—by removing them and uprooting them—[while He is with them], encompassing their outward and inward aspects, [when they plot], meaning: they devise in the darkness of the world of the self and nature, [by night such speech as He does not accept] of false illusions and corrupt imaginations. [And Allah is ever, of what they do, encompassing], so He recompenses them according to their deeds.

[And whoever does a wrong] by the emergence of a quality from the qualities of his self, [or wrongs himself] by diminishing any of his perfections, [then seeks forgiveness of Allah] and asks Him to cover that, not by turning to Him and humbling himself before Him, [he will find Allah Forgiving, Merciful]—He will cover him and grant what the state of preparedness requires.

[And whoever earns a sin] by displaying some of his vices, [or a crime] by erasing what is in his preparedness, [then blames an innocent one] by saying: "Allah decreed this upon me" or "So-and-so caused me to do it," [he has borne upon himself a falsehood and manifest sin], for he acted and attributed his action to another. If he had not been prepared for that and seeking it with the tongue of preparedness in pre-eternity, it would not have been poured upon him, nor would it have emerged into the arena of existence. Thus, the cursed Iblis silenced his followers with what Allah—the Most High—narrated to us of his saying: [Indeed, Allah promised you] the true promise... up to his saying: [So do not blame me; but blame yourselves]. Were it not for the favor of Allah upon you, meaning: His granting of success and His support for walking His path, and His mercy in bestowing upon you absolute perfection, [a group of them would have determined to mislead you], but they do not mislead except themselves, as their harm returns upon them. He protected you in the fortresses of your preparedness from anything of that affecting you, and He sent down upon you the Book that contains the details of knowledge and the wisdom which is the rulings of those details along with action, and He taught you that which you did not know of the knowledge of the consequences of the creation and the knowledge of what was and what will be. [And the favor of Allah upon you has been great], as He made you worthy of the station of "two bow-lengths away or nearer," and He bestowed upon you what is not encompassed by anything except the perimeter of existence.

[No good is there in much of their private conversation], which is of the type of vain talk, [except for one who enjoins charity], or guides to the virtue of generosity arising from chastity, [or that which is good] in speech, such as teaching knowledge, or in action, such as relieving the distressed, or reconciliation between people, which is a matter of justice. [And whoever does that, seeking the pleasure of Allah]—not for show or reputation, from everything through which vice might return to virtue—[then We are going to give him a great reward], and We will admit him into the Paradise of the Attributes.

[And whoever opposes the Messenger], meaning: contradicts what the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) brought, or the intellect which is called by them the "psychic messenger," [and follows other than the way of the believers], meaning: other than that which the companions of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) were upon, and those who followed their path from the news or the spiritual powers, [We will give him what he has taken] and connect him to the Hell of deprivation, [and evil it is as a destination] for one who enters it. [They call upon none other than female deities]—they are the idols called "the selves," for everyone who worships other than Allah—the Most High—is a worshipper of his own self, obedient to its desires. Or, "female" refers to the "possible beings" (al-mumkinat), because every possible being is needy, deficient from the perspective of its possibility, acted upon, and influenced at the time of its determination, so it is the most similar thing to a female. [And they call upon none but a rebellious Satan], which is the Satan of illusion, for they accepted his misleading and obeyed him. [Allah cursed him], meaning: He distanced him from the gardens of His nearness, and he said: [I will surely take from among Your servants a specific portion]—they are those who are not the sincere ones, who were excepted in another verse—[and I will mislead them] from the true path, [and I will arouse in them false desires] from the earning of fleeting pleasures, [and I will command them so they will slit the ears of cattle], meaning: they will cut the ears of their selves from hearing what benefits them, [and I will command them so they will change the creation of Allah], which is the innate nature (fitra) upon which Allah created people: monotheism.

[But they who believe] and recognize the Oneness, [and do righteous deeds and are steadfast—We will admit them to gardens]—the Garden of Actions, the Garden of Attributes, and the Garden of the Essence. [It is not] the attainment of the promised thing by your wishes, nor the wishes of the People of the Scripture; rather, there must be striving for what it requires. In the proverb: "Wishing is the capital of the bankrupt."

[And who is better in religion], meaning: in state, [than one who submits his face to Allah] and surrenders his self to Him and passes away into Him, [and he is a doer of good]—witnessing the Whole in the eye of preference, walking the path of excellence by uprightness in deeds—[and follows the religion of Ibrahim] in monotheism, [inclining toward truth], turning away from all other than Him? [And Allah took Ibrahim as an intimate friend], as knowledge permeated all his parts, from the perspective of him being a composite being, so no single atom remained that was not permeated by the knowledge of his Lord—Exalted and Glorified be He. Thus, he is a knower of Him with every part of himself. From here it was said: When the blood of al-Hallaj fell upon the earth, "Allah" was written with every drop of it. He recited: "There is no limb or joint in me, except that in it is a mention of You."

[And to Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth], for everything that has emerged into existence is a state (sha'n) of His affairs—the Glorified. [And Allah is ever, of all things, encompassing], from the perspective that He is the One who poured out bounty upon it; He is the Lord of generosity and bounty; there is no lord other than Him, and nothing is to be hoped for except His good.