Tafsir of Fussilat 41:54

(Unquestionably, they are in doubt about the meeting with their Lord): That is, they are in a grave state regarding the resurrection, because they deem the restoration of the dead—after the disintegration of their parts and the scattering of their limbs—to be far-fetched. Therefore, they do not turn toward the proofs of what would benefit them upon meeting Him, the Exalted, such as the truthfulness of the Quran, for it is explicit that [the claim of] insufficiency is considered valid from their perspective.

And His saying, "Unquestionably, He is, of all things, encompassing."

(54): This is to clarify what results from that doubt, based on the meaning that He, the Exalted, is All-Knowing of all things in the most perfect manner; nothing of them is hidden from Him, the Majestic, and therefore He will inevitably recompense them for their disbelief and their doubt.

It is also said: It is a refutation of their doubt and suspicion regarding the resurrection and the restoration of that which has scattered and mixed, which they imagine is impossible to distinguish. It means that He, the Exalted, is Knowing of the totality of things and their details, and is capable of them; nothing of them escapes Him. He, Glory be to Him, knows the [scattered] parts and is capable of the resurrection.

This, and what was mentioned in the explanation of "We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves," is in accordance with what has been narrated from al-Hasan, Mujahid, as-Suddi, Abu al-Minhal, and a group. They said: His saying, "We will show them," etc., is a threat to the disbelievers regarding what God, the Exalted, might open up for His Messenger (may the blessings and peace of God be upon him) from the regions around Mecca and in those lands, such as Khaybar. By His saying, "in themselves," He intended the conquest of Mecca. Ad-Dahhak and Qatadah said: "In the horizons" refers to what befell the nations who denied the truth in the regions of the earth in ancient times, and "within themselves" refers to what took place on the day of Badr; for in that is proof of the victory of the one who brought the Truth and the refutation of the disbelieving prophets (peace be upon them), which proves the truthfulness of the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of God be upon him) and the Quran he brought. It was objected that the word "We will show them" (a future tense) precludes "in the horizons" from being what befell the nations who denied the truth, because those were already seen before [the revelation].

'Ata and Ibn Zayd said: The meaning of "We will show them Our signs in the horizons" is the regions of the heavens and the earth, such as the sun, the moon, all the stars, the winds, the towering mountains, and so forth; and "within themselves," refers to the subtle craftsmanship and wondrous wisdom [therein]. The aforementioned Imam weakened this, and the reply given was that even if the people had seen those signs, the wonders that God, the Exalted, has deposited within them are endless, and He, the Exalted, will reveal them to them in a short time. For everyone observes the human structure, yet the wonders deposited in its composition are uncountable, and most people are heedless of them. This is an inducement to reflect upon them through the striking warnings of the revelation and the alerts; the more one reflects, the more one realizes the true meaning of the future tense.

The author of al-Kashf chose this view, following the one who preceded him in it, and he attributed the pronoun in "that it is the Truth" to God, the Mighty and Majestic. He said: His saying, "Say, 'Have you considered: if it is from God,'" is an indication that its being from Him, the Exalted, contradicts disbelieving in it, and that they concede this but challenge its origin from Him, the Mighty and Majestic. This is why he made [statements] like "legends of the former peoples" in response to their saying, "What has your Lord sent down?" to be an evasion of [the fact that it is] revealed, or a response that there is no revealer. He intended to demonstrate the proof that it is the Truth from Him, the Exalted, by way of metonymy, so that it might be more reaching to the objective and consistent with the path of fairness upon which the speech was built. Thus, it was said: "We will show them," meaning: God, the Exalted, will show them. The shift in pronouns [from the third person to the first person] is to signify an increase in specialization and to confirm the occurrence of the revelation.

Then it was said: "until it becomes clear to them that it is the Truth"—meaning that God, the Majestic, is the Truth in every respect, Essence and Attribute, and everything else is false in every respect; there is no Truth but Him, Glory be to Him. When the reality of His Mighty Status becomes clear to them in every respect, the veracity of the Quran and its origin from God, the Exalted, necessarily follows.

Then it was said: "Is it not sufficient concerning your Lord..."—that is, is the fact that your Lord witnesses all things not sufficient for you? It is from Him, the Exalted, that all things are witnessed, not that the signs of the horizons and the selves witness Him. The first is an inference from the effect to the Cause, and the second is an inference from the Cause to the effect; this is the Lami (logical) certainty.

In His saying, "concerning your Lord," by adding it to the pronoun of the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of God be upon him), and preferring it over "is it not sufficient that He is [witnessing]," is an indication that he (peace and blessings be upon him) and his followers among all the knowers are the ones for whom His witnessing of all things is a sufficient proof, and that this is for them a manifestation of His care and nurturing, without any input of their learning. This is unlike the former.

Then it was said: "Unquestionably, they are in doubt about the meeting with their Lord." For this reason, it is not sufficient for them that He, the Exalted, is a witness over all things, because they lack the witness [the spiritual eye] to witness His witnessing. This is comprehensive of both groups: the righteous and the disbelievers. As for the disbelievers, it is because they are in doubt fundamentally. As for the righteous, it is because they are in doubt regarding the witnessing; that is, they have no knowledge of it except as pure faith based on imitation. The use of the word "doubt" is for the sake of dominance [of the speech], and the excellence of its placement is not hidden.

Then it was said: "Unquestionably, He is, of all things, Witness," to complete His saying, "Is it not sufficient concerning your Lord," because whoever encompasses all things in knowledge and power, nothing is absent from his witnessing. Whoever witnesses Him, witnesses all things. This is the way to generalize the verses without restricting them to conquests, and it is more appropriate than the saying of al-Hasan and Mujahid, and it is more consistent with the rules of the Sufis and the scholars of Usul, may God, the Exalted, have mercy upon them all.

The author has concluded.

The author, may God have mercy upon him, distanced the meaning and labored in what he labored. The knower, al-Jami (may his secret be sanctified), narrated in his Nafahat from al-Qashani that His saying, "We will show them," etc., indicates the Unity of Existence (Wahdat al-Wujud). I have seen in some of their books the use of this verse as evidence for that, taking the pronoun in "that it is the Truth" to refer to the "Witnessed," and interpreting "the Truth" as God, the Mighty and Majestic. From this and the like, the Great Sheikh (may his secret be sanctified) said: "Glory be to Him who manifested things while He is their essence." This unity is that in which understandings have become bewildered, and because of the lack of realization of its reality, necks have exited from the shackles of Islam. Sheikh Ibrahim al-Kurani (may his secret be sanctified) has several treatises on realizing the truth of this matter and establishing its foundations. We ask God, the Exalted, to favor us with correct witnessing and to preserve us, by His generosity, from what has clung to the minds of the atheists regarding the Unity of Existence.

"It is" (innahu) was read with a kasra on the hamza of inna as an implication of a verb [of saying]. Al-Sulami and al-Hasan read "in doubt" (fi miryah) with the damma on the mim, which is a dialect for it, like the kasra. Similarly, "hidden" (khafiyah) is read with the damma and kasra of the kha', and the kasra is more famous due to the harmony with the ya.

Among the words of the people regarding the verses: "Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds will have a reward uninterrupted"—it contains an indication that the reward of the believer who does not do good works is "interrupted," meaning diminished in comparison to the reward of the believer who does work. [They work] on physical deeds like prayer and Hajj, and the Garden is upon heart-centered deeds like contentment, reliance, longing, love, and sincerity of pursuit; and upon spiritual deeds like focusing on God, the Exalted, unveiling mysteries, finding solace in God, the Exalted, feeling alienated from the creation, and [receiving] divine gifts; and upon secret deeds like turning away from everything else, and the continuity of Tajalli (divine disclosure).

"Say, 'Do you indeed disbelieve in He who created the earth...'" (i.e., the earth of humanity) "in two days" (the two days of desire and nature). "And you attribute to Him rivals" (from desire and nature). "And He placed on the earth firmly set mountains" (the human intellects). "And He blessed therein" (with the five senses). "And determined therein its sustenance" (of human powers). "Then He directed Himself to the heaven" (the heaven of the heart, which is divine primordial smoke), "and completed them as seven heavens" (which are the seven stages of the heart: the first is the place of whispering; the second is the manifestation of intrusive thoughts; the third is the mine of vision, called the Fu'ad [heart]; the fourth is the source of wisdom, called the Qalb [heart]; the fifth is the mirror of the Unseen, called the Suwayda [the black spot]; the sixth is the abode of love, called the Shaffaf [the translucent]; the seventh is the place of Tajalli [disclosure], the center of secrets, and the landing site of light, called the Habba [the grain]), "in two days" (the two days of the human soul and inspiration). "And We adorned the nearest heaven with lamps" (which are the lights of dhikr and acts of worship).

"Indeed, those who have said, 'Our Lord is God'"—when they were addressed with "Am I not your Lord?"—"and then remained on a right course"—in their affirmation when they came out into the world of forms, and did not deviate from that like the hypocrites and the disbelievers. It is mentioned that consistency is of varying degrees: the consistency of the commoners is in the outward adherence to commands and prohibitions through faith; the consistency of the elite is in the outward abandonment of the world and in the inward abandonment of the Gardens out of longing for the All-Merciful; and the consistency of the elite of the elite is in the outward observance of the rights of the pledge by surrendering the self and wealth, and in the inward state of annihilation (fana) and subsistence (baqa).

"The angels descend upon them"—descending and varying according to their ranks. It is narrated from some of the Imams of the Household that the angels crowd us in the ranks, or something to that effect. "And receive good tidings of Paradise which you were promised"—this also varies: some are given good tidings of the known Paradise, and some are given good tidings of the Paradise of union and the vision of the Sovereign, the All-Exalted.

"And who is better in speech than one who invites to God"—by leaving everything else—"and does righteousness"—so that his state does not contradict what he says. He said, "And [says], 'Indeed, I am of the Muslims'"—those who are submissive to His command, the Exalted, and satisfied with His decree and predestination. This contains an indication of the attributes of the guiding Sheikh and what he should be. It is right to say regarding many of those who have taken up guidance in this time, whose waves are crashing with corruption: "The squares are empty of the rooks, the pawns have become like knights, and the lame donkeys are braying; that is due to the lack of antecedents."

"And not equal are the good deed" (which is focusing on God, the Exalted, with sincerity of pursuit and purity of love) "and the bad" (which is seeking anything else and being content with the lower). "Repel with that which is better" (which is seeking God, the Exalted, instead of seeking what is other than Him). "Then the one who is between you and him animosity"—which is the soul that commands to evil—"will become as though he were a devoted friend." This is through purifying the soul of its blameworthy traits and weaning it from ugly transgressions.

"And if there comes to you from Satan an evil suggestion"—to incline toward what it desires—"then seek refuge in God" and return to Him, the Exalted, so that his suggestion does not affect you. This contains an indication that one should not feel secure from the trickery [of God] and heedlessness of God, the Mighty and Majestic.

"Indeed, those who deny Our verses"—they are not hidden from Us. In this is an indication of the secret of those who deny the saints, for they are among the signs of God, the Exalted, and denial is a form of deviation. We ask God, the Exalted, for pardon and wellness.

"Say, 'It'"—that is, the Quran—"is, for those who believe, a guidance and cure" according to their ranks. Some of it guides them to witnessing the Sovereign, the All-Knowing. It is narrated from al-Sadiq (peace be upon him and his forefathers) that God, the Exalted, has manifested in His Book to His servants, but they do not see.

"We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves." In this is an indication that the creation do not see the signs except by His will, the Mighty and Majestic, and that is the unveiling of the veils. Rather, it appears that the essences have not smelled the scent of existence, nor will they ever, and that He, the Mighty and Majestic, is the First, the Last, the Manifest, and the Hidden. God was, and nothing was with Him, and He, Glory be to Him, is now as He was. To Him is the indication among them by His saying: "until it becomes clear to them that it is the Truth." From here, the Great Sheikh (may his secret be sanctified) said:

What is Adam in the universe? What is Iblis? What is Solomon’s kingdom, and what is Bilqis? All are indications, and You are the Meaning, O You who are the magnet for the hearts!

Most of his speech (may his secret be sanctified) is of this type. Indeed, he is the father of the Unity of Existence, its mother, its son, and its brother. But beware of saying as that prominent one said, until you reach, by the success granted by God, what they reached. God, the Mighty and Majestic, is the Guide to the straight path.

Then the discussion on the Surah [ends]. Praise be to God for His abundant blessings, and may blessings and peace be upon His Messenger Muhammad, the manifestation of His names, and upon his family, his companions, and all his followers and loved ones, blessings and peace remaining until the Day of Resurrection.