Al-A'raf (The Heights): Verse 205

Issues in the Verse:

When the Almighty said previously, "{And when the Qur'an is recited, then listen to it and pay attention}" (Al-A'raf: 204), it is understood that a reciter must read the Qur'an aloud so that others can hear it. This reciter can only be the Messenger (peace be upon him). Thus, this verse (204) was like a command from God to Muhammad (PBUH) to recite the Qur'an to the people in a loud, elevated voice, in order to achieve the purpose of conveying the revelation and the message.

Following this command, the Almighty then commanded him in this verse (205) to remember his Lord within himself. The benefit of this is that a person's benefit from remembrance is perfected only when the remembrance occurs in this manner, as this condition brings it closer to sincerity (Ikhlās) and supplication (Tadarruʿ).

The Almighty commanded His Messenger to remember Him subject to several restrictions:

Restriction 1: "{And remember your Lord within yourself}"

The meaning of remembering God within oneself is to be knowledgeable of the meanings of the remembrances one utters with the tongue, while being mindful of the attributes of perfection, might, loftiness, majesty, and greatness. This is because remembrance by the tongue, if devoid of remembrance by the heart, is useless.

Do you not see that the jurists agree that if a man says, "I sold" and "I bought," yet he does not know the meanings of these words or understand anything from them, the sale and purchase contract is not established? The same applies here. Several rulings branch out from this:

Ruling 1: It is reported that some great ones among the people of the hearts, when intending to command a seeker (Murīd) to seclude himself for remembrance, would command him forty days of seclusion and purification. Upon completing this period and achieving complete purification, they would recite the Ninety-Nine Names to that seeker and tell him: "Observe the state of your heart when hearing these Names. For every Name whose hearing causes your heart to be strongly affected and your longing to increase, know that God will open the doors of unveiling (Mukāshafāt) to you through consistent remembrance of that specific Name." This is a fine and subtle path in this domain.

Ruling 2: The theologians state that this verse indicates the affirmation of self-talk (Kalām al-Nafs). Since the Almighty commanded His Messenger to remember his Lord within himself, the existence of this internal remembrance must be acknowledged. The meaning of self-talk is nothing other than this.

• If they argue: Why can the intended meaning of internal remembrance not be knowledge (ʿIlm) and recognition (Maʿrifah)?
• We reply: This is false. A person has no power to acquire knowledge of a thing ab initio (initially). Either he seeks it when it is present or when it is absent. The first is false because it implies acquiring what is already acquired, which is impossible. The second is false because what is not conceived, the mind is heedless of it, and the heedless of a thing cannot possibly seek it. Thus, it is established that man has no power to acquire conceptions (Taṣawwurāt), so it is impossible for a command to be issued regarding it. Since the verse indicates a command for internal remembrance, this internal remembrance must be a meaning distinct from recognition, knowledge, and conception, and that is what is sought.

Ruling 3: The Almighty said, "{And remember your Lord within yourself}" and did not say, "Remember your God" or use other Names. He only named Him in this context by the Name of being the Lord (Rabb), and He attributed Himself to Him. All of this indicates the utmost mercy, closeness, favor, and benevolence. The purpose is that the servant becomes joyful and delighted upon hearing this Name, because the word Rabb implies nurturing and favor. Upon hearing this Name, the servant recalls the categories of God's blessings upon him, although in reality, his intellect cannot grasp even the least category of them, as the Almighty said: "{And if you should count the favors of Allah, you could not enumerate them}" (Ibrahim: 34).

When this station is unveiled in the heart, hope (Rajāʾ) strengthens. Then, when he subsequently hears "{with humility and in awe}", fear (Khawf) increases. At that point, the causes of hope and the causes of fear are established in the heart, and faith is perfected, according to the Prophet (PBUH): "If the fear and hope of a believer were weighed, they would balance."

There is a subtlety here: hearing the word Rabb necessitates hope, while hearing the word humility and awe necessitates fear. Since the beginning was with what necessitates hope, we know that the side of hope is stronger.

Restriction 2: Obtaining Humility (Tadarruʿ)

This is indicated by the Almighty's saying: "{with humility}" (tadarruʿan). This condition is significant and is supported by the Qur'an and reason.

• As for the Qur'an: His saying in Surah Al-An'am: "{Say, 'Who rescues you from the darknesses of the land and sea? You call upon Him humbly and secretly...}'" (Al-An'am: 63).
• As for reason: The perfection of a human's state is achieved through the unveiling of two matters:
  1. The might of Lordship (ʿIzzat al-Rubūbiyyah), which is achieved by "{And remember your Lord within yourself}".
  2. Witnessing the abasement of servitude (Dhull al-ʿUbūdiyyah), which is perfected by "{with humility}".

The transition from remembrance to humility is like descending from the Mi'raj (Ascension), and the transition from humility to remembrance is like ascending. Through both, the ascent of the pure spirits is completed.

There is a discussion here: Knowledge of God necessitates humility and fear, and heart-remembrance cannot be separated from humility and fear. So, what is the benefit of specifying this humility and fear?

• Answer 1: Knowledge does not necessarily imply humility and fear absolutely, because it might become firmly established in a person's intellect that God does not punish anyone, as punishment is harming others, and God gains no benefit from it. If he believes this, his humility and fear will not be perfected. For this reason, God specified that it is necessary.
• Answer 2: Fear is of two types: Fear of punishment (the station of beginners) and fear of Majesty (Khawf al-Jalāl) (the station of the realized ones). This latter fear is impossible to cease, and the more knowledgeable one is of God's Majesty, the more complete this fear is in his heart.
• Answer 3 (Addressing Answer 2): Those with unveiling have two stations: unveiling of Beauty and unveiling of Majesty. If unveiled by Beauty, they live; if unveiled by Majesty, they become overwhelmed. In the station of remembrance, both aspects must be observed.

Restriction 3: "{and in awe}" (wa khīfah)

There is another reading: "{wa khifiyyah}" (secretly). Al-Zajjaj said the original form was khawfah, and the waw was changed to a yaa due to the preceding vowel being a kasra.

This fear (Khawf) occurs in several ways:

1. Fear of falling short in deeds.
2. Fear of the final outcome (Khātimah). The realized ones fear the predetermined decree (Sābiqah), because what appears in the conclusion is what was decreed in the beginning, as the Prophet (PBUH) said: "The pen has dried concerning what is to be until the Day of Resurrection."
3. Fear: How can I meet the countless, boundless blessings of God with my deficient obedience and limited remembrances?

Sheikh Abu Bakr al-Wasiti used to say: "Thanksgiving is Shirk (polytheism)." When asked about this statement, I replied: Perhaps the meaning, and God knows best, is that whoever attempts to match the aspects of God's favor with his own thanksgiving has committed Shirk. This is because, under this assumption, it becomes as if the servant says: "From You is the blessing, and from me is the thanks," which is undoubtedly Shirk. However, if thanks are offered with the fear of deficiency and the acknowledgment of humility and submission, then the scent of servitude is perceived therein.

As for the second reading, "{wa khifiyyah}" (secretly):

• For beginners, concealment is intended to protect acts of worship from the impurities of showing off (Riyāʾ) and seeking reputation (Sumʿah).
• For the advanced and those brought near, it stems from jealousy (Ghayrah). When love is perfected, it necessitates jealousy. When this deep immersion and annihilation (Fanāʾ) occur, remembrance takes place during concealment, based on the saying of the Prophet (PBUH): "Whoever knows God, his tongue is stilled."

Restriction 4: "{and not aloud in speech}" (wa dūna al-jahr min al-qawl)

This means the remembrance should occur at a level intermediate between audible loudness and complete silence, just as the Almighty said: "{And do not make your prayer loud, nor keep it too low, but seek a way between that}" (Al-Isrāʾ: 110). And concerning Zakariyya (PBUH): "{When he called his Lord a secret call}" (Maryam: 3).

Ibn Abbas explained the meaning of "{and not aloud in speech}" as remembering the Lord in a manner where one hears oneself. The purpose is the establishment of verbal remembrance (Dhikr al-Lisānī). When verbal remembrance is such that one hears oneself, the imagination (Khayāl) is affected by that remembrance. The effect on the imagination necessitates strength in the spiritual heart-remembrance (Dhikr al-Qalbī al-Rūḥānī). Each of these three pillars (tongue, heart, imagination) continuously strengthens the others, and the lights of these remembrances reflect upon one another. These reflections become a cause for increased strength, clarity, unveiling, and ascent from the depths of the darkness of the physical world to the lights of the Director of light and darkness.

Restriction 5: "{in the mornings and in the evenings}" (bil-ghudūw wal-āṣāl)

Here are two issues:

Issue 1: The word al-ghudūw

• Opinion 1: It is a verbal noun (Maṣdar), as in ghadawtu aghdū ghadūwan. From this is the Almighty's saying: "{Their morning journey was a month}" (Saba': 12), meaning their morning travel. Then the time of the morning was named ghudūw, just as one says al-ṣabāḥ (morning) meaning its time, and al-masāʾ (evening) meaning its time.
• Opinion 2: Al-ghudūw is the plural of ghudūwah. Al-Layth said: Al-ghudūw is a plural like al-ghadawāt, and the singular of al-ghadawāt is ghudūwah.

As for {al-āṣāl}, Al-Farrāʾ said its singular is aṣl, and the singular of aṣl is aṣīl. It is said: "We came to them muʾaṣṣalīn," meaning at al-āṣāl. Al-aṣīl is derived from al-aṣl (the root/foundation) and the night that follows the day. The process begins with the start of the night and the end of the day, each day being connected to the beginning of the next day's night. Thus, the end of the afternoon is named aṣīl because it is adjacent to what is the foundation of the next day.

Issue 2: The Wisdom of Specifying Morning and Evening The wisdom in specifying the morning (ghudūw) and the late afternoon (āṣāl) for this remembrance is that:

• In the morning, the human being transitions from sleep (which is like death) to wakefulness (which is like life), and the world transitions from darkness (which is an absence of nature) to light (which is the nature of existence).
• In the late afternoon (āṣāl), the opposite occurs: the human transitions from life to death, and the world transitions from pure light to pure darkness.

In these two times, these two types of powerful, overwhelming change occur, and only the Deity, described with dazzling wisdom and infinite power, can effect such change. For this wondrous wisdom, God specified these two times for the command of remembrance.

Some people said that mentioning these two times implies the necessity of continuous remembrance and perseverance in it as much as possible. It is narrated from Ibn Abbas regarding the verse: "{those who remember Allah while standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides...}" (Al-A'raf: 191), that if a fourth state were available to the son of Adam besides these states, God would have commanded remembrance in it. This means that God commanded remembrance continuously.

Restriction 6: "{and do not be among the heedless}" (wa lā takun min al-ghāfilīn)

The meaning is that the phrase "{in the mornings and in the evenings}" indicates that remembrance must occur at all times. And the phrase "{and do not be among the heedless}" indicates that heart-remembrance must be constant, and a person should not be heedless for a single moment from recalling the Majesty and Greatness of God, to the extent of human capacity and power.

The reality is that there is a wondrous connection between the spirit (Rūḥ) and the body (Badan). Every effect that occurs in the essence of the spirit results in an effect descending to the body, and every state that occurs in the body results in consequences ascending to the spirit. Do you not see that if a person imagines something sour, his tooth aches? If he imagines an unpleasant situation and becomes angry, his body heats up? These are effects descending from the spirit to the body. Likewise, if a person perseveres in an action and repeats it many times, a strong, established disposition forms in the essence of the soul—these are effects ascending from the body to the soul.

Once you know this, we say: When verbal remembrance occurs to the extent that one hears oneself, an effect of that verbal remembrance occurs in the imagination. Then, from that imaginary effect, further lights and unveilings ascend to the essence of the spirit. Then, from those spiritual illuminations, further effects reflect back to the tongue, and from there to the imagination, and then again to the intellect. These lights continuously reflect upon one another, strengthening and perfecting each other. Since the increase of the lights of these stations is endless, the journey of the knowers in these high, sacred stations is also endless—it is a shoreless sea and a goal without end.

Know that although the apparent address of "{And remember your Lord within yourself}" is to the Prophet (PBUH), it is general for all the accountable, and everyone has a specific degree and station according to the potential of their rational essence, just as He said regarding the description of the angels: "{And there is none of us but has a known station}" (Al-Saffat: 164).