Al-Muzzammil: (8) And remember the Name of your Lord...

This verse indicates that the Almighty commanded two things:

1. Remembrance (Dhikr)
2. Utter devotion/severance (Tabattul)

Note that here the command is: {And remember the Name of your Lord} (referring to the Name). However, in another verse, He said: {And remember your Lord within yourself, humbly and with reverence} (Al-A'raf: 205).

This distinction exists because, at the initial stage, one must remember the Name verbally (with the tongue). Subsequently, the Name vanishes, and what remains is the Named One (the reality).

• The first stage is what is intended here by: {And remember the Name of your Lord}.
• The second stage is intended by the verse in the other Surah: {And remember your Lord within yourself}.

One is engaged in remembering the Lord when one is in the station of contemplating His Lordship (Rububiyyah). Lordship refers to the various ways He nurtures and bestows grace upon you. As long as one is in this station, the heart is occupied contemplating His favors and blessings, but the heart is not entirely absorbed in Him.

As one ascends further, one becomes occupied with remembering His Divinity (Ilahiyyah). This is alluded to by the verse: {So remember Allah as you remember your fathers} (Al-Baqarah: 200). In this station, the person is in the station of awe (Haybah) and fear (Khashyah), because Divinity points to Absolute Power (Qahhariyyah), Might (Izzah), Transcendence (Uluww), and Self-Sufficiency (Samadiyyah).

The servant continuously ascends in this station, oscillating between the stations of Majesty (Jalal), Transcendence (Tanzih), and Sanctification (Taqdis), until they transition to the station of the Singular Identity (Huwiyyah Ahadhiyyah). At this level, expressions fall short of describing it, and indications fail to reach it. This is the ultimate terminus at the True One. One stops there because there is no parallel in the attributes by which one could transition from one attribute to another, nor is the Identity composite such that the intellect could shift from one part to another. Furthermore, it bears no resemblance to any perceived state of the self that could be understood through comparison.

This Reality is Manifest because it is the origin of the manifestation of everything apparent, and it is Hidden because it is beyond the intellects of all created beings. Glory be to Him Who is veiled from the intellects due to the intensity of His manifestation, and hidden from them by the perfection of His Light!

Regarding the Almighty’s saying: {And devote yourself to Him with complete devotion (tabteela)}, there are two issues:

Issue 1: The Meaning of Tabattul

All commentators have interpreted Tabattul as Sincerity/Exclusivity (Ikhlas).

The linguistic root of Tabattul is severance/cutting off. Mary (Maryam) was called al-Batūl because she completely cut herself off for the sake of worshiping God. A Sadaqah Batilah is charity separated from the wealth of its owner. Al-Layth said: Tabteel is the distinguishing of one thing from another. Al-Batūl is any woman who withdraws from men, having no desire for them.

Knowing this, understand that the commentators have offered various expressions:

• Al-Farra’ said: When a worshiper abandons everything and turns to worship, it is said he has tabattala—meaning he has cut himself off from everything for the sake of God’s command and obedience.
• Zayd ibn Aslam said: Tabattul is rejecting the world and everything in it, seeking what is with God.

However, the meaning of the verse is deeper than what these literalists have stated.

{And devote yourself to Him} means: Cut yourself off from everything other than Him. Someone preoccupied with seeking the Hereafter is not mutabattil (devoted) to God; rather, they are devoted to the Hereafter. Someone preoccupied with the worship of God is devoted to worship, not to God. Someone seeking knowledge of God is devoted to knowledge of God, not to God.

If one prefers worship for the sake of worship itself, or to seek reward, or to become a perfect worshiper through that servitude—they are devoted to something other than God. If one prefers gnosis (‘irfan) for the sake of gnosis, they are devoted to gnosis.

But whoever prefers servitude not for servitude itself, but for the One Who is Worshipped, and prefers gnosis not for gnosis itself, but for the Known One—that person has plunged into the ocean of Arrival (Wusul). This is a station that speech cannot explain, nor imagination depict. Whoever seeks it must be among those who have arrived at the reality (al-‘Ayn), not merely those who hear the reports (al-Athar).

A person finds an example of this only in intense love (‘ishq) where the body becomes afflicted, the faculties are restrained, the eyes are blinded, all secondary aims vanish completely, and the soul is entirely cut off from everything except the Beloved. Only there does the difference become clear between devotion to the Beloved and devotion to the vision of the Beloved.

Issue 2: The Structure of the Command

It would have been appropriate to say: {And devote yourself to Him with devotion (tabteela)} or {Devote yourself (battil) to Him with devotion (tabteela)}.

However, the Almighty chose this subtle phrasing: that the ultimate goal (al-Maqṣūd bi-al-Dhāt) is the state of devotion (al-Tabattul). As for al-Tabteel (the act of severing/devoting), it is the action or means.

Someone engaged in the action (al-Tasarrruf) cannot be in the state of devotion (mutabattil) to God, because one occupied with something other than God cannot be completely cut off for God. Nevertheless, the action (al-Tabteel) is necessary first in order for the state of devotion (al-Tabattul) to be achieved, just as He said: {And those who strive hard for Us, We will surely guide them to Our paths} (Al-‘Ankabut: 69).

Thus, He mentioned the state (al-Tabattul) first, indicating it is the ultimate goal, and mentioned the action (al-Tabteel) second, indicating it is necessary but is a means to an end.

Know that after commanding remembrance first, and then devotion second, the Almighty mentioned the reason for both:

{The Lord of the East and the West; there is no deity except Him, so take Him as your Trustee (Wakil).} (74)