Ep 9 — Glad Tidings (2)

Session 7: Glad Tidings (2). delivered Wednesday, 3 Mehr 1353 / 8 Ramadan al-Mubarak 1394 Surat al-Ra'd (13:28-29). …those who believe and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of God. Verily, in the remembrance of God do hearts find rest. Those who believe and do righteous deeds — blessedness is theirs, and a goodly return. We have stated that God the Exalted, in the Qur'an, gives the believers the glad tidings and the promise of every element of felicity. At the level of thought and conception, we identify certain things as the elements of felicity — ten or twelve of which we set out in the previous written note and the previous recitation. The Qur'an gives all of these to the believers in the form of decisive promises. Two of those promises — guidance and light — we observed yesterday in the course of the noble verses of the Qur'an; they were recited, and we benefited from them. Two more we shall raise today, reading their verses briefly. The rest we leave to you, my friends: follow the very order which I arranged in the previous note, and take up the subjects one by one. When you study the Qur'an and recite it, try to find those subjects — those of you who know Arabic, from the text of the Qur'an itself; those who do not know Arabic, with attention to a translation of the Qur'an. For example, one of those subjects is the reward of the Hereafter — one of those promises. Keep your eye on the Qur'an yourselves; see in how many places, and in which places, the Qur'an gives the believers — those who possess faith and righteous deeds — the promise of the reward of the Hereafter. Or, for example, one of them is superiority over and victory over the enemy. See whether there is a place in the Qur'an where God the Exalted has told the believers that you will gain the upper hand over your enemies. Right now, do you know of a place where the Qur'an has promised the believers that you are higher and superior to your enemies, to the ranks of your opponents — provided that you have faith and act upon the commitments of faith? Or that has said that you will ultimately triumph over your enemies, provided that you strive in the path of your thought? Is there such a verse in the Qur'an or not? Can the gentlemen answer whether there is such a verse in the Qur'an or not? And if anyone remembers the verse, he can recite it now. (One of those present: wa antum al-a'lawna in kuntum mu'minin.) Very well, that was one verse — wa la tahinu wa la tahzanu wa antum al-a'lawna in kuntum mu'minin — Do not lose heart and do not grieve, for you are the higher ones, if you are believers. Yes, here is a verse for it: if indeed you are believers, you are superior; the upper hand, the stronger hand, is at your disposal in relation to your enemies. There are numerous other verses that give the promise and the glad tidings to the believers that they gain a decisive victory over the enemies and the opposing ranks: God has decreed: 'I shall surely prevail, I and My messengers.' And verily Our host — they shall be the victors. Verses of this kind are abundant. Keep these in mind. When you look at the Qur'an, when you study it, instead of making your aim to finish a juz' or to finish a surah, let your aim be to understand the Qur'an. As it is reported from the Imam, peace be upon him, or from the Prophet of God, may God's blessings be upon him and his family, that during the recitation of the Qur'an your concern should not be to finish the surah or to finish the juz'. Whether it is finished or not, recite a single verse — with reflection, with care. See whether, in this verse, there is something of these promises which we have mentioned — the pillars and elements that are necessary and effective for attaining felicity — whether you find that the Qur'an has promised the believers something of these elements. Has the glad tidings and the promise been given, or not? By this means I want you yourselves to refer to the Qur'an. Until the end of the month of Ramadan, if I succeed, I will translate and explain very many of the Qur'an's verses for you. Say, for example, I explain fifty verses, or I explain another fifty verses, or another sixty verses. The Qur'an is roughly six thousand — more than six thousand — verses; you yourselves must develop an intimacy with the Qur'an. Those who know Arabic, let them try to make firm this intimacy of theirs and this companionship of theirs with the Qur'an. Those who do not know Arabic should try to learn Arabic and to become familiar with the language of the Qur'an. But let them not put off the reading and understanding of the Qur'an until after they have learned Arabic; let them read the Qur'an now too — only, find good translations of the Qur'an. Some of the translations, in my view, are good and to my liking. When you read the Qur'an, pay attention to those translations and exercise care and reflection upon the meanings of the verses; see which of these promises that we mentioned here you can find in the Qur'an. Therefore, today I will mention two further subjects that are of interest among these promises which have come in the Qur'an. The rest of it I leave to you yourselves, and I hope that you, too, will not put it off until after the month of Ramadan, or until a time of idleness and leisure. This very night, this very day, at the first opportunity, in the first moment of leisure, when you open the Qur'an, read the Qur'an with this very intention, and teach yourselves familiarity with, intimacy with, and benefiting from the Qur'an. The Qur'an is, after all, the inexhaustible source of our knowledge. Whatever we have, we draw from the Qur'an, and whatever can be the means of our felicity and good fortune must, too, come out of the Qur'an. This clear, definite text is at our disposal; it is incumbent upon us to make use of it. Of course, when I say "the Qur'an," I do not wish to confine it to the Qur'an — not that Nahj al-Balaghah, no; or the authentic traditions from the rightly-guiding Imams, peace be upon them, no — why? We should make use of Nahj al-Balaghah too, alongside the Qur'an; we should make use of the hadith too, alongside the Qur'an — the authentic and sound hadith. Of course, the Qur'an is a text that is at everyone's disposal, and everyone can have its correct, sound, and complete copy even in his pocket; access to hadith is not this easy, nor is access to Nahj al-Balaghah. In any case, above this we wrote "assurance, repose, and security," which we considered close in horizon — we considered them as one. Let us now state what we mean by these three words, and then return to the verses of the Qur'an to see what they teach us about assurance, repose, and security. Assurance means the state of tranquility of the heart. The state of calm of the spirit and the heart. What does "calm" mean? In what sense is "calm" intended by us here? Is it in the sense that our spirit should have no movement and no striving? Calm in the sense that it is in a state of half-sleep and half-unconsciousness in our heart? No — rather, calm as opposed to anxiety and agitation; calm and assurance as opposed to disquiet. Picture two persons; both are due to be present in the examination session. One has studied these lessons well, has reviewed them ten times, has discussed them with his friends; all the problems of this book on which he is to be examined are present and clear in his mind. The other has not studied this book, or has studied a portion of it, or does not place much trust in his own memory. Both are due to be present in the examination session. Do these two have the same spiritual state? Look: when that first person enters this session, his spirit has calm; it has no turbulence, no agitation, no anxiety, no disquiet. He says, "From wherever they ask, I know it." But that other one is constantly in turbulence, like a skiff, like a small boat that has fallen onto a turbulent ocean, into a tumultuous sea — sometimes to this side, sometimes to that side; sometimes by this route, sometimes by that route; the winds carry him this way and that. The spirit of that unprepared person has just such a state. In facing a judge, you can reckon these same two states of spirit. In involvement in social activities and in the great struggles of history, you can consider these very same two states and two dispositions in an individual or in a society. Two soldiers enter the field of battle, possessing two kinds of disposition. One has confidence in the quality of his military equipment, in the leadership over him, in the planning and competence of his chiefs and leaders, in the weakness of the enemy's force, in the efficacy of himself and his friends and comrades-in-arms. In addition, he knows that the reinforcement forces are over there, behind the front, waiting to come onto the field at the necessary moment, at a single signal, and to help. This one enters the field of battle in one manner. That man who has no confidence whatsoever in his own military equipment, in the effectiveness of his friends, in the use of his weapon, sees himself as small and the enemy as great; sees himself as naked and the enemy as encased in armor and weapons up to below the eye and to the teeth — this one enters the field of battle in another manner. These are some examples of assurance. I want it to become clear and correct for you what it means — what assurance of the self means, what it means for the self to be assured, what it means for the heart to possess calm, in what sense. That first soldier possesses assurance; his heart is at peace. To have a peaceful heart does not mean that, on the field of battle, he puts his shoes under his head and stretches out and sleeps and his snoring rises to the sky — no, assurance does not mean that. Assurance does not mean that in the middle of the field of battle he says, "Let us now have a cigarette, let us look at the scenery for a little while" — no, certainly not. It does not mean that the slightest movement of the enemy is hidden from his sight. Assurance means that he is not agitated, he is not disquieted; the future is clear to him, he knows that he will prevail, and so he does not fear. This heart and this spirit is at peace — like a ship that, with great weight, with much equipment, is moving on a calm sea: this is what they call assurance. And the unassured one is like that small boat, like that broken plank that is moving on a turbulent ocean, on a turbulent river; constantly agitated, constantly going back and forth by this route, by that route. These are two kinds of disposition. Let me give another example of assurance. We must gradually draw near to that disposition of assurance that is intended in the Qur'an. We begin from the examination of a student, then a defendant before a court, then a soldier on the field of battle. Another instance: a person who has set out upon a road and is moving, going toward a purpose and a destination. Dozens of motives may hold him back from traversing this road and pursuing this goal. Fear is one of these motives — dread, alarm, terror. Out of fear he may fail to continue this road. Fear of what? Fear of hunger along the way, fear of the thief on the road, fear of the ravening wolf that lies in ambush on the way, fear of the toils and the sleepless nights of this road, and finally fear of not arriving. This is one category of the things that prevent this traveler from pursuing his road and going forward. Greed is another. Greed for what? Greed for a comfortable life — that if I do not traverse this road, do not set out and go after this purpose, I will sleep in the warm, soft bed of my own home, I will pass my time beside my children and my beloved wife. This is something that, for an ordinary person, for a small person, for a weak spirit, is an ideal, is beloved, is desirable; it draws him to itself, so it is clear that he is not willing to give it up easily. Greed for a comfortable life; greed for the one who says, "If you do not go on this road, this purse of money is yours"; greed for attaining the positions which, if you do not accept this wandering exile, those positions await you. Greed! These are the motives that hold a person back from traversing this road — the fears and the greeds. If we dissect the fears, dozens of categories emerge; if we dissect the greeds, dozens of other categories emerge: love of ease, love of well-being, opportunism, self-interest, and the like. Well, now picture a traveler who has finally taken the risk, as people today put it, has set foot on this road, is moving and going — but have these motives come to an end? This person who is moving on this road — those obstacles that would not let him enter this road, have they vanished? No, they have not vanished. Pay close attention! These obstacles, at first too, would not let him enter this long and far road; now, too, that he has entered this road, they will not let him traverse it in tranquility and peace. With every step he takes, like a thorn, like a hook, like a chain — they catch his foot, the hem of his garment, his hand, and they pull and drag and hold him back from traversing the road. He keeps falling to this side, keeps falling to that side; this thorn keeps catching his hem, that chain keeps dragging his foot, the love of his child keeps drawing him toward itself, the recollection of a comfortable life keeps pulling him toward itself. From this side and from that side, the various motives carry this person off in different directions. This person becomes unstable, like that very skiff, like that very boat — sometimes to this side, sometimes to that side. This is the unassured person. There is also a person who, when he has entered, when he has reached this road, creates for himself a motive, a factor of attention, that makes him heedless of all these small motives. An attraction and a pull draws his heart, such that these small attractions — the attraction of the child, the attraction of the wife, the attraction of life, the attraction of money, the attraction of position, the attraction of one's very life — in the face of that greater attraction are empty, are nothing, are annihilated, have no effect. Dozens of magnets attract a small object this way and that, but when a stronger magnet appears, its attraction draws this small piece of iron, this filing, toward itself in such a way that the other magnets have absolutely no effect — their effect is neutralized. When this person, with this strong attraction, with this strong disposition, has entered a road and become occupied with traversing that road, then the attraction of wife and child and the other things — the beauties and the comforts and the pleasures and the delights and the merrymaking — no longer have any effect on him. Who is this person? This is the assured person: O soul at peace! Return to your Lord, well-pleased and pleasing. The one who is assured — in whom there is the state of assurance and repose — is the one who can traverse the road of God to the end, and attain the resting-place and the intended purpose and destination. This is what assurance means: an attraction draws him; the attraction of faith, the attraction of love for God, the attraction of love for the goal, captivates him so and draws him toward itself so that all the other attractions appear to him empty and absurd — empty and absurd. The meaning is not that the earth, with this immensity, whose gravity draws every body toward itself — that this should not exist. But suppose then that some body, some mountain — even Mount Himalaya, even the greatest mountains of the world — should also display itself; a stone that you fling, should Mount Himalaya draw it toward itself? No. Mount Himalaya has gravity, but in the face of the earth's gravity, its gravity is zero, it is neutralized, it does not act. Mount Himalaya, and any body of that magnitude, exerts its effect and draws smaller objects toward itself only where there is no greater body, like the earth, beside it. When the earth's gravity is present, the gravity of Mount Himalaya is nothing. When faith in God acts in the spirit of a person like a strong attraction, it draws him toward the goals of faith in such a way that the small attractions — these attractions that loom large for the faithless, but in the face of faith are small — these attractions no longer have any effect on him. It keeps tempting the heart of a person to bring up here the abundant historical evidences that exist in the early period of Islam — but I see that time is passing; you yourselves should search out the evidences and find them. Those astonishing attractions that drew certain individuals… I only want to explain these two or three words. Assurance — so what does assurance mean? The gist of the matter came to this: that assurance means the tranquility of a person's spirit, the calm of a person's heart — that the heart be at peace. What does it mean to be at peace? Not that it be motionless, not that it not go forward and not have progress — rather, that the various attractions not draw him to this side and that side, not become the cause of his trouble. Loves and affections and passions and caprices — none of them should rule over him; rather, under the weight of the burden of faith, at peace and assured, yet with the utmost possible speed, he moves toward the purpose of humanity, the purpose of creation. This is the meaning of assurance. Next, the second word is sukun (repose). Sukun, too, has this very meaning. Then God sent down His sakinah (tranquility) upon His Messenger… God sent down sakinah upon the Prophet. In five or six places of the Qur'an this expression occurs, one of which is among these very verses that I think we shall now read. Of those verses that pertain to the sakinah of the self — it seems that, unfortunately, I have brought nothing here. (Because, since time is so short and space is so short and our resources, too, are truly meager, I keep thinking that if I bring two more verses, these two pages will become three pages — how are we to mimeograph this? You understand! Our resources in these matters are this scant and weak. I say this so that you know that if the print of this has come out faint, you should know that, had it not come out faint, it would not have come out at all! Suppose, for example, that our situation is now like this: we cannot easily and conveniently provide even two ordinary sheets of paper. Otherwise, I gathered all these verses pertaining to security and assurance and sakinah; I took pains to gather them, it is much trouble too — searching and finding them is very difficult; at the least a person must search and work for one or two hours just to find the verses, let alone drawing the conclusions. Even though I gathered the verses, I was always troubled by this: that if we were to bring two more verses, this one and a half pages would become two and a half or three pages, and mimeographing that would be a difficult task. See our resources — I want you to bear this in mind, that our resources are this degree of weak.) In any case: there are five or six verses in the Qur'an that concern sakinah at critical moments. For example, one is in the Battle of Hunayn. In the Battle of Hunayn, the Prophet's troops fell into an unwarranted pride; they became conceited about their own force and thought that today no one would gain victory over them. And it is the way of God that a conceited person must fall flat on his face, that every conceited group must become heedless and take a blow. Constant alertness and sensitivity are necessary for every person and every community and every nation. So much so that the Commander of the Faithful, may God's blessings be upon him, said, "I am not like that dazed, dumb animal that is put to sleep with a lullaby, in Nahj al-Balaghah: wa-Allahi la akunu kal-dib'i tanamu 'ala tul al-ladm — with lullabies, like the hyena: they go to its den and sing it lullabies; this makes it fall asleep, then they catch it. He says: I am not the sort to be put to sleep with a lullaby and become heedless — I am constantly alert, and it is the way of God that a person who is not constantly alert is bound to see and take the blow." These people became heedless on the field of battle, and they had reason to: …when your great numbers pleased you, but they availed you nothing. They were many, and this being-many of the host brought them to wonder, brought them to amazement. Wonder! Are we all this multitude? "But it availed you nothing" — this very pride of yours caused you to be heedless in the war and to be defeated. After they were defeated by the enemy — yet not a decisive and final defeat, a partial breaking — they immediately came to themselves. A number of good soldiers, a number of steadfast, seriously believing commanders — the Commander of the Faithful and a few others — with every effort and exertion, finally turned back the troops, who were being routed. Then, there, the Lord says: Then God sent down His sakinah upon His Messenger. God returned to you the peace and the sakinah of the spirit — peace, sakinah. One instance is at the time when, beneath that tree, the Muslims renewed their allegiance to the Prophet. One instance is for the time when the Prophet had fled from Mecca toward Medina, with the aim of forming the Islamic society, with the plan of dangerous decisions for the unbelievers and the enemies, with a thousand resolves and powerful determinations, with a thousand thoughts. The Prophet has come out, and he must convey himself to Medina; the condition for the realization of all those aims and those thoughts, those plans of the Prophet, is that the Prophet arrive safely in Medina. Otherwise, if the unbelievers were able to kill him on the road, to destroy him, none of those visions would take the form of occurrence. The Prophet has taken refuge in a cave, and there too God says: …so God sent down His sakinah upon him. God sent down His sakinah and peace upon the heart of the Prophet in that critical situation. And there are several other instances. The believer possesses sakinah; sakinah means this. So sakinah, peace, repose of the self — again, it does not mean the absence of movement and falling asleep and becoming heedless. And the last phrase and the last word — security. Of course, it is evident that here the meaning is spiritual security, not social security. Social security, of course, means that all individuals enjoy a certain peace in society, so that each one can take his own right. And silence — enforced silences are something other than security. Security consists in all the people being able, with complete safety, to attain their rights and their legitimate wants. This security that we are speaking of here is other than that security which is raised in the context of social matters and social security. This security means spiritual security — the absence of instability, the absence of agitation, the absence of fear, not being afraid and fearful — these three phrases. Now, in the verses of the Qur'an, see what is stated regarding the believers in the context of these three attributes. (While I read the verses, I request that you look at these sheets, that you pay attention to the translations and also correct the verses themselves. Today it came out very poorly.) The verse of Surat al-Ra'd, verses 28 and 29 — two short verses: …those who believe, and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of God. Of course, the verse is perhaps a continuation of the previous verses, but mentioning the previous verses would take a little long. "Those who believe, and whose hearts find rest" — those who brought faith and whose hearts found peace — "in the remembrance of God" — in the remembrance of God. See, this remembrance of God is that very strong attraction. That same strong attraction that I said erases the small attractions, neutralizes their effect — this is precisely dhikr Allah (the remembrance of God). Why did they place such great emphasis on the prayer (salat)? Why did they say that if the prayer is not accepted, the other deeds are not accepted? Why have they said that Mecca [the pilgrimage] is once in a lifetime, fasting once a year, zakat for a specific case, khums likewise, and the rest of the acts of worship likewise — but the prayer they have said is every day, and that five times a day, and if you do more, it is better? Why have they said this? Because the prayer — I have spoken about the prayer in detail over several sessions; some of the honored attendees may remember — the prayer is a capsule of the remembrance of God. The prayer, from head to foot, is dhikr Allah. That is why the Qur'an itself, after it says: Surely the prayer restrains from indecency and wrongdoing… — that the prayer forbids and restrains from indecency and wrongdoings — follows it with: "and the remembrance of God is greater" (wa la-dhikru Allahi akbar). The remembrance of God is higher. This aspect and this dimension of the prayer is more important — that it is the remembrance of God; this is higher; the greatest property of the prayer is this. And the property of dhikr Allah is this: the remembrance of God, attention to God, ever seeing God, knowing Him, considering Him present with oneself — one of its important properties is this: that it keeps this heart away from agitations, from temptations, from anxieties, from the various attractions, in every undertaking, on every road. This heart finds peace. Like a weight placed upon a boat of that sort, which makes it a little heavier, reduces a little of its movement and agitation. This is dhikr Allah. "Those who believe" — those who… (allow me to read the translation from this very note, so that there is again opportunity for you to correct it) — those who brought faith, and whose hearts attained steadiness and assurance through the remembrance of God — I deliberately brought in here the word "steadiness," that is, that state of calm — are guided toward God. This "are guided toward God" I wrote in parentheses; why? Because, as I stated, the verse is connected to what precedes, and in the previous verse it was said that they are guided toward God: "and He guides to Himself whoever turns" — those who believe — to the end of the verse. Therefore the "are guided" that we wrote in parentheses — "are guided toward God" — this translation is with attention and regard to the previous verse, where the guidance of this group is derived from the previous verse. Surely, by the remembrance of God do hearts find rest. — indeed, by means of the remembrance of God, hearts take on tranquility and steadiness. The remembrance of God has this astonishing property, and you see how effective tranquility and repose and steadiness are for the success of a person. The believer has this distinction; he enjoys this astonishing spiritual capacity. Its continuation: Those who believe and do righteous deeds — blessedness is theirs, and a goodly return. — those who brought faith and did good works, "blessedness is theirs, and a goodly return." (Of course, here again is a translation that I myself brought in this sheet; allow me to read it.) Those who brought faith and did righteous deeds — righteous deed meaning that they carried out the necessary commitments commensurate with faith — blessed be their today, and goodly be their morrow. This is a conclusion that I drew from "blessedness is theirs, and a goodly return"; its translation differs a little from this sentence that I have written, but in summary and as a drawn conclusion it is this: their today good, their tomorrow too good; their world goodly, their Hereafter too goodly. And the reality, too, is just this. The believing society — and that, a believer who acts upon the commitments of faith — its world too is flourishing, its Hereafter too is flourishing; its world too is paradise, its Hereafter too is paradise. This is one verse. Then we wrote a short commentary here, all of which I no longer wish to read now. The discussion is the disputation of Abraham with his people. Abraham, the Friend of the Merciful and the herald of monotheism in olden and ancient times, used to dispute and argue with his own people and his own folk. They would argue with him, and he would argue with them and give answers to their words. The Qur'an narrates and recalls this disputation. It says, And his people disputed with him — and his people, the people of Abraham, took to disputing with him, took to arguing with him. The Qur'an does not say what they said, how they argued with him, what their words were; but from the answer that Abraham gave them, which the Qur'an narrates, one guesses what their words were. I will first read the answer; then you yourselves guess what they were saying to Abraham. He said: Do you dispute with me concerning God… When they took to disputing and arguing with Abraham, "He said: Do you dispute with me concerning God?" — do you argue with me about God? — "while He has guided me" — whereas God has guided me; that is, I am clear, I have no doubt in my own road, that you might wish to exploit that doubt of mine and, with argument and dispute, turn me back from my road. "And He has guided me" — I have been guided; I have found the way, I am clear, I know what I am doing — "and I do not fear what you associate with Him, except that my Lord should will something" — and from what you have set up as partners to God, I have no fear at all, save that God should will something concerning me; that is, in truth, I fear God. From the events that God may place on my road, and from the future that God may intend for me, I am apprehensive, and that is all; but of those things which you have set up as partners to God, I have no apprehension. From here a little becomes evident, and later more becomes evident; from this answer it is derived that they were saying to Abraham: Abraham, fear these partners that we have set up for God, fear them. These will wither you, these will torment you, will blacken your world, will embitter your days — no doubt that is so! Abraham, in answer, says: I do not fear them, I have no apprehension of them at all. From the continuation of the verse and Abraham's speech, this point becomes clearer and more manifest. My Lord encompasses all things in knowledge. — my Lord's knowledge is extended over everything. wasi'a — is extended; rabbi — my Lord; kulla shay'in — over everything; 'ilman — in respect of knowledge. The fluent and simple Persian rendering of which becomes just what we wrote here: my Lord's knowledge is extended over everything. "Will you not then take heed?" a-fa-la tatadhakkarun — with all this, do you not come to yourselves? tatadhakkarun — that is, do you not become aware? Do you not become attentive? Do you not find the state of coming to yourselves? Do you not call to mind? These all mean one thing; so that in the Persian translation that I wrote here, it comes to just what I stated: a-fa-la tatadhakkarun — that is, with all this, do you not come to yourselves? Well, Abraham's speech with his people still continues. This was one portion of it. (Today our work has become a little difficult on account of the situation of the mimeographing of this paper. Nonetheless, we have a responsibility to read this, and to read it correctly; this too — let us read it, and you correct it, and let us also at times compare with one another, at any rate.) Following this matter, Abraham says: (here it has come out very poorly in my copy; gentlemen, correct it.) And how should I fear what you associate, while you do not fear that you have associated with God that for which He has sent down upon you no authority? Here it becomes well clarified what argument and disputation they had with Abraham. Abraham says: How is it that I should fear?! It is you who should fear. Should I fear those whom you, without reason, have set up as partners to God and rivals to God in dominion and rule and command and creation and direction — whereas God has guided me, the matter is clear to me — and you do not fear that you have set up, without reason, without logic, without cause, with no rational warrant whatsoever, partners and rivals and peers to the Lord of the worlds? You should fear, not I. From here it becomes evident that they, in their argument with Abraham, were saying: Fear! Fear! Now, fear whom? Fear what? Whether the inanimate partners of God, or the living partners of God, or both — this is no longer evident. Which partners they said one must fear is not clear. In summary, they set up all sorts and kinds of partners for God the Exalted. The calf-worshipers set up the calf, the stone- and wood-worshipers the stone and the wood, the Pharaoh- and Nimrod-worshipers Pharaoh and Nimrod. And from what we discussed concerning tawhid, it becomes evident that that calf and that stone and that Pharaoh and that Nimrod are all kindling for one fire, are all filth of one valley, and have no difference among them. At any rate, these people were saying that one must fear the partners of God. Now the partners of God — whether the human partners, the partners among the jinn, the living partners, the inanimate partners, and the like — this, again, is not evident. And how should I fear what you have associated… — how should I fear what you have set up as partners to God — "while you do not fear that you have associated with God…" — and you do not fear that you have set up partners to God? "…that for which He has sent down upon you no authority" — something for which you have no proof or argument at all. The translation we wrote here is this: How should I fear what you have set up as partners to God, while you do not fear that you have associated partners with Him — even though you have no proof or demonstration whatsoever in this? Then its continuation: …So which of the two parties has more right to security, if you but knew? — we or you? — I am more deserving and more fitting to be spiritually secure, to have spiritual security, to have no disquiet and anxiety; or you? I, whose heart is attached to God — Abraham says — I, who am the object of God's guidance, am I more free of disquiet, or you, wretched one, who in the road and the work you have taken up have no proof or argument, while to me the matter is clear? "So which of the two parties has more right to security, if you but knew?" — which of the two of us, I, Abraham, or you idol-worshipers, is more deserving of security? Abraham was saying. Then in parentheses I have explained: I, who have known God and have found the way to Him with insight and awareness, or you, who have no proof at all for your vain conjecture. "If you but knew!" — that is, it is evident what the result is, it is evident what the answer is, it is evident who is condemned to disquiet and fear and dread, and who is not condemned to these miseries and is assured. And at the end He says: Those who believe and do not clothe their faith with wrongdoing — for them is security, and they are the rightly guided. Those who have brought faith and have not stained their faith with injustice and oppression — to them alone belongs security, and they are the rightly guided ones. This is concerning security. Then we wrote: "4 — Being fruitful." What does this mean? The fourth promise is this: being fruitful. Whether this traveler considers his work fruitful or not is one of the things that decide his journey. If he has it, he can move better, and there is greater likelihood of his arriving; if he does not have it, he moves more slowly, and the likelihood of his not arriving is also great. If he considered this road, his movement and his work and his step, fruitful — if he felt that this does not go to waste, his deed is not ruined, that upon this movement, upon this step, some effect follows, that each movement of his creates a wave that brings him nearer to the resting-place — if he believed this, he goes forward faster, works better, his fatigue is less, he moves more easily. If he did not believe this — alas! The believer is of this sort: the believer considers his own work fruitful, and the Qur'an has taught him this. The Qur'an, of course, has abundant instances: Indeed God does not let the reward of those who do good go to waste. …the reward of one who does good work [We do not let go to waste\.] — from the beginning to the end of the Qur'an, beyond count. I have brought one instance of it from the beginning of the Qur'an, which was ready to hand, from Surat al-Baqarah. Ten instances, fifteen more instances — you yourselves find them too. (It is from Surat al-Baqarah; of course, we did not write its address here, but its address is Surat al-Baqarah, verse 147 or 8 — pardon me, 143 or 4 — because these verse numbers in this Qur'an are written very small and poorly.) The verse is about the qibla. Let me first state the history of the qibla in a few words. When the Muslims were in Mecca, they used to pray facing the House of the Ka'ba. Before the migration, for prayer, for worship, facing the House of the Ka'ba. When they came to Medina — at the first entry into Medina — they used to pray facing Jerusalem (Bayt al-Maqdis); by the command of the Lord, of course. The very thing the Jews too were doing. At that same time, the Jews of Medina too used to worship facing Jerusalem, and the Muslims likewise. Some time passed, and a verse was revealed: …so turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque. — turn toward the House of God, toward the Ka'ba, the Sacred Mosque. And again the Muslims took to praying toward that direction. The episode of the qibla has come in detail at the beginning of Surat al-Baqarah — numerous verses; perhaps seven, eight, ten verses about the qibla are at the beginning of Surat al-Baqarah, which explain the various dimensions of this episode. It is itself lengthy, and for now there is no need that we expound it. One of these verses is this; it says to the believers, says to the Prophet: We set your qibla toward Jerusalem — when you had come from Mecca, at the first entry into Medina — for one reason. We wanted a test to be carried out upon you. You, before you became Muslims, when you were in Mecca, even before becoming Muslims, held respect for the House of the Ka'ba, held a sanctity for it; and then, when you became Muslims, your prayer in Mecca was toward the House of the Ka'ba. Now that you have come to Medina, We wished to take from you, all at once and temporarily, an ancestral, forefathers' custom — to see how ready you are, for the sake of God, to trample customs underfoot. This is very important; this itself is a point. It is not connected to our discussion, but it is a very important point. You who are believers — are you ready, for the sake of God, to suddenly trample underfoot an ancestral, forefathers' custom, something to which you became attached, in which you took interest, for which you hold respect, or not? Not that you should imagine that the prayers which, during the time you were in Medina, at first you prayed facing Jerusalem — that We count these prayers as nothing, do not accept them, that the qibla of Jerusalem was a false qibla — no, certainly not. The things you did, all of them, in all their degrees, are accepted. Your efforts and your endeavors, O believers, both in the matter of the qibla and in general, are the object of God's confirmation and affirmation and the object of His reward and thanks. But this interval that took place was for this: that We might test. The verse is on this category. Now see from which part of the verse we wish to draw our point. And We did not appoint the qibla which you were upon… — We did not appoint, O Prophet, that qibla which you were upon, that is, Jerusalem. So when was the verse revealed? At the time when they had turned back from Jerusalem to the Ka'ba; they were praying toward the Ka'ba. God says: that qibla which you formerly used to face — that is, Jerusalem — for what did We appoint it? "And We did not appoint the qibla which you were upon" — We did not appoint, did not ordain, the qibla which you were formerly upon — "except" — "that We might know" — except that it might become known — "who follows the Messenger from him who turns back on his heels" — those who follow the Prophet, distinct and separate from those who incline and lean toward their predecessors and turn back to the past, so that they become evident. So this is a test that He carried out upon you. The translation we made of the verse in this sheet is like this: We had not appointed your former qibla, Jerusalem (Bayt al-Maqdis or Bayt al-Maqdas), in parentheses, except that the true followers of the Prophet might become known and distinguished from the followers of pagan customs. "And it was indeed grievous, except for those whom God has guided" — though it appeared exceedingly great and important, except for those whom God has guided. Those whose hearts had been guided — this matter was for them ordinary, was usual; they could digest it. The unguided, no. Then the next phrase: "And God was never to let your faith go to waste" — this phrase is the object of our argument and citation. And God would never let your faith go to waste. It was not so that your faith and your deed and your work would remain wasted and void and without effect, that for a span of time you would mark time or not go forward. No! Each step of yours, every movement of yours, every footstep of yours has brought you one step, one footstep nearer to the goal. And by that same measure we advanced on the road of perfection and drew near to the goal. So your faith is not wasted. Indeed God is, toward the people, most kind, merciful. — indeed God is, toward the people, compassionate and possessed of mercy. Well, take note: both this verse, and several or many other verses in the Qur'an, give the believers the promise of this matter: that your works, your faith, your belief, your deed do not go to waste, are not without effect, are not neutralized; that is to say what? They are fruitful. And if indeed this state comes to exist in the believers, it is very clear and inevitable that the traversing of the road of perfection becomes easier and simpler for him. Tomorrow our discussion is about tawhid. Chapter Two:. Tawhid. Tawhid in the worldview of Islam. Tawhid in the ideology of Islam. The exclusive worship and obedience of God. The spirit of tawhid: the negation of servitude to other than God. Tawhid and the negation of social classes. The psychological effects of tawhid.