On Nearness and Divine Withness
باب فی القرب والمعیۃ
بَابٌ فِي الْقُرْبِ وَالْمَعِيَّةِ — Chapter on [Allah's] nearness (qurb) and withness (maʿiyya)
قَالَ اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى: وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ اَيْنَ مَا كُنْتُمْ ۔
(al-Ḥadīd 57:4)
Vocabulary: wa huwa maʿakum — and He (God) is with you; ayna mā kuntum — wherever you may be.
Translation: Allah Most High says: Allah is with you wherever you may be.
وَقَالَ اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى: وَلِلّٰهِ الْمَشْرِقُ وَالْمَغْرِبُ فَاَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوْا فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللّٰهِ ۔
(al-Baqara 2:115)
Vocabulary: wa li'llāhi'l-mashriqu wa'l-maghrib — to Allah alone belong the East and the West; fa-aynamā — so whichever way; tuwallū — you turn your face, turn [yourselves], direct yourselves; fa-thamma — then right there it is (a demonstrative for the far); wajhu'llāh — God, the face of God, God's good pleasure, the facing [of Him], being face to face, self-disclosure (tajallī).
Translation: Allah Most High says: And to Allah alone belong the East and the West. Wherever you turn (towards Allah), Allah is face to face with you.
وَقَالَ اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى: وَاِذَا سَاَلَكَ عِبَادِيْ عَنِّيْ فَاِنِّيْ قَرِيْبٌ ۔
(al-Baqara 2:186)
Vocabulary: wa idhā — and when; saʾalaka — they ask you, they question [you]; ʿibādī — My servants (plural of ʿabd). This word ʿabd is used in three senses: (1) a created being, as in ʿAbdullāh; (2) a slave, as in ʿabdun maʾdhūn — a slave who has been given permission [to trade]; ʿabdun mukātab — a slave with a written [contract of manumission]; (3) one who is obedient and submissive, as in the saying of Ḥaḍrat ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him), "kuntu ʿabdahū wa khādimahū" [I was his servant and his attendant], and the saying of Ḥaḍrat ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him), "wayḥaka, anā ʿabdun min ʿabīdi Muḥammad" [Woe to you, I am one of the servants of Muḥammad]. Here the meaning of ʿabd is this: that I am one who obeys like a slave bought with money. ʿannī — about Me; saʾalahū — he asked him; saʾala ʿanhu — he asked about his condition; fa-innī — then without doubt I, certainly I; fa-innī qarīb — then I am without doubt near.
Let it be clear that distance (buʿd) is of three kinds:
(1) Temporal distance (buʿd-i zamānī) — that is, the times of two persons are separate, even though the place be one.
(2) Spatial distance (buʿd-i makānī) — the time is one but the places are separate, as with us and those who live in Mecca.
(3) Distance of attention (buʿd-i khayālī) — that is, the thing is near, but the mind is not turned towards it. For example, the money is in your pocket and you are going about searching for it, because your mind is not turning towards it. If we have distance from God Most High, it is [distance] of attention, not temporal or spatial.
The existence of God Most High is by essence (bi'l-dhāt), and our existence is derivative (bi'l-ʿaraḍ). Our existence comes from the manifestation of the names and attributes of God Most High; so God Most High has essential nearness (qurb-i dhātī) to us, and nearness of knowledge (qurb-i ʿilmī) as well, for He knows us. But it is not as some ignorant people think, that God Most High is sitting on the Throne, separate from everyone, watching what people are doing. Rather, He is nearer even than the jugular vein. Whichever way you turn your face, there are His manifestations (jalwe); He is in your own selves too. Nothing can remain for a single second without the existence of the Real (wujūd-i ḥaqq).
Translation: Allah Most High says: And (O Prophet) when some servant of Mine asks you about Me, then I am near him.
وَقَالَ اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى: وَنَحْنُ اَقْرَبُ اِلَيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِيْدِ ۔
(Qāf 50:16)
Vocabulary: wa naḥnu aqrabu ilayhi — and We are nearer to man, closer; min ḥabli'l-warīd — than his jugular vein, than his main artery which is always throbbing, always in motion.
Translation: Allah Most High says: And We are nearer to man even than his jugular vein.
Sirs! The centre of man is his spirit (rūḥ). In the jugular vein there is blood; in the blood there is a subtle vapour (bukhār). The subtle vapour has a link with the World of Images; the World of Images has a link with the immaterial spirit; and that [spirit] is connected with its reality, or immutable entity (ʿayn thābita), and with the self-disclosures (tajalliyāt) of the [Divine] names and attributes.
Everything exists [reading uncertain] — but what thing is there that the Divine Existence has not encompassed? The Divine Essence is nearer than everything. For [creatures to reach] one another there are means and intermediaries; but the link with God is not dependent on any means. Hence, compared with the jugular vein, Allah is nearer to man's very self (anā).
وَعَنْ اَبِيْ هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عنه قَالَ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُوْلُ اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى اَنَا عِنْدَ ظَنِّ عَبْدِيْ بِيْ وَاَنَا مَعَهٗٓ اِذَا ذَكَرَنِيْ فَاِنْ ذَكَرَنِيْ فِيْ نَفْسِهٖ ذَكَرْتُهٗ فِيْ نَفْسِيْ وَاِنْ ذَكَرَنِيْ فِيْ مَلَاٍ ذَكَرْتُهٗ فِيْ مَلَاٍ خَيْرٍ مِّنْهُمْ وَاِنْ تَقَرَّبَ اِلَيَّ شِبْرًا تَقَرَّبْتُ اِلَيْهِ ذِرَاعًا وَّاِنْ تَقَرَّبَ اِلَيَّ ذِرَاعًا تَقَرَّبْتُ اِلَيْهِ بَاعًا وَّاِنْ اَتَانِيْ يَمْشِيْ اَتَيْتُهٗ هَرْوَلَةً ۔
(al-Bukhārī.)
Vocabulary: ẓann — supposition, thought; ḥīna yadhkurunī — when he remembers Me; shibran — a hand-span; dhirāʿan — an arm's length; bāʿan — the length of both arms outstretched.
Translation: It is narrated from Ḥaḍrat Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ said: Allah Most High says: I am near My servant's opinion which he holds about Me, and I am with him whenever he remembers Me. Then if he remembers Me in his heart, I too remember him in My heart; and if he remembers Me in a gathering of people, I too remember him in a gathering which is better than them. Then if he draws a hand-span nearer to Me, I draw an arm's length nearer to him; and if he draws an arm's length nearer towards Me, I draw a bāʿ (the length of both arms outstretched) nearer to him; and if he comes walking towards Me, I come running to him.