Sūrat al-Sharḥ / al-Inshirāḥ

سورۃ الشرح

Sūrat al-Inshirāḥ was revealed in Makkah and contains eight (8) āyāt.

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ لَكَ صَدْرَكَ

a-lam nashraḥ laka ṣadrak.

"Did We not expand for you your breast?" (al-Inshirāḥ 94:1)

A — is it so? Lam nashraḥ — have We not opened it? Did We not expand it? Lak — for you, for your benefit. Ṣadrak — your chest? What is it that We did not open for you? Did We not create expansion in your heart?

Friends! For the expansion of the heart of Muḥammad ﷺ — Allah Most High says: wa-ʿallamaka mā lam takun taʿlam wa-kāna faḍlu llāhi ʿalayka ʿaẓīmā — and God gave you what you did not know, and the grace of God upon you is very great. He gave you knowledge of everything — and you are given benefit from it. ʿAllamaka — God's general benefit is this — that it is clear from everything — mā lam takun taʿlamu — He gave you general benefit for everyone and taught you what you did not know — and all the general people therefore have the knowledge of everything while the knowledge of the other learned is the knowledge of specific things.

Friends! God disclosed to the learned what matters came — however they sometimes give certain things — God who wished to give them — he shows to all — he has no obligation for their authority to appear — some days it came — to keep certain secret for reasons — he is not not brought to the government's official notice.

Once some people came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and they started asking different questions. He answered. He told someone their father's name — they were astonished — you said that: meaning Raḍīnā bi-llāhi rabban wa-bi-l-islāmi dīnan wa-bi-muḥammadin nabiyyan — meaning we accept Allah as Lord and accept Islām as religion and accept the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ. Then some people started asking questions about religion and the Prophet ﷺ instructed for the giving of answers — this way the answers became stopped for one kind of question — and the Prophet ﷺ told his father's name — then he was astonished — I was absorbed in the remembrance of those events — these answers are the evidence of universal prophethood — we are innā arsalnāka shāhidan wa-mubashiran wa-nadhīrā — and the knowledge given by the Messenger is great. Uwtiʾtu ʿilma l-awwalīna wa-l-ākhirīna — I was given the knowledge of the ancients and the later ones. Anā madīnatu l-ʿilmi wa-ʿAliyun bābuhā — I am the city of knowledge and ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) is its gate — this is the famous saying and Ḥaḍrat ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) is one of the doors of this city.

A great scholar says it is the one door — they say one door of the Ahl al-Bayt and one door of the Abū Bakr Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him) — the Prophet ﷺ said: lā tataqaddam ʿalayhi aḥad — meaning do not go ahead of him — and in one transmission: istaqīmū fa-lan tuḥṣū — meaning bear witness that you are the righteous ones — in the straight path which takes you to your destinations there is a narration of three: one from Ḥaḍrat ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allah be pleased with him) one from Ḥaḍrat ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (may Allah be pleased with him) one from Ḥaḍrat ʿĀʾisha Ṣiddīqa (may Allah be pleased with her) — one from Ḥaḍrat ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) and one from Ḥaḍrat Zayd ibn Thābit (may Allah be pleased with him). Imam Abū Ḥanīfa (may Allah have mercy on him) had mastery of them all — his ijtihād was done from the Qurʾān and hadith — Imam Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf — in the court of Imam Abū Ḥanīfa forty people with scholars and men of letters sitting around the table — Imam Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan with his two students the students of the Kufan and Basran schools — one is with Ibn Kathīr Makkī and one is his translation partner of the Shāmī school — and one with Ibn ʿĀmir and the two students of his Shāmī translation, Ibn Kathīr Makkī and ʿĀsim — and one with al-Kisāʾī — with his two students — and one with Ḥamza — translation with partner — and one with Abū ʿAmr al-Basrī with one — one from Ibn Muqtabas Shāmī with two students — one to Abū ʿAlī Kasāʾī with two students — one from Imam Mālik ibn Anas and his students — one from him Imam Muslim is with all the collections of hadith collected. One from Imam ʿAbdullāh Muḥammad ibn Yazīd ibn Māja in the hand is Sunan Ibn Māja — one from Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Aḥmad ibn Shuʿayb al-Nasāʾī is in hand is Sunan Nasāʾī — and one from Imam Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā al-Tirmidhī in hand and one from Sulaymān ibn al-Ashʿath Abū Dāwūd in hand is Sunan Abī Dāwūd — one from Sayyidnā Shihāb al-Dīn in whose hand are the hadith of the life and morals of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — and one small one from Ḥaḍrat ʿAlī Murtaḍā (may Allah be pleased with him) in hand and one small one from Imam Ḥasan Majtabā (may Allah have mercy on him) in hand. And there is a seat of honor from Khwāja Ḥasan ibn Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn (may Allah have mercy on him) and from their blessed hands are read aloud with a truly heart-melting voice — and from the blessed dais are recited in Dast-e-Mubārak — the prayers of the Qādiriyya are in this — from Ḥaḍrat Khwāja Muʿīn al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Qādir Jīlānī (may Allah have mercy on him) there is Shaykh ʿAlī Shādhilī — and Futūḥ al-Ghayb and Fatḥ al-Rabbānī are his — and from their blessed dais Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī sits — and one from Mawlānā Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī in hand is Mathnawī Sharīf — it remains.

One and close by is another recitation, as is written on this dais: Āʿūdhu bi-rabbi l-falaqi min sharri mā khalaq ☆ — wa-immā yanzighanna mina l-shayṭāni nazghun fa-staʿidh bi-llāhi innahu samīʿun ʿalīm ☆

On this dais there is also this — ka-mā yaqūmu lladhī yatabaṭṭahuhu l-shayṭānu mina l-massa ☆ — this is the exorcism and the practical works of the dais — and the related works of the Ḥaḍrat ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allah be pleased with him) dais and one from Ḥaḍrat ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (may Allah be pleased with him) blessed dais and they include recitations from Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī Shādhilī (may Allah have mercy on him) and one from Ḥaḍrat Sayyid Ghaws Gwaliyārī (may Allah have mercy on him) in hand is Jawāhir-e-Khamsa — one from Ḥaḍrat Shāh Kalīm Allāh Jahānābādī in hand is Maktūb Sharīf — it remains.

Another close dais is this: wa-lā taqfu mā laysa laka bihī ʿilm ☆ mā yaʿlamu taʾwīlahu illā llāhu wa-l-rāsikhūna fī l-ʿilmi yaqūlūna āmannā bihī min ʿindi rabbinā ☆ innā anzalnāhu qurʾānan ʿarabiyyan ☆ wa-lā taqdiru ʿalā taʾwīlihī illā llāhu ☆ wa-lā yadh dhikru illā ūlū l-albāb ☆ udhʿūnī astajib lakum ☆

This scholar's dais is at the recitations of Ḥaḍrat ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with him) — one of its people is from ʿAllāmah Maḥmūd Zamakhsharī in hand is Tafsīr al-Kashshāf — one from Imam Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī in hand is Tafsīr Kabīr — one from Qāḍī Nāṣir al-Dīn ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar al-Bayḍāwī in hand is Tafsīr al-Bīḍāwī — one from ʿAllāmah ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Maʾrūf as Ibn ʿAlīyy Allāh al-Bāligha in his hand is Ḥujjat Allāh al-Bāligha — the Ṣūfī tradition — one from Imam Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad Ghazālī in hand is Iḥyāʾ al-ʿUlūm and other great works — Iḥyāʾ al-ʿUlūm has four volumes — in one volume religious and moral studies — in one volume the knowledge of ethics and morals — in one volume has social studies — in one volume the practices — one from Ḥaḍrat Sayyid ʿAbd al-Qādir Jīlānī (may Allah be pleased with him) in hand and the other recitations Fatḥ al-Rabbānī and Futūḥ al-Rabbānī are his — one on Ḥaḍrat Jalāl al-Dīn Dawwānī dais Akhlāq-e-Jalālī — one small from Sayyid ʿAbd al-Raḥīm Maktūm Shāh to Sayyid in hand Akhlāq-e-Jalālī is his — and Dawwānī wrote many other works on the moral and philosophical schools — those books become a benefit for all and he wrote much on philosophy, ethics, and from other thinkers — translations of the ancient Greek books are already done — it was a part of the time of Caliph Hārūn al-Rashīd and Caliph Maʾmūn al-Rashīd — the philosophical books being prepared — and through scholars and through the Islamic tradition many books were on theology, Sufism, and ethics — and Iḥyāʾ al-ʿUlūm is the main one — and Dawwānī wrote many notable topics on morals and other things too — and many scholars are trained by them.

And their hand is Anwār al-Tanzīl — and one from ʿAllāmah Rukn al-Dīn Masʿūd al-Bughawī in hand is Maʿālim — one from Ḥaḍrat Ḥāfiẓ ʿImād al-Dīn Ismāʿīl in hand is Tafsīr Madārik — one from Mullā ʿAlīʾ al-Dīn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Maʿrūf to ʿAllāmah Jamal al-Dīn Suyūṭī in hand is Lubāb al-Taʾwīl — one from Imam Jalāl al-Dīn Suyūṭī in hand is Durr Manthūr — one large one from Ibn Khaldūn is Tārīkh al-Islām and Muqaddima in hand — the original and philosophical history of civilization and philosophy has much researched — one small one from Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm Maktūm in hand to Shāh Walī Allāh al-Dihlawī, known to those sitting around him, the Ḥujjat Allāh al-Bāligha is his — from his hand is the book of Islāmic philosophy, Sufism — it is a summary of all the Ṣūfī tradition and the morals and manners of Islamic civilization — through it Islāmic civilization is greatly enlightened. His Iḥyāʾ for Islamic civilization is what Hārūn al-Rashīd and Maʾmūn used for civilization — and the history of the caliphs also throws much light on the history of Islamic civilization.

The commentary on this verse continues:

Mā ataynāl-Rasūla fa-khudhūhu wa-mā nahākum ʿanhu fa-ntahū ☆ — and nearby in fine print is this too — wa-idhā jāʾaka l-kāfirūna fa-innahum qaḍaw fī l-ʿilmi aysaru l-bayyinū ☆

This is the muḥaddithīn's dais — at its disposal are recitations of the thousands of scholars. One of them is for Ḥaḍrat ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ — one from Ḥaḍrat ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān — one from Ḥaḍrat ʿĀʾisha Ṣiddīqa — one from Ḥaḍrat Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) — one from Imam Mālik ibn Anas and his Muwaṭṭā — one from Imam Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and Musnad Aḥmad — one from Imam Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī (may Allah have mercy on him) in hand is Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī — and in this has been selected all the collections of hadith — one from Imam Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj (may Allah have mercy on him) and his Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim — one from Abū ʿAbdullāh Muḥammad ibn Yazīd ibn Māja in hand is Sunan Ibn Māja — one from Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Aḥmad ibn Shuʿayb al-Nasāʾī in hand is Sunan Nasāʾī — one from Imam Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā al-Tirmidhī — one from Sulaymān ibn al-Ashʿath Abū Dāwūd in hand is Sunan Abī Dāwūd — one from Sayyidnā Shihāb al-Dīn in hand is who has the hadith of the life and morals of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Ahmad ibn Ḥanbal Saqalānī — one from Imam Aḥmad ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī in hand is Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb — one from the Memorizer of hadith — the one about whom it is said he had at least one million hadith memorized.

Another dais and on this is: fa-sʾalū ahla l-dhikri in kuntum lā taʿlamūn ☆ fa-ftabiru yā ulī l-abṣār ☆ wa-lladhīna jāhadū fīnā la-nahdiyanna-hum subulanā ☆ — this is the jurist's dais — at its disposal is the recitation of Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him) which is the greatest; — Imam Abū Ḥanīfa (may Allah have mercy on him) had mastery of them all — at a great dais from Ḥaḍrat ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allah be pleased with him) and from Ḥaḍrat ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān (may Allah be pleased with him) — at a great one from Ḥaḍrat ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (may Allah be pleased with him) — at the small ones of the Khārijīs from Imam Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal — this he who protected Islam from the Muʿtazila who spread greatly — he stood the center of Islām against the people who withheld zakāt — one from Ḥaḍrat ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb dais and on that is from Syria and Iran opened it. One from Ḥaḍrat ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān dais — the one who along with the collection of the Qurʾān maintained Islamic governance to the borders. One from Ḥaḍrat ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (may Allah be pleased with him) dais — one from Sayyidnā Fatḥ ʿAmr ibn Jarraḥ Shām and one from Ḥaḍrat Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ and one from Ḥaḍrat ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ Fatḥ Miṣr — and in the smaller ones is Ḥaḍrat Sayfullāh Mujāhid Khālid ibn al-Walīd — one from Khalīfa Faruq — ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz dais — Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān in hand, from Khilāfat of the great Islam — one from Sulṭān Muḥammad Fatḥ Qustanṭīniyya — one from Ḥaḍrat Nūr al-Dīn Zangī and Salāḥ al-Dīn Ayyūbī the greatest Mujāhid — one from Sulṭān Maḥmūd Ghaznawī — one from Jalāl al-Dīn Khaljī — one from the recitations sitting around Khilāfat ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn Khaljī too — one from Sulṭān Muḥammad Ghūrī with the warriors sitting around — when they took over all the lands and released the hundreds of thousands of imprisoned Muslims — from him they became Muslims — one from ʿAhmad Shāh Abdālī Ibdālī Muttamakin — those who with their army sent a great defeat to the Marāṭha forces.

Another dais and this is: muḥammadun rasūlu llāhi wa-lladhīna maʿahu ashaddāʾu ʿalā l-kuffāri ruḥamāʾu baynahum ☆ fa-qātilū awliyāʾa l-shayṭāni inna kayda l-shayṭāni kāna ḍaʿīfā ☆ wa-qātilūhum ḥattā lā takūna fitnatun ☆

— this is the warriors' dais — at its disposal is the recitation of Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him) which is the greatest — one from Ḥaḍrat ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allah be pleased with him) and those sitting were followers of Muḥammadī Islam — and those sitting who were brought by Ḥaḍrat ʿAlī Murtaḍā (may Allah be pleased with him) — he was the leader — the first to believe, very young in the service of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — the Prophet ﷺ loved ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) greatly —

(The extended commentary on the Islamic civilization, the Companions, the scholars, and the awliyāʾ continues across pp. 497–505, drawing upon a wide array of Qurʾānic citations and hadiths in the context of Sūrat al-Sharḥ.)

One from Ḥaḍrat Abū ʿUbayda ibn al-Jarrāḥ Shāmī and one from Ḥaḍrat Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ and one from Ḥaḍrat ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ — one from Ḥaḍrat ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ Fatḥ Miṣr — and in the smaller ones Sayfullāh Mujāhid Khālid ibn al-Walīd — one from Fatḥ ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz — from Muʿāwiya Abī Sufyān in hand the great Islamic caliphate. One from Sulṭān Muḥammad Fatḥ Qustanṭīniyya. One from Ḥaḍrat Nūr al-Dīn Zangī and Salāḥ al-Dīn Ayyūbī, the greatest Mujāhid in the Crusader battles. One from Sulṭān Maḥmūd Ghaznawī. One from Jalāl al-Dīn Khaljī. One from ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn Khaljī and his Mongol-defeating armies — under them all the Muslims who were imprisoned became free and all became Muslims. One from Aḥmad Shāh Abdālī, with whose small forces the great Marāṭha armies were defeated.

One from Ḥaḍrat Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad Ghazālī in hand is One from Ḥaḍrat Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad Ghazālī in hand is Iḥyāʾ al-ʿUlūm and Kīmiyāʾ-e-Saʿādat and many other great works. Iḥyāʾ al-ʿUlūm is in four volumes: one volume on religious and social sciences, one on ethics and morals, one on social studies, one on practical matters. One on the seat of Ḥaḍrat Sayyid ʿAbd al-Qādir Jīlānī (may Allah be pleased with him) — at whose hands are Fatḥ al-Rabbānī and Futūḥ al-Ghayb. One at the seat of Mawlānā Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī and in his hand is Mathnawī Sharīf. One with the seat of Ḥaḍrat Muḥyī al-Dīn ibn al-ʿArabī — in whose hand are Futūḥāt Makkiyya and Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam and other great works. One at the seat of Jalāl al-Dīn Dawwānī — in hand is Akhlāq-e-Jalālī*. Dawwānī wrote many significant topics on ethics and philosophy and other subjects as well.

For the travellers — the ease and comfort of every kind was arranged for at this court — and one of the scholars of this court from Ḥaḍrat Imām Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad Ghazālī's seats, and in his hand is Iḥyāʾ al-ʿUlūm. The revival of Islamic civilization in Iḥyāʾ al-ʿUlūm — in one volume it covers religious and social sciences, in one volume ethics and moral training, in one volume social customs, in one volume is about practical works. One from Ḥaḍrat Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm known as Shāh Walī Allāh Dihlawī in hand is Ḥujjat Allāh al-Bāligha — this is the book of Islamic philosophy and Sufism — it is a summary of the whole Ṣūfī tradition and the ethics and customs of Islamic civilization — through it Islamic civilization is greatly illuminated. And the history of the caliphs also throws much light on the history of Islamic civilization.

Next, there is written on another nearby dais:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ﴾ ☆ ﴿وَمَن يَغْشَ عَن ذِكْرِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ نُقَيِّضْ لَهُ شَيْطَانًا﴾ ☆ ﴿إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ التَّوَّابِينَ وَيُحِبُّ الْمُتَطَهِّرِينَ﴾ ☆ ﴿وَالَّذِينَ هُم عَنِ اللَّغْوِ مُعْرِضُونَ﴾ ☆ ﴿اعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ وَزِينَةٌ وَتَفَاخُرٌ بَيْنَكُمْ وَتَكَاثُرٌ فِي الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَوْلَادِ﴾ ☆

Footnotes on this passage: 1. Indeed Allah loves those who do good — (al-Baqara 2:195). 2. Whoever turns away from the remembrance of the Most Merciful, We appoint for him a devil — (al-Zukhruf 43:37). 3. Allah loves those who repent and loves those who purify themselves — (al-Baqara 2:222). 4. And those who turn away from vain talk — (al-Muʾminūn 23:3). 5. Know that the life of this world is but amusement and diversion, and adornment, and mutual boasting among you, and competition in increase of wealth and children — (al-Ḥadīd 57:20).

And on another nearby line is this written:

إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ﴾ ☆ ﴿مِنْ حُسْنِ إِسْلَامِ الْمَرْءِ تَرْكُهُ مَا لَا يَعْنِيهِ﴾ ☆ ﴿بُعِثْتُ لِأُتَمِّمَ مَكَارِمَ الْأَخْلَاقِ﴾ ☆ ﴿تَخَلَّقُوا بِأَخْلَاقِ اللَّهِ﴾ ☆

This is the dais of moral refinement (tahdhīb al-nafs). Footnotes: 6. Indeed actions are (judged) by intentions — Ḥadīth Sharīf. 7. From the excellence of a person's Islam is his abandonment of what does not concern him — Ḥadīth Sharīf. 8. I was sent to perfect noble character — Ḥadīth Sharīf. 9. Clothe yourselves with the character of Allah — Ḥadīth Sharīf.

The monotheists of this court — some of the notable scholars give great instruction in tawḥīd loudly and enthusiastically — and some of the companions of the great author's own books are also there.

Here on a great seat is Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him) and from his blessed tongue is being spoken: Mā raʾaytu shayʾan illā wa-raʾaytu llāha qablah — I have never seen any thing without having seen Allah before it. And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "When you turn towards Abū Bakr and look — see what it is that God has given for the expansion of my chest." For this reason I have also expanded Abū Bakr's chest — the Ṣūfī and Naqshbandiyya and Shāṭṭāriyya seats are under his direction.

On one seat at this court is Ḥaḍrat Imām Ḥasan Mujtabā (may Allah be pleased with him) and on those seats there are due obligations of honour, but only the names of a few distinguished persons are mentioned here.

On one seat is Imam Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad Ghazālī and in his hand are Iḥyāʾ al-ʿUlūm and Kīmiyāʾ-e-Saʿādat and other numerous works. Iḥyāʾ al-ʿUlūm is in four volumes — in one volume are religious and social sciences, in one volume morals and ethical education, in one volume social customs, in one volume practical works. One at the seat of Ḥaḍrat Ghaws al-Aʿẓam Sayyid ʿAbd al-Qādir Jīlānī (may Allah be pleased with him) — one in whose hand is Fatḥ al-Rabbānī and on whose seat is Futūḥ al-Rabbānī. One on the seat of Mawlānā Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī and in his hand is Mathnawī Sharīf — it remains. One on the seat with ʿAllāmah Muḥyī al-Dīn ibn al-ʿArabī with whom are Futūḥāt Makkiyya and Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam and other works. One on the seat of Dawwānī with in hand is Akhlāq-e-Jalālī. Dawwānī wrote on ethics and other topics very well and many scholars were trained by him.

And on another nearby dais is this:

قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ﴾ ☆ ﴿وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَمَا كُنتُمْ﴾ ☆ ﴿فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوا فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللَّهِ﴾ ☆ ﴿وَفِي أَنفُسِكُمْ أَفَلَا تُبْصِرُونَ﴾ ☆ ﴿سَنُرِيهِمْ آيَاتِنَا فِي الْآفَاقِ وَفِي أَنفُسِهِمْ حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَهُمْ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ﴾ ☆

And on a nearby line there is also: Aṣdaqu kalimatīn qālathaʾl-ʿAraba qawlu Labīd: a-lā kullu shayʾin mā khalā llāha bāṭilun ☆ — the most truthful word the Arabs ever spoke was the saying of the poet Labīd: "Know that everything other than Allah is null and void."

The monotheists at this court come some loudly and forcefully to give instruction in tawḥīd — and some of the companions of the great author's books are also there.

Footnotes: 1. Say: He is Allah, the One — (Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ 112:1–2). 2. And He is with you wherever you are — (al-Ḥadīd 57:4). 3. Wherever you turn, there is the face of Allah — (al-Baqara 2:115). 4. And within yourselves — will you not then see? — (al-Dhāriyāt 51:21). 5. We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth — (Sūrat Ḥā-Mīm al-Sajda 53 [i.e., Fuṣṣilat] 41:53). 6. Among all people the Arab's truest word is that of the poet Labīd — "everything other than Allah is null and void" — (a saying).

Here on one seat is Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him) and from his blessed tongue is being spoken: Mā raʾaytu shayʾan illā wa-raʾaytu llāha qablah — I have never seen any thing without having first seen Allah. "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said — just turn to Abū Bakr and look — whatever God has given — see how God expanded my chest — and thus I have also expanded Abū Bakr's chest." — The Qādiriyya, Naqshbandiyya, and Shāṭṭāriyya orders are under his direction.

One seat here is that on which Ḥaḍrat Imām ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (may Allah be pleased with him) is seated, and another second seat is that of Ḥaḍrat ʿUmar Fārūq (may Allah be pleased with him), and a third seat is that of Ḥaḍrat ʿUthmān Ghanī (may Allah be pleased with him), and a fourth seat is that of Ḥaḍrat ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him), and a seat there is of Ḥaḍrat Imām Ḥasan Mujtabā (may Allah be pleased with him) and one of Imām Ḥusayn (may Allah be pleased with him) and one of Imām Abū l-Qāsim (Qurṭubī?), and they are uttering the naʿra — Aḥad, Aḥad — "One, One."

At this court are hundreds of seats and they are present, one after another — and until the Day of Resurrection this chain, by the will of Allah, will continue. At this court some of the distinguished awliyāʾ are named:

Sayyid ʿAbd al-Qādir Jīlānī, Sayyid Shihāb al-Dīn ʿUmar Suhrawardī, Sayyid Khwāja Muʿīn al-Dīn Chishtī, Sayyid Aḥmad Akbar Rifāʿī, Sayyid Abū l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad Badawī, Sayyid Bahāʾ al-Dīn Muḥammad Naqshband, Sayyid Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī Shādhilī, Sayyid Jalāl al-Dīn Mawlānā Rūm, Sayyid Muḥyī l-Dīn Muḥammad ibn al-ʿArabī, Sayyid Quṭb al-Dīn Bakhtiyār, Sayyid ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn ʿAlī Ṣābir, Sayyid Niẓām al-Dīn Maḥbūb Ilāhī, Sayyid Khwāja Muḥammad Ṣiddīq Maḥbūb Allāh — raḥimahumullāh.

And on a nearby verse here is:

يَحِبُّونَهُم كَحُبِّ اللَّهِ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَشَدُّ حُبًّا لِّلَّهِ﴾ ☆ ﴿وَيُحِبُّهُمْ وَيُحِبُّونَهُ خَاضِعِينَ لِلذَّاقِذَقَانِ يَبْكُونَ﴾ ☆ ﴿وَيَزِيدُهُمْ خُشُوعًا﴾ ☆ ﴿فَلَمَّا تَجَلَّىٰ رَبُّهُ لِلْجَبَلِ جَعَلَهُ دَكًّا وَخَرَّ مُوسَىٰ صَعِقًا﴾ ☆ ﴿تَقْشَعِرُّ مِنْهُ جُلُودُ الَّذِينَ يَخْشَوْنَ رَبَّهُمْ ثُمَّ تَلِينُ جُلُودُهُمْ وَقُلُوبُهُمْ إِلَىٰ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ﴾ ☆

And on another line there is also this:

Al-marʾu maʿa man aḥabb, wa-anta maʿa man aḥbabta ☆ — A person is with the one he loves — and you are with the one you love. This court's water-giving station — whoever comes here to drink, the water of this station gives comfort — among them some call themselves lovers, some beloved. Some have love and some the beloved — yet the distinction between the two becomes apparent — that the one who cries and shouts is called the ʿāshiq (lover), and the one who kept silent and at ease — that is the maʿshūq (beloved).

Footnotes: 1. They love them like loving Allah — but the believers love Allah most intensely — (al-Baqara 2:165). 2. He loves them and they love Him, bowing down, falling on faces weeping — (al-Māʾida 5:54). 3. And it increases their humility — (al-Isrāʾ 17:109). 4. When his Lord manifested Himself to the mountain, He made it crumble, and Mūsā fell down unconscious — (al-Aʿrāf 7:143). 5. The skins of those who fear their Lord shiver from it, then their skins and hearts soften to the remembrance of Allah — (al-Zumar 39:23). 6. A person is with the one he loves — this is his companion — (Ḥadīth Sharīf).

At this court there is one seat on which Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him) is present, and a second seat is that of Ḥaḍrat ʿUmar Fārūq (may Allah be pleased with him), a third is that of Ḥaḍrat ʿUthmān Ghanī (may Allah be pleased with him), and a fourth is that of Ḥaḍrat ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) — one in the manifestation of Ḥaḍrat ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) is present, and there is one seat for Ḥaḍrat Imām Ḥusayn (may Allah be pleased with him) and one for Imam Abū l-Qāsim, and they are uttering the naʿra — Aḥad, Aḥad.

The extended vision of the Prophet's ﷺ blessed chest — the great expansion of the breast of Muḥammad ﷺ — what does inshirāḥ-e-ṣadr mean? The great Ṣūfī masters say: this is the degree of absorption in divine servitude — and the people of this court stay absorbed in divine servitude — God gives to their hands — all you want, they give it — and you take from their hands. Every person — God is the giver to him — the condition of their giving is that — at the moment they do in accordance with the situation — as is their method — they are always in the presence of God — such people walk among the common people — they eat and drink, marry, speak, walk — and such people are called God's friends and the well-wishers of the people, yet it is difficult to distinguish them from others.

Here on a great seat is Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him) and from his blessed tongue: Mā raʾaytu shayʾan illā wa-raʾaytu llāha qablah — I never saw anything without first seeing Allah — he said: "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said — just turn to Abū Bakr and look — this matter is that God has given me the expansion of the chest — the thing that God expanded my chest by — the same He expanded Abū Bakr's chest." From this dais are the Qādiriyya, Naqshbandiyya, and Shāṭṭāriyya.

And on one nearby verse is:

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ ○ ارْجِعِي إِلَىٰ رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةً مَّرْضِيَّةً ○ فَادْخُلِي فِي عِبَادِي ○ وَادْخُلِي جَنَّتِي﴾ ☆

And on a nearby line is also: Wa-mā taqarraba ilayya ʿabdī bi-shayʾin aḥabba ilayya mimmā iftaraḍtu ʿalayh, wa-lā yazālu ʿabdī yataqarraba ilayya bi-l-nawāfili ḥattā uḥibbah, fa-idhā aḥbabtuhu kuntu samʿahu lladhī yasmaʿu bih, wa-baṣarahū lladhī yubṣiru bih, wa-yadahū llatī yabṭishu bihā, wa-rijlahu llatī yamshī bihā, wa-in saʾalanī aʿṭaytuh, wa-in istaʿādhani aʿadhtuhu ☆

This is the degree of servitude — and the people of this court are distinguished by their servitude — God gives to their hands — they give from the hands — a little you get from them and a great deal is given — each person — God entrusts to him that which belongs to him — the condition of their giving is this — at the time of need they act accordingly — their method is always to remain in God's presence — such people remain among the common people — they eat and drink, marry, speak, walk — and they are called God's friends and lovers of God — yet distinguishing them from others is difficult.

Footnotes: 1. O reassured soul — return to your Lord, pleased and pleasing to Him — enter among My servants — enter My Garden — (al-Fajr 89:27–30). 2. My servant does not draw near to Me by anything more beloved to Me than what I have made obligatory upon him — and My servant continues to draw near to Me through voluntary acts until I love him — then when I love him I become the hearing with which he hears and the sight with which he sees and the hand with which he strikes and the foot with which he walks — and if he asks Me I shall give him and if he seeks My protection I shall protect him — (Ḥadīth Qudsī).

Dil kisī se na lagā, dast-e-fashān sab se rahe ʿUmr bhar qayd taʿalluq se hum āzād rahe — (Ḥaḍrat Ṣiddīqī)

Translation: Do not attach your heart to anyone — remain dancing with your hands free before all — all our life let us remain free from the prison of attachments.

To reflect deeply one learns that this court has those who are the lovers — and some are the beloved too — yet by the quality of zindagī ("life") one can distinguish. The identity of this court:

On one seat is the Khalīfa of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him), and a second seat is Ḥaḍrat ʿUmar Fārūq (may Allah be pleased with him), a third seat is Ḥaḍrat ʿUthmān Ghanī (may Allah be pleased with him), a fourth seat is Ḥaḍrat ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (may Allah be pleased with him), and one is Ḥaḍrat Imām Ḥasan (may Allah be pleased with him), and there is one of Imām Ḥusayn (may Allah be pleased with him) and one of Imām Ḥasan's descendant — and one is also present from Ḥaḍrat Sayyid ʿAbd al-Qādir Jīlānī (may Allah be pleased with him) and from the other seats too all those honourable persons are present about whom the names of unity, love, and ecstasy have been recounted.

The breast of Muḥammad ﷺ is open wide — in it is everything — tell about it till the Day of Resurrection — yet it will never finish — you will finish and the world will end.

وَوَضَعْنَا عَنكَ وِزْرَكَ ○ الَّذِي أَنقَضَ ظَهْرَكَ

Wa-waḍaʿnā ʿanka wizrak, alladhī anqaḍa ẓahrak.

Translation: "And We removed from you your burden — which had weighed upon your back." (al-Inshirāḥ 94:2–3)

Wa — and. Waḍaʿnā — We put down, We removed — waḍʿ — to put down. ʿAnk — from you. Wa-waḍaʿnā ʿanka — and We lifted from you, We removed from you. Wizrak — your burden, your weight; alladhī — that which. Anqaḍa — it was breaking; anqaḍ — to break; anqaḍa ẓahrak — it was breaking your back; which was weighing down your back; cutting it, pressing it. Ẓahrak — your back; your back was bending, breaking; the burden that was breaking your back.

Translation: And We removed from you the burden (which you carried) which was breaking your back.

The burden it carried was the weight of divine mission (tablīgh), the worry of the enemies' opposition, the shortage of helpers and supporters. Yet God has freed your back, lightened your load — stand upright! —

Bār-e-ākā jahān sir par uṭhā ke ḍal kar Kām kā makar lulā qalb-na tā uẓān apnā —

وَرَفَعْنَا لَكَ ذِكْرَكَ

Wa-rafaʿnā laka dhikrak.

Translation: "And We raised high for you your repute." (al-Inshirāḥ 94:4)

Wa — and. Rafaʿnā — We raised up, We lifted — rafaʿa — to raise, to lift up, to elevate. Lak — for you, for your benefit. Dhikrak — your remembrance; your mention; your name; your commemoration; your fame; your renown. How did We raise your name high? Five times a day it is called aloud at the time of prayer: Ashhadu anna Muḥammadan rasūlu llāh —

Translation: And We exalted your mention (raised your name on high).

O friends! God gave His own Prophet the name and His own name linked together — linked the name of Muḥammad with God's own name — and associated all Muslims with it. Lā ilāha illā llāh — saying this alone makes you a believer and a monotheist — but to say Muḥammadun rasūlu llāh — that is also a condition of being Muslim. Muḥammadun rasūlu llāh — the seal of whose name God is the last — Muḥammadun rasūlu llāh — is because the seal of messengership is Muḥammadun rasūlu llāh — "Allah" is the last word.

Translation: And We exalted your mention — and We raised your name on high.

Friends! God gave His own Prophet the name with His own name linked and made all Muslims partners in it. Lā ilāha illā llāh — saying this makes one a monotheist — but Muḥammadun rasūlu llāh — is also obligatory for being Muslim — the seal of whose name is "Allah" — Muḥammadun rasūlu llāh — because the last word is "Allah."

فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا ○ إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا

Fa-inna maʿa l-ʿusri yusrā. Inna maʿa l-ʿusri yusrā.

Translation: "For indeed with hardship will be ease — Indeed with hardship will be ease." (al-Inshirāḥ 94:5–6)

Fa — then; inna — verily. Maʿa — with. Al-ʿusr — hardship; difficulty; tightness; stinginess; adversity; affliction. Yunsurā — relief; yusrā — ease; openness; generosity; facilitation; ease.

Inna maʿa l-ʿusri yusrā — without doubt with hardship there is ease.

Translation: Then with every hardship there is certainly ease after it.

Well understand! With every hardship there is ease — if something past has gone through difficulty and affliction — then with it in the world there is also ease, and ease of the Hereafter remains — look! In the beginning the whole world was against it — no one to support, no one to listen — hundreds of thousands did not accept it, yet now millions across the world read the kalima — you were to leave your homeland and migrate — Abū Bakr Ṣiddīq with you as companion — there was no companion, no helper — or you were a conqueror of Makkah — fully entering Makkah sharīf — give life to whomever you wish — grant amnesty to whomever you wish — who is with the ʿusr (hardship) but not with the yusr (ease)?

فَإِذَا فَرَغْتَ فَانصَبْ

Fa-idhā faraghta fa-nṣab.

Translation: "So when you have finished (your duties), then labor (for worship)." (al-Inshirāḥ 94:7)

Fa — then. Idhā — when. Faraghta — you become free; farāgha — to become free. Fa-nṣab — then stand firm; stand erect; be always ready; always be prepared — fā-nṣab — then labor, then exert yourself. Your work is tablīgh (preaching) — come to it — balligh mā unzila ilayk — convey what has been sent down to you — in obedience to what God commands propagate His religion.

Translation: Then when you become free (from duties, prayers, necessities) exert yourself (stand erect and propagate religion).

وَإِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ فَارْغَب

Wa-ilā rabbika fa-rghab.

Translation: "And toward your Lord direct your longing." (al-Inshirāḥ 94:8)

Wa — and. Ilā — toward, to. Rabbika — your Lord; your Sustainer. Wa-ilā rabbika — and toward your Lord. Fā-rghab — then have longing, then desire.

Translation: And toward your Lord direct your longing.

O the one engaged in tablīgh! Sincerity is necessary in tablīgh — the thought of ostentation and show-off (riyākārī) does not go well with it — for this reason always keep God in view — to forget everything else and keep God's thought before you — He alone is sufficient for you, He alone is the reliable Guardian — Allāhu ḥasbī. He is the one who remains — Allāh-e-Rabbī wa-hū Ḥasbī.

Manẓūr-e-ahlī dunyā, Allāh merā bāqī tumhārā — — O people of the world! Allah remains my share — the rest belongs to you.