Lesson Twelve
Fortress of Abundance
(Al-Kawthar Surah )
In the Name of God, the All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful
1. "We have truly given you the abundance."
2. "Therefore turn in prayer to your Provider and push (the devil) away."
3. "Surely it is your hater who is cut off."
In this noble Fortress, the Almighty God wants to show humanity the favor He has prepared for us and the abundant benefaction He has given us. He then (glory to Him) reveals to us the way by which we can see this favor, and the by means we can get this boon. He says:
Verse no. 1
42. "We have truly given you the abundance."
The tense of this statement indicates that the donation of Al’lah has already been accomplished – it has happened in the past, and humanity has been given permission to obtain this donation.
In this verse, the word "abundance" means something plentiful and encompasses everything, and it also means the accumulation of many things.
The word "abundance" refers to the great Godly Grace and the Divine Donation, which creates increasing and endless pleasure for those who receive it.
However, what is this Divine Donation which creates this increasing and endless pleasure, with which our Provider has obliged us?
I say that this Donation includes the worldly life and the untold material delights that it contains, as well as the immaterial pleasures and spiritual bliss which the believer feels at the time that they enter into the Presence of their Provider.
The noble saying states: "I have an hour with my Provider, during which neither an angel near to God nor a missionary Prophet can bear my lights."
The word "abundance" includes Paradise and the continuous, everlasting and permanent bliss which God has prepared within it, as well as the Godly Gift that gives great and constantly increasing pleasure.
It also involves that with which the Almighty God obliges His obedient followers in Paradise, namely the Sight of His noble Face and the witnessing of His great beauty.
It is not possible to place a limit on the Godly Favor referred to in this mentioned verse, and if you wanted to calculate the Boons and Graces of God, you would find that they are of a greater number than can ever be counted. Through the tongue of His Envoy, God says: "And if you added up God’s Favors, you would not be able to count them..." The Holy Qur‟an, Fortress 14, Ibrahim (Abraham), verse 34
He (glory to Him) also says: "Therein will be for them everything that they desire and in Our Presence there is yet more." The Holy Qur‟an, Fortress 50, Qaf (The Letter, Q = very near to God), verse 35
The message to the believer that can be understood from the verse "We have truly given you abundance" is: "Oh, My obedient follower! In Al-Azal world, before bringing you out into this worldly life and sending you to your current existence, I gave you abundant blessings."
How can you attain this blessing now?
The Almighty has illustrated this for us through the tongue of His Envoy:
Verse no. 2
43. "Therefore turn in prayer to your Provider and push (the devil) away."
As previously mentioned, ‘prayer’ that is to say, communication with God is the link with God, and ‘the Provider’ is the One Who brings us up and supplies us with life.
"Therefore turn in prayer to your Provider" means: "Oh, My obedient follower! Attaining the boon I have obliged you with depends on your link with Me." God’s Envoy tells us, ―If you communicate yourself with Him, you will obtain this grace and draw it upon yourself."
The term ―your Provider" was linked with the preposition ―to" so as to reveal that communication should be restricted only to the Provider and is specific to Him.
For example, we say: "This book is related to someone" that it is special for him and not for anyone else.
This shows that your link should be limited to your Provider, by means of His Envoy. You should not have any link or relationship with anyone other than Him.
"…and push (the devil) away" : that is, push away your enemy, the devil, in a way that makes him draw away from you, hopeless and in defeat. This will mean that he is no longer able to approach you or dares to molest you.
Thus, through communication with God, you obtain the Favor which He has prepared for you; through it you also repulse your enemy, so that the devil will draw away from you.
Verse no. 3
44. "Surely it is your hater who is cut off."
Here, "your hater" indicates the devil, because he alone is your spiteful enemy.
"Cut off" also refers to the devil. He is cut off because he is separated from goodness. Due to his shunning of his Provider, he has separated himself from the Godly Favor which the Almighty God has prepared for His creatures.
Similarly, everyone who is far from Al’lah becomes cut off like the devil, and is deprived of goodness.
Any communicant who draws their spirit nearer to their Provider will attain Al’lah’s Boon and gain His Charity and Donation.
The main topic of this verse is the prayer, meaning the communication that is performed with the Provider. If you perform communication with Al’lah, you will win, but if you turn away from Him, you will lose, and will become deprived – just as in the case of the devil.