Lesson Three
The interpretation of Fortress –The
Opening (part two)
1. "In the Name of God, the All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful.
2. All praise is to God, the Provider of worlds.
3. The All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful.
4. The Only Possessor of Judgment Day.
5. It is You we worship, and It is You we ask for help.
6. Guide us to the straight path:
7. The path of those You have blessed not of those who have incurred Your Wrath, nor of those who are astray."
Verse no. 3
3. "The All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful."
He shows compassion towards His creation when He brings distress upon those who oppose His Rule. This distress is like treatment with which He cures them of their defects and the spiritual diseases they bear. He is also Compassionate, when He brings grace, charity and favour to those who are charitable and faithful because that is what they deserve and because of the healthy lives they lead. He is (glory to Him) Compassionate with these two groups because He Himself is Merciful.
Verse no. 4
4. "The Only Possessor of Judgment Day."
The "Possessor" is the Master of possession and the Embodiment of power and rule.
"Judgment" connotes the meaning of justice; besides this, it refers to what people deserve and its delivery to them of absolute justice.
"Judgment Day" begins in Al-Azal world and lasts forever. It is one day that has no end, and its master is the Provider of each and every world.
Contained within these three verses is a demonstration from God to the spirit. If the spirit recognizes the aforementioned Attributes of the Creator, it will then submit and surrender to Him; it will resign itself to Him, saying: "oh, Owner of Might and Power! Oh, Compassionate! Oh, Merciful! Oh, Possessor of Judgment Day! I worship none but You, You Alone we worship and You Alone we ask for help."
Verse no. 5
5. "It is You we worship, and It is You we ask for help.
"Worship" means ‘obey’, because worship can only be accomplished through obedience, such as the obedience of a servant to their master, or that of the worshiper to their Creator.
In this noble verse, there is a covenant made with their Provider by the obedient follower (or Abd), in which they promise to obey Him and each of His Commands.
Worship is not restricted to performing prayers, fasting, going on pilgrimage or paying alms; rather "worship" is a comprehensive word that manifests itself in trade, dealing with people, and all other actions.
We can therefore see that when you say "it is You we worship…" , here, your covenant with your Provider is that you will be a worshiper who obeys Him Alone; that is, a worshiper who obeys no-one except Him, as you will have known His Clemency and His Compassion and will have witnessed His Majesty and Grandeur.
You say "it is You we worship…" because your spirit has felt that it has no refuge except in Al’lah, and no guide to true goodness except Him.
You say: ―oh, Provider! You are the Praised in all cases. You are the Provider of worlds, the All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful You are the Possessor of myself and the Controller of everything. I find no master whom I obey and no guide who leads me to that which secures my happiness except you. You are the Provider to Whom I am obedient. I do not disobey Your Orders in any of my movements. You are my worshiped Lord. I follow nothing except Your Guidance in all of my acts."
You say that because your spirit has been immersed in God’s Majesty and Greatness and has witnessed His Favour and Mercy. For this reason, it stands submissively in His Presence.
Then, you ask your Lord – Who is Merciful to you – to help you to follow the right path. You ask this because you are beset by false desires and whims, as well as obstacles and hindrances that surround you on every side, aiming to prevent you from doing what is right.
Thus your spirit may yearn to fulfil wicked and forbidden desires, and insist on them. This makes these evil germs reach the core of your soul. In this case, if Al’lah prevents you from carrying out these desires, and does not supply you with power and might, the germs of these desires will overwhelm you and will creep into every atom of your spirit. Thereupon your spirit will be surrounded on all sides by that desire, so that you will not be able to escape its influence; nor will you be able to find a way or a means to return to your Provider. Then your spirit will remain engaged in its lusts and they will completely dominate it. This is why your Provider – through His Compassion – gives you a means by which to attain your desire and supplies you with power. This allows you to do what you were insisting upon doing and so attain your purpose.
The noble saying denotes: "Deeds are carried out according to intentions, so each person will get what they have intended."[5]
The Almighty says: "Those who cut themselves off from the Envoy after what has been revealed to them in the way of guidance and who follow any path other than that of the faithful, we shall give them what they have chosen. We will cast them into Hell: a dismal end." The Holy Qur‟an, Fortress 4, An-Nisa‟ (Women), verse 115
In another verse, He says: "Those who desire this fleeting life shall, before long, receive in it whatever We will for whomever We want; in the end We have prepared Hell for them in which to burn, despised and helpless.
"As for those who desire the hereafter and strive for it as much as they can, being true believers, their endeavours shall be rewarded.
"Of the Bounties of your Provider, We bestow freely on all these, as well as those; of the Bounties of your Provider, none are deprived" The Holy Qur‟an, Fortress 17, Al- Isra‟ (The Night Journey), verse 18-20
If you have an intention to do something, and you are determined and insistent on doing it, you shall receive the necessary energy, power and might from Al’lah, and you will fall to action. Through this, the germ of desire is able to retreat and gather somewhere within the spirit, freeing its field from what had been entirely occupying it beforehand. Subsequently, God inflicts diseases on the disobedient soul and brings calamities down upon it. God says: "And was it so: when a disaster struck you, though you had done equal wrong twice, you said: ‘how is this?’ Say (unto them, Oh Mohammad): ‘it is from your selves. Surely Al’lah is Omnipotent’." The Holy Qur‟an, Fortress 3, Al
"Imran (The Family of "Imran), verse 165
If through this disaster the spirit turns to its Provider, Godly Light will flow into this spirit, by which it will be able to see the truth behind its desire, and thus discover the wickedness and great evil contained therein. Consequently it will loathe this desire. It will disdain it and never be inclined towards it again.
God says: "And indeed, We will make them taste of the lightest chastisement before the greatest chastisement in order that they may return (repent)." The Holy Qur‟an, Fortress 32, As-Sajda (The Prostration), verse 21
However, if the spirit is afflicted with calamity and it does not come close to its Provider, the germ of desire will remain buried within it, gathering somewhere inside, and so it will remain until it dies. If it had been accustomed to approaching Al’lah during its lifetime, and if it had achieved a link with its Provider during its time in this worldly life, then the torment of the tomb or the blazing heat of the Fire that follows will help it to draw closer to God in order to be cured.
If it had not achieved a link with its Provider during its lifetime, or had not attained a true understanding of His Supreme Attributes, allowing it to taste His Love and become cured of what has been attached to it: in this case, the Fire will be like a screen that stands between it and the pain of the wicked desire that would mean its destruction. The intense pain of the Fire will make it forget the pain of the disease of wicked desire.
According to the Mercy of God, He then does not take it out of the Fire, but rather leaves it burning therein forever. This is the state of the spirit that has been contaminated with the germ of the malignant desires of this worldly life. The calamities, the torment of the tomb and the blazing Fire are nothing but different means of treatment which draw the spirit closer to Al’lah: or in other words, to Paradise.
It is then – through that proximity – that the truth will be witnessed and the cure will be obtained that will cleanse the germ of forbidden desire that had attached itself to the spirit when it was far from Al’lah.
However, if the believer can truly turn to their Provider, they will be able to see the evil and the harm that is contained in any forbidden desire through the Light of their Provider. This Godly Light will protect them from falling into sin, and their spirit will be clean of the negative effects of desire, so that they will never be inclined to forbidden practices or perform them at all. Therefore, our Provider has commanded us to keep connecting our spirits with Him and to direct them truly to Him, in order to perform true communication through which we see none except Him. Al’lah is with all of us, as long as we keep ourselves in communication with Him.
That is the legitimacy of prayer: (...communication with God (prayer) restrains outrageous and unacceptable behaviour)The Holy Qur‟an, Fortress 29, Al-‟Ankabut (The Spider), verse 45
Through the aforementioned practices, we are protected by communication with God. Those whose prayers do not follow the same method remain blind, seeing neither good nor evil; moreover they will mistake what is evil for what is good.
God says: "As for Thamoud, We offered them Our Guidance, but they preferred blindness to guidance. So then the lightning-like punishment of humiliation overtook them because of what they have been earning (for themselves)." The Holy Qur’an, Fortress 41, Fussilat (Explained), verse
Therefore, to prevent our spirits from becoming inclined to wicked desires, we ask the Almighty to support us with His Help in order that we may see the truth. That is why we recite the verse "…and it is You we ask for help."
But what is this help for which we appeal to the Almighty?
It is His Guidance to us by His Light, in order to distinguish between our good desires and our bad ones. Therefore, we say: "Guide us to the straight path."
Verse no. 6
6. "Guide us to the straight path."
When we say: ―A certain person has shown them the path" , it means this person led them to it, showing it to them and acquainting them with it.
In this verse, you attain piety; that is, after you have returned to your Creator, seeking refuge in His Loftiness, and after you have entered into His Presence, then you ask Him to grant you His Light in order to help you see the path of righteousness and to make the way of right guidance clear to you.
In fact, all things have both an outward appearance and a true form. By the sun’s light, the eye can see the way things look, but it cannot see what they really are. The object’s reflection is printed on the retina of the eye, and it is there that the spirit sees it and feels it.
In this case, the spirit is only seeing the reflection and outward appearance of what it is looking at, and cannot perceive the essence or the reality of the object being viewed.
To witness reality requires a magnificent light, greater than the light of the sun, as it needs a penetrating and keen sight that can reach the true essence of things. That great light which manifests the plain and clear truth to you is the Light of Al’lah, the Almighty, and that keen sight is the spirit itself, as a whole, free from any veil to obstruct its view.
In this noble verse, you enter spiritually into God’s Presence, asking for His Guidance, calling on Him to bestow His Light upon you.
If you have been truthful in turning to God and requesting His Help, you will be illuminated by His Light. This Godly Light will uncover the reality of things to you, so you will be able to distinguish between good and bad. It will come as clarification from Al’lah, allowing you to see the right path, clear and luminous before you.
God says: "You who have faith! Be under God’s Light and believe in His Envoy. He will grant you two portions of His Mercy and He will bestow upon you a light through which to walk..." The Holy Qur‟an, Fortress 57, Al-Hadid (Iron), verse 28
This Godly Light shows the spirit the right path and allows it to distinguish between virtue and vice. The faithful ask their Provider for guidance in all their affairs as well as asking Him to inspire them to choose what is right and true in each of their actions. The Sacred Saying denotes: "My obedient followers! All of you have gone astray except those whom I have guided, so ask Me for guidance and I will guide you."
If you become illuminated by God’s Light and experience a vision while reading the verse in question, you will see that the entire universe is filled with justice and is established upon righteousness. You will witness that all creation is directed to a straight path.
The oppressive ruler is only empowered over bad and unfair people, just as the criminal is only helped against a sinful aggressor. Similarly, God only directs the giver of favour and charity towards the obedient follower who has done good and displayed charity. Therefore, you ask God to make you walk upon a straight path which brings you grace and welfare, saying: "The path of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace" .
Verse no. 7
7. "The path of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, of those who have incurred (Your) Wrath, and of those who have gone astray."
"The path of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace" :that is, ―My God! Please help me to work only on what will improve the welfare of your obedient followers (Ibad), and move in service to them. Make me one of those who treats your creation with goodness and charity so as to become worthy of Your Bounty and Benefaction. Those who want to be near to you will not become so except by helping your creation, so please, my God! Make me one of your charitable and obedient followers who devote themselves wholeheartedly to helping your creation, so as to gain Your Satisfaction and to be rewarded for their good deeds with Your Paradise and Favor."
"Of those who have never incurred (Your) Wrath" : these people are the ones who have attributed Providence to You and the mission to Your Envoy. They admitted that there is no god except Al’lah and Moses speaks with Al’lah; that there is no God except Al’lah and Jesus is of God’s Soul; that there is no god except Al’lah and Mohammad is the Envoy of Al’lah; then they never deviated from obeying You and never turned away from Your Statutes.
Also, we can describe those who have never incurred Your Wrath as those who gained Your Satisfaction in the world of Al-Azal, and who then behaved in a way that pleased You when they came to this world. They are Your Prophets and Envoys.
However, as for those who have incurred Your Wrath:
They are the ones who also attributed Providence to You and the mission of Your Envoy, and admitted the same thing as the other group. However, they then deviated from obeying You and turned away from Your Statutes. As a result, they succumbed to their whims, and their desires became like yokes round their necks. Please, my God! Keep me far from those who have incurred Your Wrath, and who have heard Your Words through Your Envoys but have still disobeyed You and broken Your Commands.
This means that their interactions with Your obedient followers are fraught with cunning and filled with damage and vice.
They incurred Your Anger and Your discontent because they deprived themselves of the favor and welfare that You have provided them with, and they have forgone the everlasting bliss You have prepared for them.
"And of those who have gone astray" :this includes those who have achieved true faith, such as the companions of the Prophet Mohammad (cpth), who kept their pledge and attained their covenant with Al’lah.
Oh, my God! Help me to become a faithful companion of those who have been guided to You by Your Envoys, as they have followed their instructions and have obeyed You through them.
As for the others, who have gone astray, they are the ones who have denied You, and have gone astray and left You and Your Envoys. They have not witnessed or recognized Your Supreme Attributes, and this is what caused their deviance from the path of righteousness and guidance. They thought that to perform an act of good would entail loss and damage, while aggression and cunning would lead to benefits for them.
Please God! Protect me from going astray. Whosoever goes away from You shall be completely overcome by their vile whims, and consequently, will only be capable of performing bad deeds.
Oh my God! Please protect me from being far from You. You are the Clement and Merciful Provider, and You are the Source of every virtue and every goodness.
Those who would go astray from You would ruin themselves and would lose everything.