33. Al-Ahzab
Inna Allaha wa malaa’ikatihu yasalloona `alaa nabee yaa ayyuhaalladheena-amanoo salloo `alayhi wa sallimoo tasleeman (Quran 33:56)
Indeed, Allah and His angels bestow blessings upon the Nabi... O believers, send blessings (turn to) him and greet him in submission!
This verse makes it compulsory for us to send blessings (give salawat) to our master, the Rasul, the light of insight, Allah’s beloved… Why is this so? The Rasul of Allah (saw) says:
“One who does not show gratitude to others is incapable of showing gratitude to Allah.”
This presents to us one of the deepest truths of Sufism… If we have eradicated at least some of the veils covering the perception of our heart we may see this…
If we can understand the sublimity of the verse “Allah gives to the givers” we will know without doubt that whoever the apparent giver may be, it is always Allah who is giving! And to thank Allah is by thanking the apparent cause through which He has chosen to give! Otherwise, we won’t be thanking the real giver, but a god of our own creation!
Since Allah gave to us through the Rasul of Allah (saw) and showed and enabled us to realize the truth through him, then surely to thank the Rasul of Allah (saw) is to thank Allah.
This is why Allah, through the Quran, orders us to thank the Rasul (saw).
By the one who is denoted by the name Allah (who created my being with His Names in accord with the meaning of the letter ‘B’), the Rahman, the Rahim.
1. O Nabi! Be of those who protect themselves from Allah (as He will most definitely enforce the consequences of your deeds upon you)! And do not obey those who deny the knowledge of the reality and the hypocrites (the two-faced)! Indeed, Allah is the Aleem, the Hakim.
2. Follow what has been revealed (inspired) to you from your Rabb... Indeed, Allah is Habir of what you do (as their creator).
3. Place your trust in Allah! Sufficient for you is Allah, your essential reality with His Names as the Wakil.
4. Allah has not formed two hearts in any man’s chest cavity! And He has not made your partners, (whom you call your mothers and forbid to yourselves) your mothers. And He has not made your adopted sons your real sons. This is merely your baseless talk! Allah informs of the Truth and leads to the right path!
5. Address them (your adopted sons) by (the names of) their fathers... This is more just in the sight of Allah. If you do not know their fathers, then they are your brothers and friends in religion... And there is no blame upon you for that in which you erred... Except for the things you did with deliberate intention... Allah is the Ghafur, the Rahim.
6. The Nabi is of higher priority to the believers than their own selves! His spouses are their (the believers’) mothers! And relatives are of higher priority in Allah’s Book (in terms of inheritance) than (other) believers and emigrants... Except the good you do for your friends in the way of religion... This is a law from the revealed knowledge.
7. And We took a pledge from the Nabis: from you, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus, the son of Mary... We took a solemn covenant from them.
8. So that the truthful may be questioned of their Truth (so that they may be tried)... And He has prepared a severe suffering for those who deny the knowledge of the reality.
9. O believers... Remember the blessing of Allah upon you... When armed forces (in the Battle of the Trench) came to you and We disclosed a storm and invisible forces upon them... Allah is Basir of what you do (as their creator).
10. And when they came to you from above and from below... And your eyes shifted and your hearts reached your throats! You were in various assumptions about Allah.
11. There the believers were tried and severely shaken.
12. And the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is disease (devoid of healthy thought) said, “Allah and His Rasul have not promised us anything except delusion.”
13. And a group of them said, “O people of Yasrib (the previous name of Medina)! There is no place here for you to stay, go back!” And another group asked permission of the Nabi saying, “Indeed, our houses are unprotected”... While they (their houses) were not unprotected... They wanted nothing other than to flee.
14. If their houses were forcefully entered upon from all its (the city’s) surrounding and they were required to turn back from their religion, they (the hypocrites) would surely have done so...
15. Indeed, they had promised Allah before that they would not turn their backs and flee... And a promise made to Allah will be questioned (its consequence will be inescapably experienced)!