The traces383 tell that they left not long ago. They returned to their lands and my tears flowed for them.384
[2:181] Then if anyone changes it after hearing it, the sin shall rest upon those who change it; surely God is Hearing, Knowing.
Whoever distorts an utterance, the evil and harm of that becomes his due. His punishment is that he is denied the smell of the fragrance of sincerity. Whoever aids the religion (dīn), God aids him and whoever provides aid against the religion, God forsakes him.
[2:182] But if any one fears injustice or sin from one making testament, and so makes things right between them, then no sin shall be upon him; surely God is Forgiving, Merciful.
The allusion in it is to the one who recognizes a weakness in one of the aspirants (murīdūn), or sees in one of the novices (ahl al-bidāya) a laxity of purpose (qaṣd). Or he finds someone giving counsel, speaking with pure sincerity, to someone who does not have the capacity for it. His view is that he is being kind to the aspirant by being indulgent, encouraging, coaxing and permissive towards him. This is not objectionable, for urging people to pure sincerity [on the path] in what is not yet firmly established in them has an ample reward. Showing kindness to novices when they are not yet firm in their resolve or sincere in their effort is a crucial element in seeking to make things right.
[2:183] O you who believe, prescribed for you is the Fast, just as it was prescribed for those that were before you so that you might guard yourselves.
382 Basyūnī omits the verses because he says he was unable to read or correct them. Although the text
in MS K117, f. 21b and Y101, f. 27b is legible, the meaning is obscure.
383 Instead of the word ‘traces’ (rusūm) in MSS K117, f. 21b and Y101, f. 28a, the Basyūnī edition has
rasūl, which may just be a typographic error, since Muṣṭafā does not repeat it (Muṣṭafā, no. 31, p. 31).
384 The translation follows ‘for them’ (lahum) as found in MSS K117, f. 21b and Y101, f. 28a instead
of lahu in the Basyūnī edition. Muṣṭafā gives a somewhat different version of the first line attributed to Aḥmad b. Abī Ṭālib (Muṣṭafā no. 31, p. 31).
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Fasting is of two types: the external fast which is abstention from things that break the fast accompanied by the intention [to fast], and the inner fast which is preserving the heart from harm, then the preservation of the spirit from familiar comforts (musākanāt), and then the preservation of the inner self from considerations (malāḥaẓāt).385
It is said the requirement of the fasting of worshippers, if it is to be complete, is preserving the tongue from slander (ghība), and preserving the glance from viewing with suspicion (rība), as it is said in the tradition, ‘Whoever fasts, let him fast with his ears, his eyes...’.386 As for the fast of those who know, it is protecting the innermost self from witnessing anything other than Him.
For those who abstain from the things that break the fast, the end of their fast is when night falls. For those who fast from everything other [than Him], the end of their fast is that they witnesses the Real. He (ṣ) said, ‘Fast to see Him and break your fast to see Him’.387 [In this ḥadīth the letter] hāʾ in his words (ṣ) li-ruʾyatihi refers, according to the people of realization (ahl al-taḥqīq), to the Real (s).388 The religious scholars (ʿulamāʾ) say its meaning is ‘Fast when you see the new moon of Ramaḍān and break your fast when you see the new moon of Shawwāl’.389 As for the elect, their fast is for God because of their witnessing God, and their breaking of the fast is through God, and their approach is to God and the One Who prevails over them is God and the One through Whom they are effaced is God.
[2:184] For days numbered; and if any of you be sick, or be on a journey, then a number of other days;
Whoever is present in the month fasts for God and whoever is present with the Creator of the month fasts through God. The fast for God leads to recompense, while the fast through God leads to nearness. The fast for God is the fulfillment of worship (taḥqīq al-ʿibāda) and the fast through God is the healing of spiritual desire (taṣḥīḥ al-irāda). The fast for God is an attribute of every worshiper (ʿābid) and the fast by means of God is the quality of every seeker (qāṣid). The fast for God is the practice of external things (qiyām al-ẓawāhir) and the fast by means of God is the practice of inner things (qiyām al-damāʾir). The fast for God is abstention
385 Presumably, al-Qushayrī means here ‘considerations’ (malāḥaẓāt) of anything other than the Real. 386 Basyūnī gives the full text and states that it is attributed to Abū Hurayra and is found in al-Bukhārī
and the other sound collections.
387 ʿAbd al-Raḥmān gives al-Nasāʾī’s Sunan, Al-Ṣiyām sections 8 and 11, among other sources for this
ḥadīth.
388 They understand the pronoun ‘he’ or ‘it’ which the ḥāʾ represents as referring to God. 389 They understand the pronoun as referring to the new moon.
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according to legal explanations (ʿibārāt al-sharīʿa)390 and the fast by means of God is abstention through the allusions of reality (ishārāt al-ḥaqīqa).
Whoever is present in the month abstains from the things that break the fast, while whoever is present with the Real abstains at all times from witnessing created things.
Whoever fasts with his lower self is given to drink from the drink of Salsabīl and Zanjabīl.391 Whoever fasts in his heart is given to drink from the drink of that which causes love through the blessing of affirmation. Those who fast with their innermost selves are those about whom God has said, ‘He will give them a pure drink to drink’ [76:21]. What a drink! A drink that is not turned about in the hand but rather appears for one from kindness, a drink of becoming intimate, not the drink of a cup.
God Most High said, ‘If any of you be sick, or be on a journey, then a number of other
days’, i.e., for anyone who breaks the fast for these reasons, there is a fast of a number of
other days equaling those in which the fast was broken. The allusion is to one who is ailing in the health of his spiritual desire (irāda) and returns to other than Him, either through a permissive interpretation (rukhṣat taʾwīl) or because of a lack of strength or endurance, or a weakness in taking on the burdens of the decrees of reality. Then let his load be lightened until his resolve strengthens and his desire intensifies. At that time what was permitted to him in adopting [permissive] interpretation will be corrected in him. This is the sunna of God (s) in easing the way for novices. Their fulfillment of that will be obligatory at a later time.
[2:184 cont’d] and for those who are able to do it, a redemption: the feeding of a poor man. For him who volunteers good; that is good for him; but that you should fast is better for you, if you but knew.
The allusion in it is to those who have a remaining bit of power in themselves to dedicate to the demands of reality, but who nonetheless revert to lenience in the Sharīʿa and descend into permissive interpretation. The amends prescribed for them is what is necessary for the situation. It is the abandonment of whatever one has left in fixed wealth (maʿlūm māl) and mortal state (marsūm ḥāl) so that he remains stripped bare before the One.
It is said that since He knows that the imposition of obligation (taklīf) necessarily entails difficulty, He lightened that for you in your heart by showing the days of the fast to be few,
390 The translation follows the word ‘explanations’ (ʿibārāt) found in MSS K117, f. 22a and Y101, f.
28a, rather than ‘acts of worship’ (ʿibādāt) in the Basyūnī printed edition, since it better contrasts with the word ‘allusions’ (ishārāt) in the latter part of the sentence .
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for He said, ‘for days numbered’, i.e., the duration of this fast is but a few days, so hearing about it should not alarm you. This is like God Most High’s saying, ‘And struggle in the way of God, a struggle worthy of Him’ [22:78], and then saying, ‘and He has not laid upon you in your religion any hardship’ [22:78], i.e., He does not burden you with too great a difficulty in performing a struggle worthy of Him.
[2:185] The month of Ramaḍān, wherein the Qurʾān was revealed, a guidance for the people, and as clear proofs of the Guidance and the Criterion; So let those of you, who are present at the month, fast it and if any of you be sick, or if he be on a journey, then a number of other days.
Ramaḍān burns (yurmiḍu)392
the sins (dhunūb) of some people and burns the mortal traces (rusūm) of other people. What a difference between those whose sins are burnt by His mercy and those whose mortal traces are burnt by His reality!
The month of Ramaḍān is the month of the opening of the [divine] speech (khiṭāb), the month of the revelation of the Book (kitāb), the month of obtaining the reward (thawāb), the month of drawing near and affirmation (ījāb), the month of the lightening of burdens (takhfīf al- kulfa), the month of achieving intimacy (taḥqīq al-zulfa), the month of descending mercy (nuzūl al-raḥma), the month of granting blessing (wufūr al-niʿma), the month of salvation (najāt) and the month of intimate conversation (munājāt).
[2:185 cont’d] God desires ease for you, and desires not hardship for you:
‘Because He desires ease for you, you should recognize that He desires only ease for you’.393 Among the signs that He wants ease for His servant is that He has brought about the search for ease. If He had not desired ease for him, He would not have placed a desire for it in him. The one who spoke for them said:
If You had not wanted me to obtain that for which I hope and seek from Your generosity,
392 The word Ramaḍān and the verb yurmiḍu are from the same root r-m-ḍ, which refers to the burning
of the sun.
393 The translation follows the wording in MSS K117, f. 22a and Y101, f. 28b. The printed edition