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al-Qushayri on God’s Vast Forgiveness – Abdur Rahman’s Corner
Peace, one and all…
I wanted to share Imam al-Qushayri’s reflections on the following Quranic verses (see these previous posts: first, second):
‘And hasten unto forgiveness from your Lord, and for a garden whose breadth is the heavens and the earth—prepared for the reverent who spend in ease and hardship, and curb their rage, and pardon others—and God loves the virtuous’
(Quran 3:133, The Study Quran)
It is a long passage, but one filled with rich insights into the spiritual path.
May the hearts of the lovers be opened.
The meaning here is vie with one another, hastening to act in ways that will bring about forgiveness for you. The hearts [of the believers] were overwhelmed, imagining that this was a difficult matter, so [the Prophet] said, “Remorse is repentance” (al-nadmu tawba). Nothing but repentance brings about forgiveness because the one who disobeys is the one who is in need of it.
The people who vie with one another are of several types. Those who are worshipers (ʿābidūn) vie with one another by their feet in acts of obedience (bi-qadamihim fī l-ṭāʿāt). Those who have deeper knowledge (ʿārifūn) vie with one another with their aspirations, in acts of drawing near (bi-himam ihim fī l-qurubāt). Those who are disobedient (ʿāṣūn) vie with one another with their remorse, by swallowing their grief (bi-nadamihim bi-tajarruʿi al-ḥasarāt). Whoever vies with others by his feet finds [God’s] recompense (wajada mathwabatahu). Whoever vies with others with his aspirations finds [God’s] nearness (wajada qurbatahu). Whoever vies with others with his remorse finds [God’s] mercy (wajada raḥmatahu).
When He mentioned the garden, He described it by the vastness of its width, and in that there is information about its height because the height is comparable to the width. But when He mentioned forgiveness, he did not mention height or width, so some people have said that forgiveness is from the [divine] attributes of the essence (ṣifāt al-dhāt) and is part of the meaning of mercy (raḥma). According to this (way of thinking), His forgiveness is His decree in overlooking [the misdeeds of] the servant and His speech. The quality of the essence is too holy for size and width. [On the other hand], those who say His forgiveness belongs with the [divine] attributes of actions (ṣifāt al-fiʿl) say that because of the abundance of sins, He did not describe forgiveness as having any end, thus indicating that it encompasses all sins.
Who expend in prosperity and adversity: They do not hoard anything from God and prefer Him over everything. They expend their bodies in acts of obedience and in various litanies and efforts. [They expend] their wealth in spreading good works and striving to draw near [to God] by various kinds of almsgiving. [They expend] their hearts in seeking and then continual observation. [They expend their spirits] in the purity of what they love and the fullness of their states. [They expend] their innermost selves in witnessing in all moments, waiting for the allusions to what has been sought, exerting their utmost to take advantage of the subtlety of what appears.
And restrain their rage: They overlook [the faults] of people because they regard them with the eye of kinship. Some people are forbearing with the sins of others, but they view them with an eye of superiority. Others restrain their rage in recognition that the Real knows what they suffer and so bearing the burden becomes easy for them. Others have passed away from human properties (aḥkām al-bashariyya), and find the purest comforts in abasement because their lower selves have fallen away and have been annihilated. Others see not even an atom of anything other [than God] in bringing forth and executing [what appears on earth and in human interactions], since they know that the One who brings forth is God.
Therefore their disputes and quarrels with anything other than God have disappeared, for when they have singled Him out as the sole cause of origination, they yield to His decree and they see no way other than submission to it. The Real has conferred upon them the coolness of contentment (riḍāʾ) and they uphold for Him the condition of harmony (muwāfaqa). And pardon their fellow men: They see it as an obligation on themselves, not a favor from them to their fellow men. Their speaker said:
Many have thrown stones of harm
meant for me.
I have not found any escape
except compassion for them.
God loves those who are virtuous: Virtuousness (iḥsān) is that you worship God as if you see Him, and this is the right conduct with the Real. As for right conduct with people, virtuousness is that you give up your right entirely, no matter what it is worth and to whomever; [you] receive his acceptance gladly, and [do] not hold any favor against him.
al-Qushayri, Lata’if al-Isharat 3:133-134