8:3-4 Those who perform the prayer and expend from what We have provided them, it is they who are the faithful in truth. They have degrees with their Lord and forgiveness and a generous provision.
In the previous verse, He counted out some of the inward deeds, such as Godwariness, fear, and truth. Then, in this verse, He joins them with the outward deeds, such as prayer and alms tax. The former are marks of the Haqiqah and the latter stipulations of the Shariah. Thus you know that these two are joined together. Without the Shariah, the Haqiqah is of no use, and without the Haqiqah the Shariah is not correct. When the two are combined, then it is they who are the faithful in truth. The faithful in reality are they, for they are sound in both the Shariah and the Haqiqah. They have undertaken the Shariah, so they have degrees in the Garden and forgiveness, and they have truthfulness in the Haqiqah, so they have a generous provision. This is the provision of the secret cores through the unveilings and joinings which belong to them alone.
It has also been said that the traits counted out in this verse are the realities of servanthood in the encounters [with God] and the unveilings of the Haqiqah in the finding [of Him]. These are reverence for remembrance, quaking at the time of listening, being overcome by an increase at the time of recitation, the reality of trust in God, and undertaking the stipulations of servanthood in full loyalty. When these descriptions are perfected, they become realizers through faith. Hence it is said, “It is they who are the faithful in truth.” In other words, in reality, the most beautiful has already gone forth to them from God, so for them, it has become blessedness, nearness, and the most beautiful with their Lord.
8:7 And when God promised you one of the two parties would be yours, and you wished that the one not armed would be yours.
By way of allusion, He is saying, “So long as the servant does not suffer he will not reach the treasure.”
“How should I have known that suffering is the mother of happiness and that beneath one disappointment lie a thousand treasures? How should I have known that life is in death and that what is desired by all lies in unreached desires?” Life is the life of the heart, and death is the death of the soul. Until you die in yourself, you will not come to life through the Real. “Die, O friend, if you want to live!” [DS 52].
