In the tongue of the Shariah, the vile is forbidden, and the goodly is permitted. In the tongue of the Haqiqah, every occupation that is empty of the mention and remembrance of the Real is vile; and every occupation at the beginning of which comes to the Real’s name, in the middle of which is the witnessing of the Real, and at the end of which is praise and gratitude is goodly.
5:100 Say: “The vile and the goodly are not equal, even if the manyness of the vile stirs you to admiration.”
It has been said that every wealth from which God’s rightful due is taken and the alms tax given is goodly, and everything from which it is not taken is vile and on the edge of destruction.
Muṣṭafā said, “No property is wasted in the land and the sea except by holding back its alms tax.” It has also been said that the vile is what you accumulate and store up in this world, holding it back from the hand of expenditure and good. The goodly is what you send forth for yourselves, spend in the good, and store up for the next world. This is the meaning of “What we sent forward was our gain, and what we left behind was our loss,” which was already mentioned.
