6:112 Thus have We made for every prophet an enemy, satans of jinn and men.
When someone’s rank is higher, his trial will be more complete. When someone is nearer to the Real and his heart more limpid, his soul will be more captured by the hand of the enemy. Yes, without the grief of tribulation, the story of love cannot be told. Without the venom of trial, the honey of friendship cannot be found. Look at what Adam the Chosen, that sapling honored by the Real and nurtured by hallowing, saw from his enemy Iblis. God says, “Then Satan made them slip therefrom and brought them out from what they were in” [2:36].
And that other elder of the prophets and father of the world’s folk, Noah—look at what he saw from his own people. For nine hundred and some years he invited them, and every day they beat him so much that he became unconscious, and they advised his own children to be his enemies. That paragon was patient in this trial and he kept hoping that they would have faith. Finally, it was said to him, “None of your community will have faith except those who already have faith” [11:36].
He said, “Lord God, since my hope has been cut off and there is no way to wholesomeness, their being in this world will do nothing but increase corruption and cause ruin. Leave no disbeliever dwelling on the earth [71:26].”
After that Abraham, the prophet who was the tree of tawḥīd, fell to his knees night and day, placing his white old age in his hands: “Keep me and my sons away from worshiping idols” [14:35]. Look at what reached him from the rebellious Nimrod and what hardship he suffered from his arrogance and obstinacy!
So also the prophets one by one—Hūd, Ṣāliḥ, Lot, Zachariah, John, Jesus, Moses—came to lamentation at the hands of the tyrants, the arrogant, and the refractory, weeping to the Real. Then, after all of them, Muḥammad Muṣṭafā’s trial was more complete and his torment from enemies greater. Thus he said, “No prophet whatsoever has been tormented as I have been tormented.” Those estranged and disrespectful people did not know the measure of that paragon. They did not have the eyes to recognize him. They set out to kill him and bound their belts in cruelty toward him. The elders ridiculed him, the poets lampooned him, the children threw stones at him, the women poured dust on him from the roofs. Then they came to an agreement and made a compact among themselves to remove him and to help their own gods. At that point, Gabriel came and said, “O Master! Get up, and leave the city to them. Set out for exile, for ‘Seeking the Real is exile.’”
6:114 What, shall I want other than God as a judge?
“Shall I take other than God as an object of worship? Certainly not! Should I know a god other than God? No, never.” The object of worship without peer is He, for He is one and unique. In activity and all-compellingness He has no equal, in running the work and mastering the work He has no similarities. In caressing servants He is well known, in loving kindness and showing love, He is the one described.
“O God, You are found by the recognizers, You are the wish of the hearts of the yearners, You are mentioned on the tongue of the praisers! How should I not want You, for You hear the voice of the supplicators. How should I not praise You, for You make the hearts of the servants happy. How should I not know You, for You are the adornment of the universe. How should I not love You, for You are the delight of the spirit.”
6:116 Wert thou to obey most of those in the earth, they would misguide thee from the path of God.
In terms of number, God’s delegates are few, but they have weight and gravity. The folk of falsehood are many, but they have no weight or meaning. For a world of metaphor, one iota of reality is enough. For a world of foolishness and falsehood, one breath of the lords of finding is enough.
“O Muḥammad! If you see them in terms of number and manyness, they will throw you into trouble. If you seek to get along with them, they will hold you back from the Real. Obey Our command, and turn away from them. So shout out what thou art commanded, and turn away from the associaters” [15:94].
