Look at this wonder—a threat mixed with gentleness. He asks the question, and in the question itself He instructs the servant how to answer by saying “thy generous Lord.” He reminds the servant of the name Generous so that the servant will say, “Your generosity deluded me about You. Were it not for Your generosity, I would not have done what I did. You saw, but You curtained. You predestined, but You gave respite.”
This has come in a sound hadith: “Surely God will bring the person of faith close, then place His wing over him and curtain him. He will say, ‘Do you recognize this sin? Do you recognize that sin?’ “He will say, ‘Yes my Lord’ until he confirms his sins and he sees in himself that he will perish. “He will say, ‘I curtained them for you in the world, and I forgive you for them today.’”
83:20-21 A book inscribed, witnessed by those given proximity.
Those given proximities are the folk of proximity. I am not talking about the proximity of distance, but the proximity of friendship. Today they are near, and tomorrow they will be near, living above the Throne. It is not that today they are far and tomorrow they will be near, or today they are absent and tomorrow they will be present. Today they are exactly what they will be tomorrow, and tomorrow they will be exactly what they are today.
He who is given proximity is he whose ears will not be distracted by the sound of the Trumpet, nor his eyes by paradise. When someone sees Him, what else will come into his eyes? When someone hears from Him, what else will enter his ears? When someone has found the good news of proximity with Him, how can he be happy with anything other than Him? How can he who is given proximity be aware of the sound of the Trumpet, or be preoccupied with the terror of the Resurrection, or be touched by the smoke of hell, or cling to the bliss of paradise? Today the whole world is full of creatures, but they are with the One. Tomorrow all creatures will be drowned in bliss, but they will still be with the One.
In glorifying You enough for me is to describe Your beauty.
Of the eight paradises, enough for me is union with You.
Everyone’s heart has a different goal—
enough goal for my heart is Your image.
