58:1 God has heard the words of her who disputes with thee concerning her husband and complains to God.
The weaker someone is, the gentler is the Lord. The lord of lords, the master of all masters, the gentle, generous, and lovingly kind, takes care of the work of the weak in a way that leaves all the strong in wonder. A hundred thousand proximate angels, glorifying and hallowing, were diving in the oceans of bows and prostrations and raising the voices of glorification and hallowing at the Exalted Threshold, but no one talked about them. But that poor, weak woman—the disputer who wept before the Threshold in burning and bewilderment and who complained of her despair—look how the Splendorous Qur’an wrote the inscription of exaltation on the cape of her secret whispering:
“God has heard the words of her who disputes with thee concerning her husband and complains to God. We have heard her complaint, We have listened to her lamenting and supplicating, and We have made apparent the opening up of the suffering and tightness in which she has remained because of her husband’s repudiation of her. We are the Lord who is the good companion of everyone helpless and without a companion, We untie the knots of everyone in bonds, We dispel the sorrows of everyone sorrowful. We hear the voice of the poor, We listen to the whispering of the miserable, We respond to the need of the helpless.”
It has come in a report that one day this woman who disputed came to ʿUmar Khaṭṭāb during the days of his caliphate for a business she had with him. She spoke harshly with him. Those who were with him shouted at her, saying, “Do you not know that you must not speak harsh words to the Commander?” ʿUmar said to them, “Be silent! Have respect for this poor woman! She is the woman whose words the Real heard from beyond the seven levels of heaven, and upon whom He placed this caress and generosity: “God has heard the words of her who disputes with thee concerning her husband and complains to God.”
O People! Respect the poor and seek proximity to God by taking care of them and giving comfort to them. Although today they are helpless and poor, tomorrow they will be the kings of the Garden of Refuge and the great ones of the Highest Paradise.
Do not look at the fact that today their state is defective, their clothing tattered, their faces yellow, and their hearts full of pain. Look rather at the fact that tomorrow they will be the great ones of the Abode of Peace and the chiefs of the Abode of the Station.
58:12 O you who have faith, when you whisper with the Messenger, offer charity before you whisper.
It is narrated that the Commander of the Faithful ʿAlī said that when this verse came down, he gave one dinar in charity and asked ten questions from God’s Messenger. He said, “‘O Messenger of God! How should I supplicate God?’: How should I call upon God and worship Him?” The Messenger answered, “‘With truthfulness and loyalty’: Be loyal to the covenant that was made with Him on the Day of Alast and be truthful in your speaking and doing. Have what you show, do what you say, and be whence you call out.”
ʿAlī said, “What should I ask for from God?” He answered, “‘For safety in this world and the next:’ In this world and the next the safety of the heart from the blights of mortal nature and the well-being of the body in the varieties of trial.” ʿAlī said, “‘What should I make ready for my salvation?’: What should I do so that in the gathering place of the resurrection I may be delivered, secure from the terrors of the resurrection and arrived at the degrees of the Garden?” He answered, “‘Eat the permitted and speak with truthfulness’: When you eat something, eat the permitted, and when you speak, speak with truthfulness. Do not give the forbidden access to yourself, for the forbidden has a bad outcome. Avoid lying, for anyone who lies will have a bad name in the two worlds.” He said, “‘What is the stratagem?’: What stratagem should I use so that things will come out as I want?” He answered, “‘The stratagem is to abandon stratagems’: Let go of stratagems and know that everything is as God wants and that the stratagems and governance of the servant will never overcome God’s predetermination.” He said, “‘What must I do?’: What are the rules that I must discharge?” He answered, “‘The command of God and His Messenger’: Everything mandatory and obligatory commanded by God, and everything set down as Sunnah and recommended by the Messenger.” He said, “‘What is ease?’: What is ease and comfort?” He answered, “‘The Garden’: Ease is that you settle down in paradise and its blessings and that you stay secure from hell and its punishment.” He said, “‘What is joy?’: What is happiness and when will happiness be found?” He answered, ‘Vision’: Happiness is the happiness that comes at the end of the night of separation when the morning of union rises from the horizon of good fortune and the servant sees marks giving witness to the beauty of the Possessor of Majesty.” He said, “‘What is the truth?’: What is the truth in whose road there is no falsehood?” He answered, “‘The submission’: The religion of the submission.” He said, “‘What is corruption?’: What is the corruption and ruin that is far from truth and purity?” He answered, “‘Unbelief’: To practice unbelief and to conceal the truth.” He asked, “‘What is loyalty?’: What is loyalty and who is a loyal man?” He answered, “‘Bearing witness that there is no god but God.’ Saying the words of the Shahadah and staying straight in faith, tawḥīd, and self-purification.”
