5:83 And when they hear what has been sent down to the Messenger, thou seest their eyes overflow with tears because of the truth they recognize. They say, “Our Lord, we have faith, so write us down among the witnesses.”
This verse alludes to the fact that faith is to be heard, seen, recognized, spoken, and done. What they hear is evidence that it is to be heard. Thou seest their eyes overflow with tears is evidence that it is to be seen. Because the truth they recognize is evidence that it is to be recognized. They say is evidence that it is to be spoken. Then, at the end of the verse, He says “That is the recompense of the beautiful-doers” [5:85]. Beautiful-doers is evidence that its deeds are to be done. He began with the hearing because first there is hearing. The servant hears the truth, it makes him happy, he accepts it, he comes into work, and he acts upon it. The Lord of the Worlds is pleased with the group in whom all these traits are found.
It has been said that three things are the marks of recognition and that this group has all three to perfection: weeping, supplication, and approval—weeping for disloyalty, supplication for bestowal, and approval of the decree. Anyone who claims to have recognition and does not have these traits is not truthful in his claim, is not counted among the recognizers, and has no standing among the chevaliers and the religious.
Recognition is two: the recognition of the common people and the recognition of the elect. The recognition of the common people is by hearsay, and the recognition of the elect is by face-to-face vision. The recognition of the common people comes from the source of munificence, but the recognition of the elect comes from what they find.
Concerning the recognition of the common people, He says, “When they hear what has been sent down to the Messenger.” Concerning the recognition of the elect, He says, “He will show you His signs, and you will recognize them” [27:93]. When they hear is a praise of the folk of the Shariah, and He shall show you His signs is a felicitation for the folk of the Haqiqah. When someone speaks of Shariah and turns his back in any respect, he becomes a heretic. When someone speaks of the Haqiqah and looks at himself in any respect, he becomes an associater.
