al-Muzzammil

وَاذْكُرِ اسْمَ رَبِّكَ وَتَبَتَّلْ إِلَيْهِ تَبْتِيلًا

رَّبُّ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ فَاتَّخِذْهُ وَكِيلًا

وَاصْبِرْ عَلَىٰ مَا يَقُولُونَ وَاهْجُرْهُمْ هَجْرًا جَمِيلًا

8. And remember the Name of your Lord and solely attach your heart to Him,
9. The Lord of the east and the west. There is not god but He. Therefore, take Him Alone as your Guardian and the Disposer of your affairs.
10. And be patient with what they say and keep away from them befittingly.

Following the Divine Command as to rise at night in prayer and brief reference made to the profound impressions of prayers, mention is made of five complementary Commands, saying:

It goes without saying that the mere remembrance of His Name is not herein intended, rather reference is made to according attention to the point that verbal remembrance serves as a prelude to the remembrance of the heart purifying the soul and fostering the tree of intuitive knowledge and fear of God Almighty in the heart. The Arabic nominal form rabb herein indicates that whenever one utters His Sacred Name, one is supposed to pay heed to the boundless Bounties and ongoing fostering of human soul.

Different stages of remembering God Almighty are mentioned by one of the exegetes: the first state is remembering His Name, as reflected in the blessed Verse in question; the second stage is to remember His Pure Essence in one’s heart, as reflected in 7:203:

as indicated in 33:41:

Thus, such ongoing remembrance undergoes different stages of development and the one who remembers Him is transported to the zenith of perfection.¹³ The second Command is saying:

"Attach your heart unto God Almighty, sever all the aspirations from anything besides Him, and sincerely rise to pray to Him."

The Arabic imperative verbal form tabattal denotes

Mary (as) is called Baul since she did not marry. Fatima (as) is also called Batul since she was different from and superior to other women at the time in terms of deeds, conduct, and knowledge such that she had reached the stage of severance from all things besides Allah. The verbal for herein implies the state in which man whole heartedly turns toward God Almighty, severing his ties from whatever exists besides Allah. Thus, such man is absorbed in devotion to God Almighty and performs all his deeds solely for Him Alone.

In this respect, it is narrated from the Noble Imam Sadiq (as) that the verbal form herein implies the state of humbleness at the time of praying to God Almighty.¹⁴ It is narrated from the Noble Prophet of the Islamic faith (S) as saying:

"There is neither asceticism nor separation in Islam."

The tradition implies that turning away from the world as practiced by the Christian monks does not exist in the Islamic faith, since they do not marry and abandon all social activities, but a true Muslim devotes himself wholeheartedly to God Almighty while living at the heart of the society. It is narrated from the Infallible Imams (as) that the verbal form in question implies stretching one’s hands while establishing canonical prayers. However, it is crystal clear that it reflects one of the manifestations of devotion and severing one’s ties from all besides God Almighty.¹⁵It is noteworthy that such remembrance of God Almighty and devotion to Him are the great sources used by the men of God in fulfilling their enormous obligations aiming at guiding the people.

The blessed Verse 9 treats of the third Command:

It is worthy of note that following the stages of remembering God Almighty and devotion, the third stage is to put one’s trust totally in God Almighty, the Lord of the east and the west. In other words, the world of existence in its entirety is subservient to His Sovereignty and Lordship. He is the only God to be worshipped. The blessed Verse supports putting one’s trust totally in God Almighty, since in the wide expanse of the world of existence, man may solely rely on Him as the Disposer of all the affairs, since He is the only Sovereign, Fosterer, and Bountiful Lord Worthy of being worshipped.

Mention is made of the fourth and the fifth Commands in the blessed Verse 10:

Thus, reference is made of the states of patience and separation, since the path of calling people unto the Truth abounds in the foes’ slander and harassment. The gardener is supposed to bear the stings of the thorns in order to pick up flowers. Thus, one is supposed to be indifferent to the foes and keep away from them at times in order to ward off their evil actions and give them lessons. It is worthy of note, however, that such separation does not entail leaving incomplete education, propagation, and calling people unto God Almighty.

The blessed Verses in question provide the Noble Prophet of the Islamic faith (S) and all those people following in his footsteps a series of comprehensive and perfect rules, urging them to derive their inspiration from praying to God Almighty at night and at day break and foster the tree by remembering God Almighty at all times, devotion, total reliance on Him, patience, and at times keeping away from the foes. What an interesting and comprehensive set of rules!

The expression

makes a reference to His Sovereignty and Lordship over all the world of existence. The same expression is used in common parlance when we say so and so rules over the east and the west, namely he rules over the whole globe rather than the points of the east and the west.

as mentioned above, connotes keeping away out of empathy and calling people unto the Truth. It is an educational method employed at certain times which stands in no disharmony against the question of jihad at other times, since each of them have their own proper places. In other words, such separation does not entail indifference, as it is a kind of paying attention. Some have mistakenly regarded the blessed Verse in question as abrogating those of jihad.

The late eminent scholar, Tabarsi, in his Majma‘ al-Bayan (under the blessed Verse in question) states that the blessed Verse reflects that the propagators of the Islamic faith and the callers to the Holy Qur’an are supposed to be patient in the face of hardships and associate with people with toleration and a good disposition, such that the hearts of the audiences sooner welcome their words.