Since they were also granted success to [being of] the former division by the blessedness of companionship with the Messenger and his purification of them and his [moral] training of them, He says: Take of their wealth some alms, since wealth is the cause of the manifestation of the soul and of its being overpowered by its attributes and the [source of] reinforcement of its faculties and the substratum of its vain desires, as the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'Wealth is the substance of passionate desires'. Thus their initial state must be one of disengagement from wealth so that the faculties of the soul might be broken and its vain desires and attributes might be weakened so as to be cleansed from the dark configurations that are in it and to be purified from the vileness of sins and the impurity of Satanic motivations. That is the significance of His words: to purify them and to cleanse them thereby, and pray for them, by extending [your] aspiration [to include them] and by effusing the light of [your] companionship upon them; truly your prayers are a peacefulness for them, that is, truly the light that you effuse upon them by turning the attention of your mind to them and the potency of your aspiration and the blessedness of your companionship are the cause for the coming down of the divine peace (sakīna) upon them, their hearts finding peace therein and reassurance. The divine peace is a light that settles in the heart, remaining firm with it in the orientation to the Truth and by which certainty is strengthened and by which is removed that inconstancy which is the result of Satan's touch and his evil whisperings, as well as the conversations of the soul and its murmurings, since that person will no longer accept them then. And God is Hearer, hearing their humble beseechings and admission of their sins, Knower, of their intentions and resolve and of the remorse and distress in their consciences.
