The [ones who are] mindful of God are those who believe in the unseen…God is the unseen and His religion is the unseen, and God, Mighty and Majestic is He, has ordered them to believe in the unseen, to free themselves from [any claim] to power and strength concerning that which they have been commanded to do and prohibited from doing, in faith, speech and action and to say, ‘We have no power (ḥawl) to keep ourselves from disobediencesave through Your protection (ʿiṣma), and we have no strength (quwwa) to obey You save through Your aid (maʿūna).’ This is [a result of] of His compassion (ishfāq) towards them, and of His assisting them so that they do not claim power, strength and ability as did those who were damned from pre-eternity. When [these latter] saw the punishment with their own eyes, they disowned [their claim], but their disavowal did not avail them after they had actually seen the punishment. God has informed us about those who fit this description in His words But their faith was of no benefit to them when they (actually) saw Our punishment [40:85], and: Their only plea when Our might came upon them, was to say, ‘We were evildoers indeed’ [7:5]. Similarly, Pharaoh claimed to have power, strength and ability, and said, ‘Whenever I wish to believe, I will believe’, but when he actually came to believe it was not accepted from him, as God, Exalted is He, said, Now — when hitherto you have disobeyed and been of those who do corruption? [10:91] …And spend out of what We have provided them:Sahl said:Truly God, Exalted is He, has described in this way those whom He has moulded with a certain nature, who are connected to Him by a certain link, and who never lapse in their heedfulness (murāqaba) of Him. They are those who never made a choice and desired nothing other than Him. Their only choice is that He should choose for them, even as He has chosen them for Himself. They desire nothing that has any relation to another which will remove them from their dependence solely on Him, for they have freed themselves from other than Him.Abū Bakr relates that it was said to Sahl: ‘Truly God has granted you wisdom (ḥikma)’, to which he replied:Indeed, God willing, I have been granted wisdom (ḥikma) and [a knowledge of] the unseen (ghayb) which I was taught from the unseen of His secret (min ghayb sirrihi), and thus He sufficed me from the need for all other knowledge — and that the ultimate end is toward your Lord [53:42], and He completed what He had begun with me out of His grace and beneficence.His words, Mighty and Majestic is He:
