(n:) The following rigorously authenticated (sahih) hadith has been translated below with two commentaries, one by 'Abd al-Ra'uf Munawi (M:) and the other by Muhammad ibn 'Allan Bakri (B:), The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
"Allah Most High says: 'He who is hostile to a friend (waH) of Mine I declare war against. My slave approaches Me with nothing more beloved to Me than what I have made obligatory for him, and My slave keeps drawing nearer to Me with voluntary works until I love him. And when I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he seizes, and his foot with which he walks. If he asks Me, I will surely give to him, and ifhe seeks refuge in Me, I will surely protect him.' " He who is hostile to a friend (wali) of Mine (M: friend meaning the knower of Allah ('arif billah) who is constant in obedience to Him and sincere in his acts of worship) (B: that is, he who is close to Allah by his devotion to Him through obeying His commands and shunning the acts He has forbidden) I declare war against (M: I inform him that I shall make war upon him, meaning that Allah will deal with him as one at war does, namely, with theophanies against him of manifestations of omnipotent force and majesty, this being the ultimate threat. The words hostile to a friend (wali) mean hostile to him for being a friend (waH), not just any hostility whatever.
It excludes such things as taking him to court to have him fulfill an obligation. Rather, hostility to him for being a friend of Allah is to deny it out of mere obstinacy or envy, or to disparage or abuse him, and similar kinds of ill-treatment. And when the peril of being hostile toward such a person is appreciated, the reward for friendship with him may likewise be inferred) (B: I declare war against means I shall fight this enemy for him, i.e. destroy him. And this is a very severe threat for opposing or having enmity towards someone Allah loves. Too, the affirmation of Allah's fighting the enemies of His friends entails the affirmation of His friendship for those who befriend them).
My slave approaches Me with nothing more beloved to Me than what I have made obligatory for him (B: meaning the performance of what I have made obligatory for him, whether individually or communally. The obligatory is more beloved to Allah than voluntary devotions because it is more perfect, since the command to do it is absolute, implying a reward for its performance and punishment for its nonperformance, as opposed to voluntary devotions, whose nonperformance is unpunished, and which, it is said, amount to but one-seventieth of the value of an obligatory act), and My slave keeps drawing nearer to Me with voluntary works until I love him. And when I love him. I am his hearing (B: the protector of his hearing) with which he hears (B: meaning He who keeps it from being used to hear what is not permissible to listen to, such as slander, talebearing, and the like), his sight with which he sees (B: safeguarding it from what is unlawful to look at), his hand with which he seizes (B: so that he takes only what is lawful), and his foot with which he walks (B: so that he walks only to what is permitted) (M: in summary, whoever draws near to Allah through what is obligatory; and then through voluntary works, Allah draws him nearer and elevates him from the level of true faith (iman) to the level of the perfection of faith (ihsan, dis: u4) such that the knowledge in his heart becomes visible to the eye of his spiritual perception. To fill one's heart with knowledge of Allah effaces what is other than Him, so that one speaks not except of Him, moves not save at His behest, and if one looks, it is through Him, and if one seizes, it is through Him. And this is the consummate awareness of the oneness of Allah) (B: the consequence of which is the preservation of the individual's whole person, so that he forsakes selfish desire and is wholly absorbed in obedience. Another interpretive possibility is that the hadith is a metaphor for Allah's help and assistance, as if Allah Most High, figuratively speaking, were to play the role of the senses with which the individual perceives and the limbs he relies on.
A variant has the addendum:)
so that through Me he hears, through Me he sees, through Me he seizes, and through Me he walks (M: concerning which, the sheikhs of the Sufis (Allah Most High be well pleased with them) have had disclosures of the hidden and experiential indications that would make crumbled bones quake. But these are of no use save to those who tread their path and come to know the wellspring from which they drink, as opposed to those who do not, and .are not safe from grave error and falling into the abyss of believing that Allah can indwell in created things (hulul, dis: w7.1), or that other than Him can unite with Him (ittihad, w7.2) (B: this then, and those who fancy that other than Allah can unite with Him or that Allah can indwell in created things claim that the import of the hadith is not figurative but literal, and that Allah, far exalted above what they say, actually permeates or unifies with one, may Allah render them even viler).
If he asks Me, I will surely give to him (M: what he asks, as happened to many of the early Muslims), and if he seeks refuge in Me, I will surelyproteet him (M: from what he fears, this being the way of a lover with his beloved. His unquestionable promise, solemnified by the form of the oath (n: in the words "I will surely"), entails that whoever draws near to Him through the above will'not have his prayer (du'a') rejected).
(Dalil al-falihin Ii turuq Riyad al-salihin (y25) , 3.344-46, and Fayd ai-Qadir sharh aI-Jami' alsaghir (y91), 2.240-41) * - Fiqh Umdat as Salik w33.2 (islam)
