And when the previous statement was the prohibition of the one who forbids the one praying and the pulling of his forelock if he does not stop, and his command to call his caller, the ruling in the first is that he does not respond to him to leave the prayer. In the second, that the forbidding one does not cease from his disobedience by threatening, and that the calling of his caller does not benefit him. So, all of this is negated. It is entirely good to bring forth the means of deterrence. So, He said: ﴿Kalla﴾, meaning he is not able to respond to his caller nor does he cease his harm to the obedient one by threatening. So, let him refrain from all of that.

And when it was as if it were said: So what should I do? He said, acknowledging that whoever knows that the nature of time and its people is corruption, it is obligatory upon him to turn towards his own affairs and to turn away from the rest of the servants. ﴿Do not obey him﴾, meaning in his prohibition to you from obedience in prayer or otherwise.

And when His prohibition of the prayer, which is the pillar of the religion, was mentioned, and since the prayer is expressed by prostration because it - although it is a part of it - is its most noble aspect, and it is also used to refer to all acts of worship, Allah, the Most High, said, indicating His support for him ﷺ and for his followers against all who prevent them from His worship: ﴿And prostrate﴾, meaning continue in your prayer and submission with your soul and renew that at every moment. And since prostration is the closest means for the servant to Allah, He said: ﴿And draw near﴾, meaning strive secretly to attain the rank of closeness to your Lord and to gain His affection through every act of worship, especially the prayer, for it is the closest the servant can be to his Lord while he is prostrating. This position has been explained as previously mentioned in the opening chapter by his ﷺ saying: 'I seek refuge in Your pardon from Your punishment.' For this phrase indicates - as Imam Al-Ghazali said in the Book of Gratitude - witnessing the actions of Allah only, as if he saw nothing but Allah and His actions, so he sought refuge in His action from His action. Then he drew near and was annihilated in witnessing the states, and he ascended to the sources of actions, which are the attributes. He said: 'I seek refuge in Your pleasure from Your anger,' and these are two attributes. Then he saw that as a deficiency in his monotheism. So he drew near and ascended from the station of witnessing the attributes to witnessing the Essence, saying: 'And I seek refuge in You from You,' fleeing from Him to Him without witnessing an action or attribute. However, he saw himself fleeing from Him to Him and seeking refuge and praising Him, so he was annihilated from witnessing himself when he saw that as a deficiency. He drew near and said: 'You are as You have praised Yourself; I cannot enumerate Your praise.' His saying: 'I cannot enumerate' indicates the annihilation of his self and his departure from witnessing it, and his saying: '[You are] as You have praised' clarifies that He is the Praiser and the Praised, and that everything begins from Him and returns to Him, and that everything is perishing except His Face. So his first station was the end of the stations of the monotheists, which is that nothing is seen except Allah and His actions, and he seeks refuge in an action from an action. So look at what his end reached when he arrived at the One, the Truth, until he elevated from his view and witnessing anything other than the True Essence. Indeed, he ﷺ would not ascend from one rank to another except that he saw the first as distant in relation to the second. He would seek forgiveness from Allah for the first and see that as a deficiency in his conduct and a shortcoming in his station, and this is indicated by his ﷺ saying: 'Indeed, my heart is covered until I seek forgiveness from Allah seventy times in a day and night.' This was for his elevation to seventy stations, some of which are considered a deficiency due to the shortcomings of their beginnings, even if he surpassed the utmost limits of the stations of creation. However, it was a deficiency in relation to their ends, so his seeking forgiveness was for that.

(p-175) And when Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: "Indeed, Allah has forgiven you what has preceded of your sin and what has followed, so what is this crying in prostration and what is this great effort?" He said: "Should I not be a grateful servant?" Its meaning is: Should I not seek more in ranks, for indeed gratitude is the cause of increase, as Allah, the Most High, said: ﴿If you are grateful, I will surely increase you﴾ [Ibrahim: 7]. This is the end. And he is, as you see, in a state of freshness. So whoever increases in supplication during his prostration, we hope that he will be answered. And prayer cannot be except with recitation. So if you do that, you will be veiled from others with a strong veil, and you will increase in clarity and protect your state from others - as indicated in the scriptures of Ibrahim, blessings and peace be upon him: "It is appropriate for the wise to be cautious of his tongue, aware of his time, and focused on his affairs - and Allah knows best." Thus, the latter returns to the former, in the best, most beautiful, and most complete manner - and Allah is the Guide.