His words, Exalted is He:

By the night as it enshrouds,

He said:

In its inner meaning it refers to the natural self (nafs al-ṭabʿ).

and [by] the day as it unveils,

[It refers to] the spiritual self (nafs al-rūḥ).

and [by] the One who created the male and the female,

That is, by the One who created fear (khawf) and hope (rajāʾ), fear being the male and hope being the female.

assuredly your efforts are dissimilar.

There are some that are pure and some that are tainted with impurities (aḥdāth).

As for him who gives and is mindful [of God] And affirms the truth of the best [word],

Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq رضي الله عنه gave of his soul and wealth with all his effort, and was on his guard against acquiescing in his natural self. He affirmed the truth of the best [word] — the word which attests to the divine oneness (kalimat al-tawḥīd). It has also been said [that this means affirming the truth of] the reward (jazāʾ), or that it means sincerity (ikhlāṣ).

We shall surely ease his way to [the abode] of ease.

That is, the return to goodness (khayr).

But as for one who is niggardly and deems himself self-sufficient,

Abū Jahl^{1MSS: Z515, f. 134b and F3488, f. 318a have Abū Sufyān, but the printed edition has Abū Jahl, while F638, f. 66b has Abū Sufyān corrected to Abū Jahl, perhaps by a later hand. Abū Jahl is more likely since he remained till the end a bitter foe of the Prophet, whereas Abū Sufyān converted to Islam after the conquest of Mecca in 630.} was niggardly in offering obedience to God and His Prophet; and deems himself self-sufficient — he [Abū Jahl] made it self evident that he considered himself to have no need of either [God or His Prophet].

We shall surely ease his way to hardship,

That is, We shall facilitate work[s] (ʿamal) for him — works that are as those of the people of the Fire. Do you not notice how He said directly after this:

and his wealth shall not avail him when he perishes.

in the Fire.

Truly to Us belong the Hereafter and the first [life].

The Hereafter is the spiritual self (nafs al-rūḥ), and the first [life] [i.e. this world] is the natural self (nafs al-ṭabʿ). He guides one person in the direction of [his] spiritual self and another in the direction of [his] natural self.

His words, Exalted is He:

The [one who is] most mindful of God will be spared it, he who gives his wealth away to purify himself,

He said:

The one who is most mindful of God (atqā) refers to al-Ṣiddiq [Abū Bakr] رضي الله عنه, who was among people the one with the greatest awareness of God; for [other] people gave and were mindful of God, but he did not even see the ephemeral (al-fānī), keeping for himself [only] the Everlasting (al-Bāqī). Thus [when] the Messenger of God ﷺ asked [him], ‘What did you leave for yourself?’, he replied, ‘God and His Messenger.’^{1Bayhaqī, Shuʿab al-īmān, vol. 2, p. 106.}

His words, Exalted is He:

And verily [soon] he shall [himself] be pleased.

He said:

[pleased] with what is in store for him with Us, this being the position of [receiving God’s] favour (faḍl), not the position of [receiving] a reward (thawāb); a mystery with Mystery itself (sirr bi-sirr), life with Life itself (ḥayāt bi-ḥayāt) and eternity with Eternity itself (azaliyya bi-azaliyya). But God knows best.