The guest together with what he or she is provided with is...

The guest together with what he or she is provided with is nothing but Divine action. The Holy Qur’ān says: وَاللٌّهُ خَلَقَكُمْ وَمَا تَعْمَلُونَ “ And God has created you and whatever you do .[^8]” Another highly significant point to bear in mind is that this kind of hospitality is essentially continual.

Because of the utter existential poverty of the human being, he always needs to be provided with his contingent existence[^9] and its perfections, and thus is always a guest of the Necessary Being. Both the philosophers as well as the mystics ( ‘urafā’ ) establish that every entity requires Divine Grace every moment. Perhaps the following supplications allude to this subtlety: 1.

On Thursday nights we are taught to recite the following ten times: يَا دَائِمَ الْفَضْلِ عَلـى الْبَرِيَّةِ… “O One who continually confers abundance on the creation…[^10]” 2. In the supplication of Jawshan al-Kabīr we address Almighty Allāh as: ...يَا دَائِمَ اللُّطْفِ... “…O Ever Benevolent…[^11]” 3. On Eid day, in one of the supplications we are taught to say: يَا دَائِمَ الْمَعْرُوفِ… “O One who always does good…[^12]” 4.

And in one of the recommended supplications on the 18th Day of every month we are taught to address Almighty Allāh as: يَا دَائِمَ الْجُوْدِ وَالْكَرَمِ… “O Ever Bountiful & Generous…[^13]” Some Jews, as narrated in the Holy Qur’ān, in their utter ignorance and disrespect would say ‘God’s Hands are tied’, thus implying the independence of the creation from the Creator[^14], an idea later adopted by a group of ignorant Mu’tazilites who relinquishing the teachings of the (‘a) deviated from the right path.

The reality, however, as has been established in the relevant texts, is that the relation between the cause and effect is not like the relation of a builder and a building, both of which can exist independently. Rather, the effect always needs the cause to exist. Having considered the aforesaid introduction, we can classify ‘Divine Invitation’ ( diyāfah ilāhiyyah ) into two kinds: 1. al-Diyāfah al-‘Āmmah (The General Banquet) 2.

al-Diyāfah al-Khāsah (The Specific Banquet) [^1]: It is also employed to mean, ‘he alighted to be a guest’. For example, when it is said ‘adīfuhu’ it means ‘I alighted at his abode as a guest.’ [^2]: Mufradātu Alfāz al-Qur’ān, pg. 513. [^3]: Lane, EW Lane’s Arabic-English Lexicon. [^4]: Holy Qur’ān, 35:15. [^5]: al-Manzūmah, vol. 2, pg. 468.

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