Living The Quran
From Issue: 944 [Read full issue]
Salvation
Luqman (Luqman) Sura 31: Verse 22
"And whosoever submits his face to God and is virtuous has indeed grasped the most unfailing handhold, and unto God is the end of all affairs."
Submitting one's face to God implies submitting one's entire being to Him, as in Arabic the face is a metonym for one's essence. Virtuous renders muhsin, which indicates one who performs ihsan, that is, virtue, or literally doing what is beautiful or what makes things beautiful. The manner in which being virtuous or doing what is beautiful is connected to submitting one's face, or essence, to God indicates that the full depth of islam — the reality of "submission" — is attained by performing all actions with virtue and beauty.
Both islam and ihsan control passions and conceits, the former by channeling and neutralizing them from without through the dictates of the Shariah, and the latter by dissolving them from within. But when passions and conceits are dissolved from within, many of the prescriptions and prohibitions that pertain to the outer neutralizing discipline of islam do not need to be imposed, because the actions they enjoin arise organically from within. Submitting one's face as a muhsin could thus be understood to be the most unfailing handhold, a term understood as a metaphor for salvation.
Compiled From:
"The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary" - Seyyed Hossein Nasr