These are the very verses that establish this special kind of divine accompaniment.

Yet neither of the two kinds of maʿiyyah implies that Allah—glorified and exalted is He—is physically within the creatures’ spaces. He remains above His heavens, established upon His Throne, while at the same time He is with His servants. The Arabs themselves say, “We kept on travelling while the moon was with us,” even though everyone knows the moon is in the sky. How much more befitting, then, that the Creator—exalted be He—should be above all things, settled upon His Throne, and still encompass everything, being with each person wherever he may be. However secluded you become, Allah surrounds you with His knowledge, power, authority, hearing, sight, and all His other perfect attributes.

His statement, “Indeed, Allah is with the patient” (al-Baqarah 153), proves that Allah aids, supports, and watches over the one who is patient until that person attains the level of patience that Allah loves.

Sixth verse: “We will surely test you until We make evident those among you who strive and those who are patient, and We will test your affairs” (Muhammad: 31).

“ We will surely test you ” means “we will put you to trial,” for ibtilāʾ (testing) denotes examination and selection.

In other words, Allah has tested His servants by obligating jihad so that He may know who will remain patient and who will not. For this reason He also says: “That is so. And if Allah had willed, He could have taken vengeance upon them; but He intends to test some of you by means of others. And those who are killed in the path of Allah—never will He let their deeds be lost” (Muhammad: 4). “He will guide them and rectify their state” (Muhammad: 5). “And He will admit them to Paradise, which He has made known to them” (Muhammad: 6).

As for His words, “until We know those who strive,” someone whose knowledge is limited might imagine