The Meaning of His Saying, "And We Are Closer to Him Than the Vein of the Neck"

The Shaykh : Then He, Mighty and Majestic, said: The vein of the neck is that thick artery that comes out of the heart and returns to it. So Allah, Mighty and Majestic, with His angels, is closer to the human being than this vein. For He said: Thus, He made this nearness conditional and restricted to this state, when the two recorders receive from the right and from the left, with a guardian present. This is evidence that this nearness is the nearness of the angels who record what the children of Adam do. It also indicates that the nearness of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, by His own Self is only for the one who calls upon Him or worships Him, and not for every human being. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said when the Companions raised their voices in dhikr: And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: He did not mean the nearness of the nearness, i.e., the nearness of Allah, the Exalted, by His own Self to His servant, except in the state of supplication and the state of worship. As for the general nearness, it is His nearness with His angels, as Allah, the Exalted, said here: And Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said: This is His nearness, Blessed and Exalted is He, with His angels who descend to take the spirit of the human being. Then He, Mighty and Majestic, said.