“Be those who are devoted to the Lord-Sustainer!” (Qur’an, Surat Al ‘Imran, 3:80)
Al-Fadl b. al-‘Abbas stated, concerning the meaning of “Be those who are devoted to the Lord-Sustainer (kunu rabanniyina), that this means “Be like Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (radiyallahu ‘anhu) since when the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa-sallam) died, the inner cores (asrar) of the all of the companions became disturbed, except for Abu Bakr. In his inner core (sirr) there was no effect. Hence after the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa-sallam) died, Abu Bakr stated, “Whoever worships Muhammad should realize that Muhammad has indeed died! But whoever worships Allah should realize that Allah is living and does not die!” (Sulami, Haqa’iq al-tafsir)
الفضل بن العباس يقول : في قوله عز وعلا : ! ( كونوا ربانيين ) ! قال : كونوا كأبي بكر الصديق رضي الله عنه فإنه لما مات النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم اضطربت الأسرار كلها لموته ، ولم يؤثر في سر أبي بكر فقال : ‘ من كان منكم يعبد محمداً فإن محمداً قد مات ومن كان يعبد الله فإن الله حي لا يموت

I’ve gotten permission from Dr. Alan Godlas (Abdul Haqq), who is a professor at the University of Georgia for Islamic and Sufi studies, to repost his Facebook postings on Islam and Sufism. All translations are done by Abdul Haqq Godlas unless otherwise noted.