Who made beautiful everything that He created and who began the creation of man from clay. There was a pir among the great ones of the Tariqah who recited this verse and then was saying, “He created man from clay, but He loves them, and they love Him [5:54]. He created man from clay, but God approves of them, and they approve of Him [9:100]. He created man from clay, but remember Me; I will remember you [2:152].” What harm was done to this pearl of honor that his makeup is of clay? For his perfection is placed in the heart. His worth is because of nurture, not dust. His eminence is from the gentleness of the divine eternity, not walking on the feet of servanthood. The Real created the whole cosmos-spheres and angels, Throne and Footstool, Tablet and Pen, paradise and hell, heaven and earth-and He did not look at any of these created things with the gaze of affection and love. He sent them no messengers and gave them no messages. When the turn of the dust-dwellers arrived-those lifted up by gentleness and caressed by bounty, those who are the quarries of the lights of the secrets-He made the angels their watchers, He placed burning and affection in their breasts, He threw the fire of passion into their hearts, and He wrote the inscription of faith on the pages of their hearts: He wrote faith in their hearts [58:22]. He in- scribed love in their minds: He loves them, and they love Him [5:54]. The secret He has with the Adamites He does not have with the Throne or the Footstool, nor with the heavens or the angels, for all of them are servants, and the Adamites are both servants and friends: We are your friends in this world's life and in the next world [41:31].
