…but it is a reminder, so that they may be mindful of God [Concerning these words] he said:Truly God, Exalted is He, placed on the shoulders of His friends (awliyāʾ) the duty of reminding His servants, just as He placed upon the shoulders of the prophets (may God’s blessings be upon them all) the duty of conveying [the Message]. Thus, it is incumbent upon the friends of God to guide [people] to Him, and if they desist from doing so they are falling short of their duty.It was put to him, ‘Indeed, we have seen many who desist from doing this.’ He replied:They only hold back from doing it when there is a lack of need for it, just as is the case with the commanding of what is right (amr bi’l-maʿrūf) and the forbidding of what is wrong (nahy ʿan al-munkar). There was a man with us in Basra who had a high [spiritual] station, and it was an imperative obligation on him that at a certain time he should do this [guide people]. When he set out to accomplish [this task] another man said to him, ‘Truly God most High ordered me to what you are resolved to do, and has exempted you from [that duty].’ So he returned home praising God, Exalted is He, for the goodness of that exemption. But God knows best.His words, Mighty and Majestic is He:
