He sends down, from the heaven of the Holy Spirit the water of knowledge, whereat, the valleys that are the hearts, flow, according to the measure of their preparednesses, and, the flood of knowledge, carries a scum, that is the vileness of the attributes of the earth of the soul together with its vices and baseness, and from that which they smelt, in the fire of fervent love in the way of gnoses, unveilings, realities and meanings that cause fervent love to swell, desiring, the ornaments of the soul and its joyousness thereby, being perfections for it, or enjoyment, in the way of the virtues of character traits that result thereby, since it is the sort of thing in which the soul finds enjoyment, [there rises] a scum the like of it, a vileness, such as inspecting these [ornaments], seeing them and conceptualising the soul as perfect or excellent decked out in the ornaments of those descriptions, and [vileness] such as its vanity and its veiledness and all that is reckoned as being among the banes of the soul and the sins of the states. As for the scum, it passes away as dross, discarded and annihilated by knowledge, as He has said, that He may purify you thereby [Q. 8:11], while that which is of use to mankind, of truthful meanings and pure virtues, lingers, in the earth of the soul.
