It belongs not to any mortal that God should give him, [to the end of] the verse: prophesying (istinbāÌ) can only come after the level of sanctity (walāya) and annihilation through Unity. It is not for a mortal whose mortality God has effaced by annihilating him from his soul and whom He has rewarded with a luminous existence from the Truth, [an existence] that accepts the Book and the divine wisdom, [it is not for such] to then call creatures unto himself, since the one who calls unto himself is [by definition] veiled by his own soul, just as Pharaoh and his likes: those who knew the Oneness [of God] but did not encounter it as a state or by the tasting and who did not arrive at the eyewitnessing, those whose souls subsist without having tasted the flavour of annihilation and were veiled by these [souls of theirs] and called creatures unto themselves. They are the ones regarding whom the Messenger of God said, 'The most evil of people is the one is still alive when the Resurrection takes place'. Rather, he would say, 'Be lordly, related to the Lord because of the Lordship overtaking them and the obliteration of [their] mortality on account of their being knowers who act and teach and recite God's scriptures. In other words, be worshippers content with knowledge and deeds and the regular performance of acts of obedience so that you might become lordly by the prevailing of light over darkness.
