And when it is said to them, “Have faith as the people have faith,” they say, “Shall we have faith as fools have faith?” Surely it is they who are the fools, but they do not know. O generous Lord, O renowned, wise Enactor! O You who are true in promise, pure in justice, com- plete in bounty, and eternal in love! Whatever You want You show, and as You want, You adorn. Each has a name, and in the heart of each is Your mark. The stamp of worthiness is upon some people, and the brand of unworthiness on others. The worthy are brought by the road of bounty on the steed of approval with the escort of gentleness in the time of generous bestowal at the turn of proximity. The unworthy are driven into the street of justice on the steed of wrath with the escort of abandonment at the turn of deprivation. This deprivation and that proximity did not come from water or dust, for on the day when the two were written out, there was neither water nor dust. There was beginningless bounty and gentleness and everlasting severity and justice. That was the portion of the self-purifiers and this the portion of the hypocrites. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “Alas for the apportioning that has gone before me! Alack for the words spoken by the Self-Seer! What profit if I am happy or distraught? I fear what the Powerful said in the Beginningless.” The hypocrites, who had fallen under the garment of justice, approved of themselves and deemed themselves to have a good name. The purifiers, the truthful, and the Messenger's Com- panions they called “fools.” The Lord of the Worlds in His generosity acted as their deputy in this and answered them: “Those are not the fools, the fools are those who call them fools.” Indeed, when someone does not belong to himself, God belongs to him. When someone tightens his belt in obeying God's commands, God joins with him. “When someone belongs to God, God belongs to him.” The unbelievers said to MuṣṬafā, “You are possessed: O thou unto whom the Remembrance has been sent down, surely thou art possessed [15:6].” God said to MuḤammad, “They call you mad, but you are not mad: Thou art not, by the blessing of thy Lord, possessed [68:2]. You are My friend, approved of by Me. What harm will come to you if they do not approve of you? What you must have is that I approve of you. The friend must be approved of by a friend, not by the city.”
