They ask thee about the new moons. The waxing and waning of the moon and its increase and decrease are allusions to the contraction and expansion of the recognizers and the awe and intimacy of the lovers. The contraction and expansion of the elect are like the fear and hope of the common people. Contraction and expan- sion are higher than fear and hope, and so also awe and intimacy are higher than contraction and expansion. Fear and hope belong to the common people, contraction and expansion to the elect, and awe and intimacy to the elect of the elect. First is the station of the wrongdoers, next the station of the moderate, and third the station of the preceders.14 The furthest limit of all is the intimacy of the lovers. In the state of intimacy, a man reaches a point where, if he enters fire, he is unaware of it and its heat leaves no trace in the repose of his intimacy. Thus Abū Ḥafṣ Ḥaddād was a blacksmith. He had lit up an exceedingly hot fire and placed iron within it, as is the custom of blacksmiths. Someone was passing by and reciting a verse of the Qur'an. The shaykh became happy at that verse and the state of intimacy overcame him. He put his hand into the furnace and pulled out the hot iron. He held it until his apprentice looked at him and said, “O Shaykh! How is that you are holding the hot iron in your hand?!” The shaykh put it aside, and then he left his profession. He said, “I have left this profes- sion many times and then come back to it. This time, the profession left me.”
