And give good news to the faithful that they will have a great bounty from God. “O MuḤammad! Give good news to the faithful that they will have a beautiful caress from Me, an endless generosity, a complete bounty-response for the supplicator, bestowal for the asker, help for the striver, increase for the grateful, reward for the obedient. Give them the good news that when I chose them, I saw the faults. I did not approve before I had examined the hidden things. With My own unneediness I chose the servants as they are. Give them the good news that what was there at first is today the same-a cloud raining down everlasting kindness for the faithful, bounty without end, favor without bounds. Give them the good news that even if a servant has many offenses, the bounty of the Patron is more than that, for every deed of a doer in every state is worthy of himself.” All this that you have heard comes from the great bounty, but it is not the great bounty itself, for the great bounty is indeed another state and another caress-a spiritual life of delight with a hundred thousand hidden drums, an everlasting resurrection. The soul is mixed with companion- ship, the spirit clinging to its desire, the heart drowned in the light of finding. Because of the drowning, the servant does not discern the seeking from the finding. Because of the radiance of finding, it cannot be expressed. He burns in the fire of love and does not turn back from joy. With the tongue of his state he keeps on saying, “I keep on throwing the spirit-incense on the fire of passion. The spirit is Your servant-it is not that I am generous. When passion for You has burned away my spirit, I will contrive to find a hundred spirits more.”
