the path of those whom You have favored It means “the way Ṭarīq of those whom You have favored with guid- ance to the straight path”-these are the friends awliyāÌ and chosen ones aṣfiyāÌ. It is said that it is “the way of those whom You have annihilated from themselves and raised up through You for You. They do not stop along the way and the secrets of the divine ruse makr do not keep them from You.” It is said that it is “the path of those whom You have favored with upholding Your rights ḥuqūq without detours seeking to attract their worldly portions ḥuẓūẓ.” It is said that it is “the path of those whom You have purified from their [human] traces āthār so that they reach You through You.” It is said that it is “the path of those whom You have favored to the point that they are wary of66 the tricks of Satan the errors of the lower selves and the imaginings of opinions and conjectures about arriving before the mortal human traces āthār al-bashariyya are extinguished.” It is said that it is “the path of those whom You have favored with reflec- tive thought naẓar [those who] seek help through You declare them- selves free of power and strength witness the felicity that has already been determined for them and have knowledge through the affirmation of Your unity of that which will come to pass [thus] causing happiness and harm.” It is said that it is “the path of those whom You have favored with being mindful of refined behavior adab at the times of service and [with] being filled with the quality of awe hayba.” It is said that it is “the path of those whom You have favored by causing them to be mindful of the refined behaviors ādāb and precepts aḥkām of the law [even while they are] under the sway of the unexpected intu- itions of realities bawādih al-ḥaqāÌiq so that they do not go beyond the limit of knowledge ʿilm and do not violate any of the precepts of the law sharīʿa.” It is said that it is “the path of those whom You have favored so that the suns of what they have come to know will not extinguish the lights of their scrupulousness waraʿ and they will not neglect any one of the precepts of servanthood ʿubūdiyya at the time of the manifestation of the authority of reality sulṬān al-ḥaqīqa.
