📘 And [Muḥammad] follow what is revealed to you, and be steadfast until God gives judgement,for He is the Best of Judges.He [Sahl] said:God imposed His rules upon people and assisted them in following them by His favour and His omnipotence. Furthermore He directed them to the right guidance (rushd) for them with His words, And follow what is revealed to you, and be steadfast until God gives judgement, for He is the Best of Judges. To be steadfast in following [what is revealed], is to abandon devisingand self management (tadbīr), for in this [abandonment] there is now [i.e. in this world] deliverance from the vain caprices (ruʿūnāt) of the lower self, and later [i.e. in the next world] salvation from the shame of transgression.His words, Exalted is He:

📘 If trouble should befall a man, he cries out to Us [in supplication], whether lying on his side�He said:Supplication (duʿāʾ) is freeing oneself (tabarrī) of everything save Him, Exalted is He. His words, Exalted is He:

📘 �And give good tidings to those who believe that they have a sure footing with their Lord�He [Sahl] said:This refers to the preordained mercy that was deposited in Muḥammad .His words:

📘 �Then they pray to God, becoming sincere [in their] faith in Him�He [Sahl] said:Sincerity (ikhlāṣ) is witnessing (mushāhada). The life of the heart is in two things: in its root (aṣl) it is faith (īmān), and in its branch (farʿ) it is sincerity. Sincerity is a matter of great importance and the one who possesses it is wary lest his sincerity should not prevail till death, for actions are [judged] on the ones that come last � Worship your Lord, until what is certain comes to you [15:99]. His words, Exalted is He:

📘 And God summons to the Abode of Peace, and He guides whomsoever He wills to a straight path.He [Sahl] said:The call (daʿwa) is universal (ʿāmma), but guidance (hidāya) is designated (khāṣṣa) [for a certainnumber], and He refers His guidance back to His will (mashīʾa), this being what God, Exalted is He, has preordained (sābiqat al-qadar).His words, Exalted is He:

📘 �[He is] directing affairs�He said:He alone decrees every decree, and chooses for the servant what is best for him. Thus God�s choice is better for him than his own choice for himself.Sahl was asked on his death bed: �What would you like to be shrouded in, where would you like to be buried and who would you like to pray over you after your death?� He replied:I [set about] arranging my affairs during my life and for [after my death], but found there was no need for me to attend to them due to the antecedent arrangements (sābiq tadbīr) that God, Exalted is He, made for His servant.His words, Exalted is He:

📘 Is it [only then], when it has come to pass, that you will believe therein? Now when [until now] you have been hastening it on?That is, �You hasten to deny Us and remember other than Us, but when you come before Us and behold with your eyes the punishment We had promised you, [only then] do you believe, when it is [no longer] of [any] benefit [to you].� For [indeed] all people [on that day] will inevitably affirm His oneness in the Hereafter, when the power of [His] essence (ḥukm al-dhāt) is made manifest, and all opposing and rival [deities that have been falsely set up] will be renounced, along with the [false] supplications made to them, due to the cessation of doubt and the fear of punishment.His words, Exalted is He:

📘 Say: �In the bounty of God, and in His mercy, in that let them rejoice��That is, in the profession of His oneness and in His Prophet Muḥammad , just as He said: We did not send you except as a mercy to all the worlds [21:107].His words, Exalted is He:

📘 Assuredly God�s friends, no fear shall befall them, neither shall they grieve.Sahl said:They are those whom the Messenger of God described, saying, �When they are seen, God is remembered.� They are those who strive in God�s cause, who outstrip others in their [journeying]towards Him, and whose actions are constantly in conformity (muwāfaqa). Those are the true believers [8:4].And he [Sahl] said:All goodness comes together in four things, and through these they [believers] become �Substitutes�(abdāl): an empty stomach, seclusion from people, the night vigil, and observing silence.He was asked why the Substitutes (abdāl) are called Substitutes. He answered:It is because they substitute their spiritual states (aḥwāl) [one for another]. They have submitted their bodies to the vigour (ḥīl) in their innermost secrets (asrār). Then they move from state (ḥāl) to state, and from knowledge (ʿilm) to knowledge, so that they are constantly increasing in the knowledge of that which is between them and their Lord.He was asked, �Who are more excellent, the Mainstays (awtād) or the Substitutes (abdāl)?� He answered, �The mainstays�. Then he was asked, �And how is that?� He replied:It is because the Mainstays have already arrived and their principles (arkān) are well established, whereas the Substitutes move from state to state.[On this subject] Sahl also said:I have met with one thousand five hundred veracious [servants of God] (ṣiddīq) among whom were forty Substitutes (abdāl) and seven Mainstays (awtād), and I found their way (ṭarīqa) and method (madhhab) to be the same as that which I follow.Furthermore, he used to say, �I am the proof of God (ḥujjat Allāh) against you in particular and against the people in general.�It was [Sahl�s] way and his conduct to be full of gratitude and remember [God] a great deal. He was also constant in observing silence and reflection. He would dispute little and was of a generous spirit. He led people through his good character, mercy and compassion for them, and by giving them good counsel. He held fast to the principle[s] (aṣl) [of religion] while putting into practice [the rules] that are derived from it (farʿ). Truly God filled his heart with light, and invested his speech with wisdom. He was among the best of Substitutes, and if we include him among the Mainstays he was the Axis (quṭb) around which the millstone [of the world] revolves.