📘 And now We have sent down [as revelation] to you a Book in which is remembrance that is yours�That is, �[You will find] life (ḥayāt) through acting according to it.�His words, Exalted is He:

📘 Indeed the land shall be inherited by My righteous servants.He said:He associated them with Himself and He graced them with the adornment of virtue (ṣalāḥ). What is implied by this is: �Nothing is acceptable to Me except that which is done solely for Me without a trace within it for anyone besides Me.� They are those who have put theirinnermost secret (sarīra) in a good state with God, Exalted is He, and have detached themselves wholeheartedly from all besides Him.His words, Exalted is He:

📘 �Indeed there is in this [Qurʾān] a proclamation for people who are devout�He said:He did not make it a proclamation (balāgh) for all His servants. Rather, He made it especially for the group of people who are [true] worshippers (ʿābidūn). They are those who worship God, Exalted is He, and give their entire being (muhaj) to Him, not for a recompense, nor because of Paradise or Hell, but out of love (ḥubb) [for Him], and taking pride in the fact that He has made them worthy of worshipping Him. But God knows best.His words, Exalted is He:

📘 They do not [venture to] speak before He speaks, and they act according to His command.He said:Verily God, Exalted is He, has assigned every token of honour (karāmāt) [firstly] to those among His servants who are mindful of Him (muttaqūn), and then to novices (mubtadiʾūn). Then he described them saying They do not [venture to] speak before He speaks, meaning: There is no choice for them along with His choice; they act according to His command, which is outwardly following the Sunna, and inwardly, maintaining vigilence (murāqabat) concerning God.His words:

📘 �We test you with ill and good by way of a trial�He said:Ill (sharr) is the following of the lower self and desire (hawā), without guidance. Good (khayr) is [being granted] protection (ʿiṣma) from disobedience, and assistance (maʿūna) in obedience.His words, Exalted is He:

📘 We said: �O Fire! Be coolness and safety for Abraham. He said:Fire is [generally] authorised to burn; even so it will not burn anyone whom it is not authorised to burn.ʿUmar b. Wāṣil al-ʿAnbarī said, �I was with Sahl one night and removed the wick from the lamp, but in the process a small part of the flame touched my finger, causing me pain. Then Sahl looked at me and put his finger [in the flame] for nearly two hours without feeling any pain and without it having any effect on his finger, saying all the while, �I take refuge in God from the Fire.��His words, Exalted is He:

📘 �Ask the People of Remembrance, if you do not know.He said:That is, the people who possess understanding of God and those who have knowledge of God, His commands and His days (ayyām). They said: �Describe them for us.� He replied:Those possessed of knowledge are of three [kinds]. There are those who have knowledge of God but do not know His commandments or His days; they are the generality of the believers. There are those who have knowledge of God and His commandments but not of His days; they are the learned scholars. Then there are those who have knowledge of God, His commandments and His days; they are the prophets and veracious (ṣiddīqūn).His words, Exalted is He:

📘 And [mention] Job, when he called out to his Lord, �Indeed, harm has befallen me��He said:Suffering (ḍurr) is of two kinds: outward suffering (ẓāhir) and inward suffering (bāṭin). The inward kind is a commotion (ḥaraka) and perturbation (iḍṭirāb) [within] the soul (nafs) inresponse to a moving emotional experience (wārid). The outward kind is when [the emotion] that is concealed in a person becomes outwardly apparent. [However], when what is being suffered inwardly settles [within a person, his] exterior becomes still and does not show it, and he patiently endures those pains. But when the interior (bāṭin) becomes unsettled (taḥarraka) under the influence of the [emotional] experience, the person�s exterior will be shaken into weeping and loud cries. His [Job�s] plea to God, Mighty and Majestic is He, is that He grant him assistance in finding acceptance (riḍā) in his heart for that experience. This is because as long as the heart is accepting of God�s command, the servant will not be harmed by his outward reaction. Just consider the instance of the Prophet�s weeping . Note that when he wept on the death of his son Ibrāhīm, he wept for him out of compassion in accordance with his human nature. Yet his physical response did not harm him because his heart was accepting (rāḍin) of it.Sahl used to say to his companions:Say in your supplication (duʿāʾ): �O my Lord, if you cook me, I�ll bear it and if you roast me, I�ll be happy. It is essential that You be known, so favour me with gnosis (maʿrifa) of You.�He was asked about the abode (dār), whether it was an abode of Islam or disbelief. He replied, �The abode is the abode of tribulation (balāʾ) and testing (ikhtibār).� ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Marwazī asked Sahl, �What do you say of a man whose lower self has been calling him to satiate it on the leaves of a lotus tree (sidr) for eighteen days?� Sahl answered, �What do you say of a man whose lower self has been calling him to let him just catch the scent of the leaves of a lotus tree ⸢for twenty-five days⸣?� He said, �ʿAbd al-Raḥmān started at this and became indignant.� His words, Exalted is He: