His words, Mighty and Majestic is He:

…but talk secretly in righteousness and mindfulness of God...^{1The first part of this verse reads: O you who believe, if you do talk in secret, then do not talk in secret sinfully and in disobedience to the Messenger…}

He said:

[Talk secretly] in remembering God, reciting the Qurʾān, and commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong.

His words, Exalted is He:

Secret conversations are [the work of] Satan…

He said:

A secret conversation (najwā) is what the Enemy casts into the natural self (nafs al-ṭabʿ), just as the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘There is a touch [of madness] (lamma) that comes from the angels and a touch [of madness] that comes from Satan.’

His words, Exalted is He:

You will not find a people who believe in God and the Last Day loving those who oppose God and His Messenger, even were they to be their fathers…

He [Sahl] said:

No person whose faith is sound enjoys the company of the innovator (mubtadiʿ), nor does he comply with him, eat with him, drink with him or keep his company. Rather, he shows him hostility and loathing from himself. On the other hand, whoever fawns over an innovator will have the sweetness of [following] the Prophet’s ways (sunan) removed from him by God, and whoever shows love for an innovator, seeking honour in this world and some ⸢worldy⸣ gain (ʿaraḍan ⸢minhā⸣),^{1lit. ‘some gain or share from it [the world]’. All the MSS have minhā following the word ʿaraḍan: Z515, f. 112a, F638, f. 53b and F3488, f. 292b.} will find that God humiliates him with that honour and impoverishes him through that wealth. Moreover, whoever jokes with an innovator will find that God removes the light of faith from his heart. As for the one who doubts this, let him try it for himself.

His words, Exalted is He:

…[For] those, He has inscribed faith upon their hearts and reinforced them with a spirit from Him…

He said:

God has inscribed faith upon the hearts of His friends in lines (suṭūran). The first line is the profession of God’s oneness (tawḥīd), the second, gnosis (maʿrifa), the third, veracity (ṣidq), the fourth, rectitude (istiqāma), the fifth, confidence (thiqa), the sixth, reliance (iʿtimād) and the seventh, trust (tawakkul). Furthermore, this writing is the work of God (fiʿl Allāh), not the work of the servant (fiʿl al-ʿabd). The work of the servant with regard to faith is in the outward aspect of Islam, and what outwardly appears from him, whereas its inner [reality] is the work of God, Exalted is He.

He also said:

The inscription on the heart is the gift of faith (mawhibat al-īmān) which God bestows upon them before creating them in loins and wombs. Then He reveals a glimpse of the light in the heart, and then He lifts the veil from it, so that through the blessing of that writing (barakat al-kitāba) and the light of faith (nūr al-īmān) they can behold things of the unseen (mughayyabāt).^{2That is according to MSS F638, f. 54a and F3488, f. 293a, which have abṣirū bi-barakat al-kitāba. However, Z515, f. 113b has abṣirū bi-barakatihi al-kitāba…, while Sulamī has ḥattā abṣara (sing.) bi-barakat al-kitāb. Böwering, however, has: ‘so that they, by His blessing, may behold the hidden (mughayyabāt) writing, and light of faith (nūr al-īmān)’. See Mystical Vision, p. 220.}

And he said:

The life of the spirit (ḥayāt al-rūḥ) is in the remembrance [of God] (dhikr), the life of remembrance is in the one who remembers (dhākir), and the life of the one who remembers is in the One who is remembered (madhkūr). God was pleased with them because of the sincerity they devoted towards Him in their works, and they were pleased with Him due to the abundant reward He granted them for their works.

…They are the confederates of God…

Confederates (ḥizb) means followers (shīʿa). They are the Substitutes (abdāl), and higher [in rank still] are the veracious (ṣiddīqūn).^{3On the abdāl see above p. 89, n. 5.} Truly it is the party of God who will be successful, that is, they are the heirs to the secrets of their [the prophets’] sciences and are able to see (mushrifūn) the meanings of their beginning ⸢through to⸣ their end (ibtidāʾihim ⸢ilā⸣ intihāʾihim).^{4All MSS have the addition of ilā between ibtidāʾihim and intihāʾihim: Z515, f. 113b, F638, f. 54a and F3488, f. 293a. MS Z515 only has mushrifūn instead of mushriqūn, and that is what we have translated here.}