Abū al-Qāsim al-Nasrābādī was present together with a group, and a qawwāl began to recite, saying:
“I have made my purification—my very gaze—directed toward You …”
Nasrābādī said to him, “Say, ‘You have made (jaʿalta).’” Abū Sahl replied, “Rather, ‘I have made (jaʿaltu).’” We considered Nasrābādī the more refined in expression on that point, for he then said, “Why concern ourselves with separation? Is not the very eye of union more befitting?” At this, Nasrābādī and the others present fell silent.

I say: He is alluding to unity, which is the state of union. Yet this union is still confined to a beholder and the beheld, and ultimately it goes back to destiny; one’s gaze was not established until Allah established it. The Exalted said: “You do not will unless Allah wills” (Q 76:30). That is, whether you pronounce it with ḍammah or with fatḥah, the two forms are inseparable.

Al-Sulamī said: Abū Sahl told me, “I stayed in Baghdad for seven years; not a single Friday passed without my having a standing or a question with al-Shiblī.”

Al-Shiblī once entered upon Abū Isḥāq al-Marwazī and saw me with him. He said, “That madman is one of your companions—no, rather he is one of ours.”

Abū al-Faḍl Aḥmad ibn Hibat Allāh informed us; Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf the ḥāfiẓ informed us; Zaynab daughter of Abū al-Qāsim informed us (ḥ).

Aḥmad also transmitted to us from Zaynab, who said: Ismāʿīl ibn Abī al-Qāsim informed us; ʿUmar ibn Masrūr informed us; Abū Sahl Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān al-Ḥanafī dictated to us; Abū Quraysh the ḥāfiẓ narrated to us; Yaḥyā ibn Sulaymān ibn Naḍlah narrated to us; Mālik narrated from Suhayl ibn Abī Ṣāliḥ, from his father, from Abū Hurayrah, who said:

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “The believer eats with one intestine, whereas the unbeliever eats with seven intestines.” (1)