They have passed on, yet the memory of every noble quality lives on—exactly as it has through the empty ages of the past.
May Allah make their final abode fragrant, for long ago they wearied themselves in pursuit of the loftiest goals.
Once they had reached them, they applied themselves as well to transmission and public dictation sessions.
Meet any one of them and you will see the marks of worship on him, stamped upon his being like an unmistakable trait.

Here, then, I set out to clarify my religion, to describe my creed and the subtleties of my inner state.
I shall exert myself—so far as strength allows—to make matters plain and to free minds from their shackles,
with verse that is no ordinary poetry but nearer to enchantment, and with diction as all-embracing as a drenching rain—indeed, as sweeping as the north wind.

Never in my life have I been a mere yes-man; I do not stumble, nor do I retreat before a challenger.
Therefore keep company with none but a Sunni in matters of faith, that you may, in the end, praise the counsel I have given.
Shun every innovator you encounter, for with them lies nothing but the impossible.
Cast aside altogether the opinions of the deviant, and let not the pedantic cleverness of the base deceive you.
No view held by an innovator endures: how could there be stability for one forever on the move?
You will find him bewildered in every circumstance, having abandoned the path of balance.
He is ever forsaking one opinion for another, so swift is he to shift.
The core of what he foolishly professes is a cluster of novelties born of disputation, along with the utterances of the leaders of deviation—utterances comparable only to a fatal disease: such are the words of Maʿbad (1), misled by his whims; of Wāṣil (2); or, if you prefer, of the far-fetched Ghaylān (3).