The word of Allah—tawḥīd (monotheism) and pure devotion—“There is no god but Allah,” the firmest hand-hold of Allah and His unbreakable cord: so grasp it, cling to it, for by it the first generations were set aright and the last will attain success.

Unite your views so that you may receive instruction from a specific person designated by an explicit text from Allah and His ally. Whatever he lays before you of commands and prohibitions, welcome it, for “No—by your Lord—they will not believe until they make him judge in every dispute between them, then feel no discomfort in their hearts at what he decides, and submit in full submission.” (1)

That is union through oneness, the sign of truth that saves from destruction and leads to felicity, whereas multiplicity is the mark of falsehood that ends in disgraceful misery. We seek refuge in Allah from its disappearance, in the One from many gods, in unity from division, in the revealed text and sound instruction from diseases and whims, in truth from falsehood, and in the enduring Hereafter from this accursed world—except for whatever in it is sought for the sake of Allah. So take provision from this world for the next: the best provision is taqwā (piety). Obey your commander, even if he be an Abyssinian slave.

Ibn al-ʿAdīm says: Sinān wrote to the lord of Shayzar to console him for his brother’s death:

“Destiny’s steeds set down no hoof
save upon the shoulders of the noble.
If you endure, you are the chief of a folk
seasoned in patience; and if you grieve,
no blame attaches to you.
This is support voiced by the tongue;
had anything but death befallen you,
my hand itself would have come.”

(These lines are by Abū Tammām.)

Sinān also wrote to Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn:

“Men, what an affair—its outcome dreadful;
never did my ear foresee its like.
The one who menaced us with clashing swords—
may the ground beside you not rise when you strike him down—
a dove has risen to threaten the falcon,
and the hyenas have roused themselves against the lions of the plain.”