The imitators possess none of the sincerity that once animated the original performer—sincerity that, because of his genuine yearning and sound intention, may well have atoned for whatever fault lay in the act itself.

The same holds true for the stories related about certain shaykhs who experienced extraordinary states while attending innovated samāʿ sessions (ecstatic chanting). Those effects were produced only by conditions that took hold of their hearts: they listened either as mujtahids acting on personal reasoning, or as people who fell short in a way overshadowed by the merit of their good intentions. Their followers, however, merely attend the outward form of the samāʿ. The inward presence those men enjoyed is not a Sunnah to be emulated, and the imitators lack the sincerity and purpose for which the first group was excused or forgiven—thus they bring ruin upon themselves.

It is likewise reported that one shaykh was seen in a dream after his death and was asked, “How did Allah deal with you?” He replied, “He halted me before Him and said, ‘O wicked shaykh! Are you the one who used to recite poetry about Suʿdā and Lubnā? Had I not known you were sincere, I would have punished you.’”

Accordingly, whenever you hear of a supplication or confidential prayer that the Sacred Law deems reprehensible yet still secures its petitioner’s need, it very often falls under this same principle. For that reason the great imams—the scholars of Allah’s law—disliked such practices among their followers even when those followers found them effective. It is related of Sumnūn al-Muḥibb that he said, “Something from these verses struck my heart, so I went down to the Tigris.”