One must therefore be alert to this subtle point, for every defect that creeps into a servant’s fulfilment of these two obligations (1) stems from neglecting it, both in knowledge and in practice.

This, then, (2) is what Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir—may Allah sanctify his soul—meant when he said: “Be with the Truth without the creation, and be with the creation without the self. Whoever is not like that will remain in confusion, and his affairs will ever be in disarray.” (3)

The purpose of this introduction is simply to pave the way for what follows. (4)

Section

When the caravan of travellers (5) had moved on and the wayfarer had settled in the land of exile, cut off from the familiar scenes, habits, and attachments of his homeland, that separation granted him a new perspective (6). He set his mind to pondering the most important means by which he could traverse the stages of his journey (7) to Allah and invest the remainder of his life therein. The One in whose hand lies all guidance then directed him to realise that the foremost goal he must pursue is migration to Allah and His Messenger, for this is an individual obligation (8).