Nor does the slip of a deviant, once he coins a notion within his own sect, automatically taint the entire fraternity. The same rule applies to jurists and ḥadīth scholars: if one of them advances an eccentric legal opinion or falsifies a report, that aberration is not to be imputed to all the jurists and ḥadīth scholars together.

Be aware, moreover, that the vocabulary and disciplines of the Sufis vary greatly. They employ terms for concepts peculiar to them, together with symbols and coded allusions that circulate in their gatherings. Whoever has not mixed with them in depth and descended to the realities they experience will come away from them disappointed and bewildered.

He then referred to their restricted use of the word “vision,” saying: they frequently declare, “I have seen Allah.” He cited the report that when Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad was asked, “Did you see Allah when you worshipped Him?” he answered, “I saw Allah, and then I worshipped Him.” When the questioner pressed, “How did you see Him?” he replied, “Eyes cannot behold Him with the limits of physical sight; it is the hearts that behold Him with the certainty born of true faith.”