so He hastened for them—glorified be He—a portion of Paradise’s bliss and its gentle comfort: He made them feel intimacy with Himself, turned their hearts toward Him, united them upon His love, stirred in them a yearning to meet Him, delighted them with His nearness, and cleared their hearts of what overwhelms other hearts—love of the world, worry and sorrow at its passing, and anguish from fear of losing it. Thus they found easy what the pampered find rugged, and felt at home with what the ignorant deem desolate; they kept company with this world in their bodies while their spirits dwelt with the Highest Assembly.
Section
Monotheism is the subtlest, loftiest, purest, and most pristine of matters; the slightest thing scratches, stains, and affects it. It is like a garment of immaculate whiteness on which even the faintest mark appears, or like a mirror polished to perfection that the tiniest speck can mar. A passing glance, a single word, or a hidden craving can disturb it. If its possessor promptly counters that blemish with its opposite, it is erased; otherwise it takes hold, becomes a disposition, and its removal grows difficult.
The traces and imprints that settle upon it are of four kinds: some are quick to appear and quick to vanish; some are quick to appear yet slow to vanish; some are slow to appear and quick to vanish; and some are slow to appear and slow to vanish.
There are, however, people whose monotheism is vast and mighty; many such blemishes are submerged and dissolved within it, like a large body of water into which a minute impurity falls. Someone whose monotheism is weaker is then deceived: he mixes into his frail monotheism what the possessor of great, abundant monotheism had allowed into his, and the effect becomes evident in his small portion in a way that never showed in the larger one.
Moreover, the vessel that is exceedingly pure reveals to its owner whatever defiles it in a manner that a less refined vessel does not; hence he hastens to remove the stain, whereas the other does not.