—if he fulfils the commands both outwardly and inwardly, he will be granted gentle kindness outwardly and inwardly; but should he confine himself to their outward forms without their inner realities, he will taste kindness in the visible realm while his share of inward kindness will be scant.

You may ask, “And what is this inward kindness?”

It is the serenity, reassurance, and disappearance of anxiety, agitation, and panic that settle in the heart when calamities strike. The servant is then reduced to utter humility before his Master—abased, submissive, fixing the gaze of his heart upon Him, resting in Him with his soul and inmost secret. The mere contemplation of his Lord’s kindness distracts him from the severity of the pain he is enduring, while his certainty of his Lord’s wise choice for him veils that pain altogether. He knows himself to be a pure servant upon whom his Master is enforcing His judgments, whether the servant be pleased or displeased: if he is content, he obtains contentment; if he is resentful, resentment is his only lot.

Such inward kindness is the fruit of that inner transaction; it grows as that transaction grows and diminishes as it diminishes.

A Sublime Benefit

The servant remains cut off from Allah until his will and his love become joined to His Most Exalted Countenance.

By this joining we mean that love flows toward Him and attaches to Him alone so that nothing veils it from Him; that knowledge of His names, attributes, and acts becomes connected to Him, its light unextinguished by the darkness of negation, just as the light of love is not extinguished by the darkness of polytheism; and that remembrance of Him becomes joined to Him, the veil of heedlessness between the one who remembers and the One remembered being lifted, so that during remembrance the heart does not turn to anyone other than Him. At that point, remembrance is truly joined to Him.