—I love him; and when I love him, I become his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, and his foot with which he walks. (Through Me he hears, through Me he sees, through Me he strikes, and through Me he walks.) If he asks of Me, I will surely give; if he seeks refuge in Me, I will surely grant him refuge. Nothing I do carries any hesitation for Me except taking the soul of My believing servant: he detests death and I dislike causing him distress—yet it is unavoidable.

When a servant reaches this rank, he readily discerns the state of the allies of the All-Merciful from that of the allies of Satan, just as a money-changer distinguishes a sound dirham from a counterfeit one; just as a horse-expert tells a fine steed from a poor mount; just as a master of horsemanship can spot the brave and the cowardly. In the same way, one must differentiate between a truthful prophet and a lying pretender: thus he distinguishes Muhammad—the truthful, the trustworthy, the Messenger of the Lord of the worlds—and Moses, Jesus, and the other prophets, from Musaylimah the Liar, al-Aswad al-ʿAnsī, Ṭalḥah al-Asadī, al-Ḥārith of Damascus, Bābāh the Roman, and the rest of the impostors. Likewise, he distinguishes the God-fearing allies of Allah from the misguided allies of Satan.