this, and said: ‘You can only decree for this worldly life,’ and ‘So decree whatever you are to decree’ [Tā Hā: 72]. Thus, rule is yours, and his statement, ‘I am your highest lord’ [al-Nāzi‘āt: 24], was correct, even though he was the very same entity as the Real.”

He also said:

“Moses understood the matter better than Aaron, because he knew what the worshippers of the calf were worshipping, knowing that Allah had decreed that none but He should be worshipped. Whatever Allah decrees necessarily comes to pass. Moses therefore rebuked his brother Aaron for condemning what had occurred and for his lack of breadth of understanding. For the gnostic is one who sees the Real in everything—indeed, sees Him as the very same entity as everything.”

Concerning the story of Noah’s people, he said:

“‘And they devised a tremendous plot’ [Nūh: 22], for calling someone to … is a deception practised upon the one being called: He was not absent at the outset such that one should be called to Him as the ultimate goal.”