of similar meaning, when followed by tasting, spiritual experience, perception, attainment, acquisition, realization, and other closely related states, are then followed by bliss, happiness, pleasure, delight, and other states described by similar terms.

For pleasure in general follows the apprehension of what is agreeable and sought; it is not that apprehension itself, as some philosophers and theologians believe. Just as references to these experiences predominate in the discourse of Sufis and worshippers, so references to self-evidence, reflection, necessity, proof, and inference predominate in the discourse of scholars and theologians engaged in reflection, inquiry, and debate.

Each of these two domains encompasses various kinds and categories, some true and others false. All of them must therefore be assessed against the Quran and Sunnah. For the best speech is Allah’s speech, and the best guidance is Muhammad’s guidance.

Hence the imams of guidance who discuss knowledge and theology, or practice, guidance, and Sufism, enjoin adherence to the Quran and Sunnah and forbid departing from them, as Allah and His Messenger commanded them. Their statements to this effect are numerous and widely circulated, such as the saying of Sahl ibn ‘Abd Allāh al-Tustarī: “Every spiritual experience to which the Quran and Sunnah do not bear witness is false.”