to be divulged; for this is one of those secrets discussed only with a select few, to be kept concealed rather than recounted.” They recite:

Whoever among men divulges the secret meets death as his lot,
and his blood goes unavenged.
They divulged the secret, so their blood may be shed;
thus may the blood of those who divulge it be shed. (1)

What these people say is essentially like someone saying that what the Christians say about the Messiah is true, and that the same holds for other prophets and allies of Allah, but that it cannot be stated openly because the bearer of the Sharia has not permitted it.

The words of the author of Manāzil al-Sā’irīn (The Stations of the Wayfarers) and others like him point to this, as does his conception of divine oneness, concerning which he said:

No one has affirmed the oneness of the One,
for everyone who affirms His oneness denies Him.
The affirmation of His oneness by one who speaks of His attributes
is a borrowed thing that the One has annulled.
His affirmation of His own oneness is His affirmation of oneness;
and the description offered by one who describes Him is for someone.

For what these people are really saying is that the one affirming oneness is the very One whose oneness is affirmed; that it is the Real who speaks the affirmation of oneness through the servant’s tongue; and that none affirms His oneness but He Himself. Thus, the One whose oneness is affirmed can only be the one affirming it.

They distinguish between Pharaoh’s statement:

“I am your most exalted lord,”

and al-Hallāj’s statements, “I am the Real” and “Glory be to me.” For Pharaoh said this while conscious of himself, and so spoke about himself. As for those experiencing the annihilation of self-awareness, they lost awareness of themselves, and the one speaking through their tongues was someone other than themselves.