and what occurs follows the decree, in accordance with Allah’s will and power: whatever He wills comes to be, and whatever He does not will does not come to be. Thus, they side with whoever prevails, because the decree is on the victor’s side, and whatever is decreed is, in their view, beloved to the True One. If the disbelievers prevail, they side with them; if the Muslims prevail, they side with them. If the Messenger is victorious, they side with him; but if his Companions are overcome, they side with the disbelievers who defeated them.

Most of those who reach this point do not acknowledge the threatened punishment of the Hereafter. For anyone who acknowledges that punishment and that it awaits the disbelievers cannot assist them and ally himself with them in conduct that incurs it. They may, however, claim that this punishment is waived altogether, or that it is waived for anyone who witnesses Allah’s oneness in lordship and abides in this reality of divine decree. Some of their shaykhs, including the aforementioned shaykh and others, maintain this.

Thus, these people, who witness nothing but the decree and acknowledge nothing beyond it except what is likewise decreed—the bliss of the obedient and the punishment of the disobedient—neither enjoin right nor forbid wrong, nor strive in Allah’s cause. They do not even pray to Allah to grant the believers victory over the disbelievers. Indeed, if one of them sees someone praying for this, he says: “The spiritual pauper, the realized adept, the gnostic—what concern is it of his? Allah does whatever He wills and grants victory to whomever He wishes.”

For he regards everyone as alike in relation to Allah and in relation to himself as well. He has no interest in either side’s victory, whether on account of his Lord—since, in his view, there is no distinction between the two before Allah Most High—or on his own account, since his personal advantages are not diminished when the disbelievers gain ascendancy; indeed, for many of them,