I swore to them that nothing that came from her was other than her own essence … They said, ‘Be cautious concerning her, for you have sworn falsely.’”

He also wrote:

“Tell your beloved: die of yearning and melt in ecstasy … For her; and tell the loss of reason: do not depart.
Remain silent until you see her speaking within you … And if you find a tongue that speaks, then speak.”

For this reason, they reach a station at which they no longer believe that obligatory duties are binding or that forbidden acts are prohibited. They regard obligations and prohibitions as applying only to those whom they consider veiled—those who have not witnessed that He is the very reality of the universe. Who, then, is the worshipper, and who is the one worshipped? Who gives the command, and who receives it?

As the author of al-Futūhāt says at its beginning:

“The Lord is the Real, and the servant is the Real … If only I knew: who bears the obligation?
If you say, ‘The servant,’ he is dead … Or if you say, ‘The Lord,’ how can obligations be imposed on Him?”

In their view, religious obligation belongs to one of the ranks of the names and attributes: the rank of the one who tests.

One of them said:

“All is but a single order … In which there is neither praise nor blame.
It is only custom, nature, and the Lawgiver … That have assigned particular judgments.”