Allah. He fears Allah in his dealings with them, but does not fear them in matters concerning Allah; he places his hope in Allah concerning them, but not in them concerning Allah. This is the sound heart: upright in faith, affirming Allah’s oneness, submitting to Him, believing in Him, knowing Him, realizing the truth, and affirming His oneness through the knowledge, spiritual realization, and monotheism of the prophets and messengers.

(As for the third kind)

It is annihilation in what exists: the realization, knowledge, and monotheism of Pharaoh’s people, such as the Qarmatians and their like. This kind, which the followers of the prophets adhere to, is “praiseworthy annihilation,” through which a person becomes one of those whom Allah has praised: His God-fearing allies, His successful party, and His victorious army.

By this statement, the spiritual masters and the righteous do not mean that the created things I see with my own eyes are the Lord of the earth and the heavens. Only someone steeped in utter misguidance and corruption would say this—whether corruption of reason or corruption of belief. His condition thus lies between madness and heresy.

All the spiritual masters who are followed as examples in religion agree with the consensus of the early generations of this community and its leading scholars: the Creator, glorified be He, is distinct and separate from created things. Nothing of His essence is within His creation, and nothing of His creation is within His essence. The Eternal must be distinguished from that which came into being, and the Creator from creation. Their statements on this are