of outward observance; and one scholar said of them: “These are people whom Allah granted intellects and spiritual states. He then took away their intellects while leaving their spiritual states, and lifted the obligations He had imposed because of what He had taken away.”

For this reason, those who know Allah agree that the state of abiding is superior to this: it is witnessing realities through Allah’s enabling one to witness them. As Allah Most High said, according to what His Messenger related from Him:

“My servant continues to draw near to Me through voluntary acts of worship until I love him. When I love him, I become his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he grasps, and his foot with which he walks. If he asks Me, I will surely grant him, and if he seeks My protection, I will surely protect him. Through Me he hears, through Me he sees, through Me he grasps, and through Me he walks.”

In another version:

“Through Me he speaks, and through Me he understands.”

Thus, when he hears through Allah and sees through Him, he hears things as they really are and witnesses the truth as it really is. Most of what you find concerning passing away in the writings of sound Sufis, such as Shaykh al-Islām and those before him, is of this kind. Nevertheless, some of them may err in certain judgments concerning it, as I have discussed elsewhere.

In sum, this passing away is valid and occurs among those of a Jesus-like disposition within the Muhammadan community. It resembles the fainting and cries that appeared among the Successors. Yet many of these people consequently fall into a kind of error, because passing away from witnessing realities ultimately amounts to an absence of knowledge and awareness. This is an attribute of deficiency, not perfection. It is praiseworthy only in respect of