not desiring anything other than Him; for remembering a created being may lead one to desire it and become infatuated with it. Thus, worshippers of a “Jesus-like disposition” generally lack awareness of anything other than Him, desire for it, and infatuation with it, and are described as sound-hearted. Scholars of a “Moses-like disposition,” by contrast, generally possess knowledge of other things, desire them, and become infatuated with them, and are described as knowledgeable. Yet the former are characterized by ignorance and justice, while the latter are characterized by injustice (1). Both descriptions are accurate.

As for knowing the True One and creation while desiring Allah alone, without any partner, this characterizes those of a Muhammadan disposition who have attained perfection in knowledge and will. The soundness of heart that deserves praise is soundness . . . (2), for ignorance is not, in itself, a praiseworthy quality. It may, however, be praised because it keeps a person safe from evils. For most souls, upon learning of an evil they desire, follow it, become frightened of it, or are seduced by it.

Third: Passing away from the existence of anything other than Him. This means that a person regards Allah as existence itself and holds that nothing else exists, whether through Him or through anything else. This doctrine and spiritual state belong to the heretical proponents of union among later figures, such as al-Balyānī, al-Tilimsānī, al-Qūnūnī, and others like them. They hold that the ultimate truth is that He is identical with existing things and is the very reality of all beings, and that