he does not repent, he shares something of the character of an evil scholar. For this reason, two men of the early generations quarreled over something similar in the year of the two arbitrators.

One said to the other:
“You are just like a dog: if you drive it away, it pants, and if you leave it alone, it pants.”

The other replied:
“You are like a donkey carrying books.”

This one, then, is better in intention and stronger in knowledge. Thus, you find that people with sincere intentions fault these others precisely for following their desires and loving worldly life and leadership, while people of knowledge fault the former for their deficient knowledge of the revealed Law and their departure from its commands and prohibitions. Such is the situation.

We ask Allah Most High to guide us to the straight path—the path of those upon whom He has bestowed His favor: the prophets, the steadfastly truthful, the martyrs, and the righteous. What excellent companions they are!

Some (jurists and ascetics) have said: Some people follow “the revealed Law,” while others follow “spiritual reality.” Perhaps they meant these two groups. The former favor one course over another on the basis of what Allah makes easy for them, together with sincere intentions and adherence to the commands and prohibitions known to them, although the evidence from the revealed Law concerning what has been made easy for them remains unclear to them. The latter give preference on the basis of evidence from the revealed Law—the apparent meanings of texts, analogical reasoning, solitary reports, and scholarly opinions—although the course made easy for them remains unclear to them.

(Moreover, these people) may perceive in that divinely decreed act elements of