Moreover, the heretics among the Bātiniyya (esotericists) who recount this report claim to know the secret that ‘Umar did not understand. Each group interprets it according to its own corrupt views: the Najādiyya claim that it expresses their doctrine; the adherents of “cosmic reality,” who deny commands, prohibitions, and threats of punishment, claim that it expresses theirs; and those who believe in divine indwelling in particular individuals, resembling the Christians, claim that it expresses theirs. There are still other groups whose enumeration would take too long.

Would any reasonable person say that ‘Umar, despite being present, did not understand what the two of them said, whereas these ignorant, misguided advocates of heresy, unbelief, and absurdity understood the meaning of that conversation—even though no one has transmitted its wording?

Such lies were fabricated by the heretical Bātiniyya solely to induce people to say that what the messengers openly conveyed of the Quran, faith, and religious law has an inward meaning contrary to its outward meaning, and that Abū Bakr knew this inward meaning while ‘Umar did not. They use this as a means of stripping ignorant people of their Islamic faith.

A similar example is the story they relate that ‘Umar married Abū Bakr’s wife so that Abū Bakr’s inner state might become known, and that she said, “I used to smell the scent of roasted liver.” This too is a lie. ‘Umar did not marry Abū Bakr’s wife; rather, ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib married her. Before Abū Bakr, she had been married to Ja‘far. She was Asmā’ bint ‘Umays, and she was among