and fabrications against Allah, and distort His names and signs so grievously that:

“The heavens almost rupture therefrom, and the earth splits open, and the mountains collapse in devastation.”

An example is the statement of the author of al-Fusūs in the chapter on Noah:

“‘Because of their sins they were drowned.’ Their sins were what carried them forward, so they drowned in the seas of knowledge of Allah, which is bewilderment. ‘Then they were admitted into a Fire’—within the water itself, in al-mahmadatayn (the two objects of praise). ‘And when the seas are set ablaze.’ One says, ‘I fired the oven,’ when one kindles it. ‘And they found no helpers besides Allah.’ Thus their helpers were none other than Allah, and they perished in Him forever. Had you brought them out onto the shore—the shore of nature—they would have descended from this lofty rank, even though everything belongs to Allah and exists through Allah; indeed, it is Allah.

“‘And Noah said: My Lord, do not leave upon the earth, of the disbelievers’—those who covered themselves with their garments and put their fingers in their ears, seeking concealment, because he called them so that He might forgive them, and forgiveness means concealment—‘a single inhabitant,’ meaning anyone at all, so that the benefit might encompass everyone, just as the call encompassed everyone.

“‘Indeed, if You leave them’—that is, let them remain and leave them alone—‘they will lead Your servants astray,’ meaning that they will bewilder them and bring them out of servitude into the mysteries of lordship within them. They will then see themselves as lords, after having regarded themselves as servants. Thus they are servants and lords.

“‘And they will beget’—that is, produce and bring forth—‘none but a wicked one,’ meaning one who reveals what he has concealed, ‘an obstinate disbeliever,’ meaning one who conceals what has appeared after its appearance. They reveal what was concealed, then conceal it after it has appeared. The observer is thus bewildered: neither the wicked person's intention in his wickedness nor the disbeliever's intention in his disbelief is known, though the person is one and the same.

“‘My Lord, forgive me,’ meaning: conceal me and conceal the stages of my journey, so that my station and worth remain unknown, just as Your worth was unknown, as You said: