—the people of awakened hearts—the masters of renunciation, worship, experiential knowledge, and spiritual unveiling—to cleave to the Book and the Sunnah.

Al-Junayd ibn Muhammad said,

“This discipline of ours is bound by the Book and the Sunnah. Whoever has not recited the Qur’an and written down hadith is unfit to speak of our knowledge.”

Shaykh Abū Sulaymān al-Dārānī said,

“A fine point from among the subtle insights of the folk may cross my heart, yet I do not accept it unless it is borne out by two witnesses: the Book and the Sunnah.”

He also said,

“It is not for one who is inspired with some good deed to carry it out until he has heard a report that supports it.”

Abū ʿUthmān al-Nīsābūrī said,

“Whoever lets the Sunnah govern himself, in word and deed, will speak with wisdom; whoever lets his own whim govern himself will speak with innovation—for Allah says, ‘If you obey him, you will be guided’ (Qur’an 24:54).”

Another said,

“If a man does not distrust his own thoughts in every situation, do not count him among the men.”

It was said to Abū Yazīd al-Bisṭāmī, “A shaykh from among your companions has arrived.” He went to visit him and saw that the man had spat toward the qiblah (direction of prayer). Abū Yazīd said, “Let us turn back. Allah did not deem him worthy of observing a single courtesy prescribed by the Sacred Law; how, then, would He entrust him with His secret?”

Abū Yazīd’s reaction is supported by what is recorded in the Sunan—those of Abū Dāwūd and others—that a man was leading the prayer in one of the mosques of the Anṣār (for every clan had its own mosque). The Prophet came, noticed spittle on the wall of the qiblah, and asked, “Who did this?” They named the imam. He forbade them to pray behind him. When the man came to lead them, they kept him back, saying, “The Messenger of Allah has forbidden us to pray behind you.” He went to the Prophet and related the matter, and the Prophet replied, “They have spoken the truth; you have offended Allah and His Messenger.”

More than one of the shaykhs and scholars have said, “If you see a man flying through the air and walking …”