the Seal of the Saints follows, with respect to legal rulings, the revealed law brought by the Seal of the Messengers, that does not detract from his station or contradict what we have maintained. For in one respect he is lower, while in another respect (1) he is higher.”
He said (2): “When the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—likened [prophethood] (3) to a wall made of bricks, he saw that it was complete except for the place of a single brick (4). He—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—occupied the place of that brick. As for the Seal (5) of the Saints, he must have this same vision: he sees what the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—portrayed (6), and he sees himself in the wall, in the place of two bricks. He sees himself (7) fitting [into] (8) the place of [those two] (9) bricks, whereupon the wall is completed (10). The reason he necessarily sees it as two bricks is that the wall has a brick of gold
(1) N and W read: “just as, in one respect, he…”
(2) Five lines after the preceding passage, 1:63.
(3) “Prophethood” is omitted from N.
(4) *Fusūs al-Hikam* reads: “made of bricks, and it was complete except for the place of a single brick.”
(5) *Fusūs al-Hikam* reads: “He—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—was that brick. However, he—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—saw it only, as he said, as a single brick. As for the Seal…”
(6) *Fusūs al-Hikam* reads: “Thus he sees that to which the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—likened it.”
(7) *Fusūs al-Hikam* reads: “He sees in the wall the place of two bricks, the bricks being of gold and silver. He sees the two bricks without which the wall is incomplete and through which it is completed: one gold brick and one silver brick. He must therefore see himself…”
(8) The preposition *fī* (in) is omitted from N.
(9) *Taynika* (“those two”) occurs only in W and is also found in *Fusūs al-Hikam*.
(10) *Fusūs al-Hikam* reads: “the two bricks; thus, the Seal of the Saints is those two bricks, and the wall is completed.”