nor faith! If God denies you the attainment of knowledge of witnessing Him, then at least have faith in Him. This is why we said that none comes to Him except one ignorant of Him.
Since this group had no concern except Him and seeking Him, they came as a delegation to Him. He presented them with what He presented and informed them that this was specifically the delegation’s reward. Unless they know this from Him through His informing them, divine ruse must be feared in it, or the diminution of a share in the Hereafter, so that in the Hereafter they will wish they had been given none of it in this world.
Chapter One Hundred and Eighty-Five: Knowing the Station of Leaving Charismatic Gifts
Leaving the charismatic gift is no proof,
so heed my saying: it is more upright in speech.
The existence of a charismatic gift may be
the share of the honored one—then how evil a path!
Be intent upon the knowledge with which you have been charged;
take none other than God as a substitute.
Concealing the charismatic gift is an established obligation
among the men, so do not be abandoned.
Notes
Translator’s note TN4812-1: The poem’s thumma sāʾa sabīlan, literally ‘then [it/he] was evil as a path,’ leaves its subject implicit. The exclamation preserves the warning without specifying a new subject.
