in the remaining third of the night of this bodily constitution, to the lowest heaven of the soul. They addressed those weighed down, who cannot ascend: “Is there anyone praying, that he may be answered? Anyone repenting, that mercy may turn toward him? Anyone seeking forgiveness, that he may be forgiven?” This continued until dawn broke. When it broke, the luminous rational spirit appeared, and they returned whence they had come.
He said, God bless him and grant him peace: “Whoever continues an uninterrupted fast should continue until the time before dawn.” That is the time when “what is in the graves is cast out” [al-ʿAdiyat 100:9]. Every servant who fails to beware of God’s devising is deceived. Understand this.
Section: “Among people are those who say, ‘We believe in God and the Last Day,’ but they are not believers. They seek to deceive God and those who believe, yet they deceive only themselves and are unaware. In their hearts is a sickness, and God has increased their sickness. Theirs is a painful punishment because of their falsehood” [al-Baqarah 2:8–10].
God brought the originated things into being and disclosed Himself through the tongue of Oneness in Lordship, saying: “Am I not your Lord?” [al-Aʿraf 7:172]. The one addressed was in the utmost purity and said, “Yes.” It was like an echo, for they answered Him through Him: temporally originated existence is an image set up. This calling to witness was a witnessing of mercy, because He did not ask them, “I alone?” He spared them, knowing that they would associate others with Him through the share of nature within them and their receptivity to divine power. Only a few know this.
When—
