to the possessors of states whose intellects are overpowered.
(Distraughtness and the Language of Sin)
If you say, “Protection is better,” as the imam said concerning al-Shibli’s distraughtness, when he was told that al-Shibli was restored at prayer times, but when he finished, the state of distraughtness ruled him and interposed between him and the intellect that yields sobriety: the imam Abu al-Qasim al-Junayd ibn Muhammad, master of this group, said, “Praise be to God, who has not let the language of sin be applied to him.”
He did not attribute sin to him. Rather, the language of sin attaches to him in respect of outward form for one who does not know him, while in the actual matter he is not sinful.
Some of our companions said, “Were freedom from the application of the language of sin not preferable and greater, this imam would not have praised God for it.”
We reply: the matter is not as you claim. This imam feared that someone who had not attained this degree might display it without realizing it, err, and fall into sin. They have compassion for the world.
As for its being a matter of superiority, how could that be, when He, glorified is He, has given His servants’ tongues free rein to blame and revile Him and His messengers? The possessor of this distraughtness has an example and consolation in those we have mentioned. In our view there is no superiority in this.
(The Mercy Hidden within Forgetfulness)
This Abode also contains knowledge of the mercy God has hidden within the forgetfulness found in the world. Without it, the affair would be tremendous and difficult; what is remembered suffices.
The root of this is the placing of the veil between the world and God in the setting of obligation, since acts of disobedience
