So do not incline toward anything else,
And do not lend an ear to what it says.
Through God’s love we have loved God. The Real’s love does not change, so the created being’s love does not change. He was asked, ‘Does a created being’s love for a created being change?’ He said, ‘No, because the created being is beloved for itself, and intrinsic love cannot cease.’
(Love and Will)
He was told, ‘But we have seen someone whose affection changes.’ He said, ‘That is will, not love. Were it love, it would remain constant. Do you not see that it is called affection, wadd, because of its constancy and the constancy of its ruling?’
For the lover has no surplus of his essence for anyone other than his beloved through which something removing love could enter him. This is the reason for its constancy: he witnesses the very entity of his beloved in everything he witnesses, so he never loses him. Were it possible for the lover to witness someone other than his beloved in some entity, there would enter him from this something that removes his love. This does not occur in love.
Thus, in the case of one in this state, the ruling of will has become confused for me with the ruling of love. Not everyone who wills is a lover, though every lover wills; not everything willed is beloved, though everything beloved is willed.
The station of this Pole is as we have mentioned. His affair is wondrous, and detailing his state would take long; our approach is brevity.
(The Sixth Pole, upon the Footing of Solomon)
As for the sixth Pole, who is upon the footing of Solomon, peace be upon him, his Sura is al-Waqi‘a. To it belongs perpetual life, and his Abodes equal its verses in number.
He is distinguished by knowledge of life and living creatures. He takes none of his states except from his Lord, so his states are his Lord’s states. His guidance is the guidance of the prophets, as God commanded His Prophet, God’s blessings and peace be upon him,
Notlar
Translator’s note: The printed فالتبس علي is compressed and may mean ‘became confused for me,’ as retained here. In context, علي may instead represent ‘for one in this state,’ with the confusion attributed to that person. The supplied spelling does not settle the construction.