And they are the Gnostics of the Three Ranks: The Manifestation, The Preceding Call, and The Proclamation1.
As for the possessor of blindness, ignorance, and error—due to the shortness of his knowledge and the dullness of his understanding—his mind can hardly conceive what I have mentioned, nor does it become clear to him from any perspective by which he might remedy his defect.
Indeed, due to the paucity of his fortune and the wretchedness of his destiny, when he reads it to his companions, his kin, and those who match him in deficiency, he casts it away like one scattering it, belittling its worth; so that they do not attribute him to deficiency, falling short, decline of rank, and bad understanding.
Footnotes
1Gnosis (Ma'rifa) relates to the Attributes (i.e., knowing the thing as it is manifest/upon it). Knowledge ('Ilm) relates to the Essence (i.e., perceiving the thing as it is by itself).Gnosis precedes Knowledge in a conceptual and temporal precedence for us, but it does not precede it in terms of Rank; for Knowledge is among the Attributes of Allah, while Gnosis is among the attributes of creation.Gnosis is achieved through acquisition (Iktisab), whereas Knowledge is a Light that Allah casts into the heart of whom He desires to guide.Gnosis extends horizontally, while Knowledge flows vertically.The Believer must have Gnosis of the Attributes manifest to vision before Allah casts into his heart the Light of Abstract Divine Knowledge stripped of materials and forms.Had He not appeared in the Visible Form, His existence would not be proven, nor would witnessing Him be valid, nor certainty of Him achieved.Certainty (Yaqin) here is the stability of the Gnosis of Allah in the heart, which is Knowledge.Hence, every Gnostic is a Knower, but not every Knower is a Gnostic.The Three Ranks which the Gnostic must know are:The Manifestation (Al-Zuhur): The manifestation of the Meaning by His Essence to the People of Light as Light, and to humans as human.The Preceding Call (Al-Da'wa al-Mutaqaddima): The First Day of Particles (Yawm al-Dharr) and the taking of the Covenant.The Proclamation (Al-Nida'): The announcement of the Call in all the Domes with the "Nun of Greatness" (Nun al-Azama).