The Lord Muhammad—exalted be his glory—is its master and establisher. The Sunnah is a single, continuous path from the beginning of the matter to its end; it is the command to permit the lawful and prohibit the forbidden. The evidence for this is the word of God the Almighty: {But their faith did not profit them once they saw Our might. Such is the Sunnah of God which has passed among His servants; and there the disbelievers were lost.}1
He—exalted be His praise—said: {Such was the Sunnah of God with those who passed before; and you will find no change in the Sunnah of God.}2
Indeed, the alteration and change were committed by the accursed Iblis. He permitted these prohibitions, ordering the commission of these abominations in rejection and opposition to what the People of the Stations commanded. Those of his own nature and party obeyed him in this; thus, he and they were overturned, cast into painful torment and lasting punishment.
(199) That which supports what I have explained in this section, adding to what my lord and sheikh—may God sanctify his subtle essence—related, for to him belongs the merit and the favor, is what Abu al-Hassan Ra’iq bin al-Khidr al-Mahalami—may God have mercy on him—narrated to me. He reported by his chain of transmission from Muhammad ibn al-Hasan, from Abu Khalid al-Aquli, from a reliable man among our companions, from Abu Zayd ibn Mu'awiya al-I'jli, from our Master Abu Abd Allah al-Sadiq—exalted be his glory.