(385) It has been related by another path: "I am the city of knowledge and Ali informed of it (anba'a biha)." This is because the Meaning (al-Ma'na) — exalted be his glory — is the One who informs the Name, which is His word: {And [remember] when the Prophet confided to one of his wives a statement. And when she informed [another] of it and God showed it to him, he made known part of it and avoided part. And when he informed her of it, she said, "Who informed you of this?" He said, "I was informed by the Knowing, the Acquainted"}1.
The exemplar of the age, our sheikh Abu Abd Allah al-Khasibi — may God brighten his face — said in a section of his epistle: "The Gate is the Unicity (al-Wahdaniyya) after the Unique (al-Ahad) and the Seul (al-Wahid). There is nothing other than them: the Name and the Gate. Every Gate that stands is a lineage (salsal) that never changes; it appears in every manifestation with a different form, among different tribes and nations, and under different descriptions, but it remains itself."
Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Surur al-Hayyaji — may God have mercy on him — narrated to me from Abu Sa'id Maymun ibn al-Qasim al-Tabarani: I asked my Master al-Jali — may God sanctify his subtle essence — regarding the Gate: why is it called "Unicity"? He replied: "Because it gathered the units (al-ahad) and made them recognize the Unique (al-Ahad) and the Seul (al-Wahid)."
(386) By his chain from Hamza ibn al-Rabi', he said: My lord Abu Shu'ayb Muhammad ibn Nusayr — peace be upon him — said that our Master al-Hasan — exalted be his glory — said: "We do not occult until we designate by text (nass), and no representative (wali) of ours occults until he appoints a successor from him. Therefore, do not transgress the obedience of whom We appoint for your religion." By this same chain, our Master Abu Shu'ayb — peace be upon him — said: "Do not take your religion except from one who has received a text from us, one after another."