He said: "Yes. As for those who loved us openly but did not love us in secret: they are a folk who walked in the way of kings; their tongues are with us but their swords are drawn against us. They are in the lowest level of the Fire with the hypocrites.

As for those who loved us in secret but did not love us openly: they are those who brought us down from the loins and caused us to flow in the wombs. They are in the middle level with the hypocrites in the Fire.

As for those who loved us in secret and openly: they are in the highest level. They drank of the fresh water and the salty; they knew the interpretation of the Book, the Decisive Speech (fasl al-khitab), and the Cause of causes. Poverty and destitution are their badge; affliction and varieties of trials reach them faster than a galloping horse. Adversity and hardship have touched them; they have been shaken, tested, and killed. They are between the wounded and the slain, scattered in every distant land. By them you are healed, by them you are given drink, by them you are provided for, and by them you receive rain. They are the fewest in number, yet the greatest in significance." The man said: "I am among those who love You in secret and openly."

Our Master — exalted be his glory — said: "Indeed, our lovers have signs by which they are recognized." Hannan said: I asked: "And what are those signs?" He replied: "They recognized Oneness with its true recognition; they mastered the science of Faith with its attribute, what is its truth and what is its description; and they knew the interpretation of the Book and the limits of Faith, its conditions, and its rights." I said: "O my Master, I have not seen You explain Faith except this day."

He said: "Yes, O Hannan, the questioner should only ask regarding Faith." Hannan said: I said: "O my Master, if you see fit to explain to me what You said?"