He answered: Its meaning is that when a man opens the knowledge of Allah to his student and secures him as his [spiritual] son, it is not permissible for anyone else to impart anything of knowledge to him except by the permission and command of his master. This is unless the person is the [spiritual] father of the believer who opened the way for him; in that case, there is no harm in the student asking his grandfather, nor is there any fault upon the grandfather for discussing knowledge with him, provided that the rank of the first remains high and established in the truth. No believer is permitted to address him except by his master's permission, excluding his grandfather.

By the same chain of transmission from the trustworthy youth Abu Sa'id Maymun, who said: I asked my master al-Jali—may Allah brighten both their faces—regarding the word of Allah, Mighty and Majestic: {The fornicator does not marry except a fornicatress or a polytheist, and the fornicatress none marries her except a fornicator or a polytheist, and that has been forbidden to the believers} (Al-Nur: 3).

He answered: The fornicatress (zaniyah) in the inward sense is the student who has heard the knowledge of Allah by way of theft, taking it without fatherhood or comprehension. It is not permissible for a believer to impart anything of knowledge to him, nor to validate anything he possesses, because he has taken it through an improper way without lawfulness. If one addresses him and discusses knowledge with him while he has no fatherhood, he has committed fornication (zana) with him; and fornication is entirely forbidden, both outwardly and inwardly.

That has been forbidden to the believers, and regarding this, Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says: {And do not approach fornication. Indeed, it is ever an immorality and is evil as a way} (Al-Isra: 32). Its outward meaning is what the elite and the common folk alike know; its inward meaning is the discussion of knowledge with one who has no fatherhood and no authorized hearing, yet is satisfied with his current state.