(78) Sheikh Abu Sa'id Maymun ibn al-Qasim al-Tabarani, may Allah sanctify his soul, narrated from Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Qashani, who said: I entered upon my master Abu Ya'qub Ishaq ibn Muhammad and said to him: "My master, I have perceived maturity (rushd) in so-and-so the scribe, and I would love for him to meet with you."

He replied: "I wish it were so, but not you, O Abu Nasr." I asked: "O my master, why? Have I ever rejected a word of yours or disclosed a secret?" He said: "I have known nothing but good from you, but I heard the Master, the Inhabitant of the Camp (Sahib al-Askar), may His might be glorified, saying: 'When one of you addresses a man, Allah conceals the person of that man and He becomes the Listener. So look to what you say, for who is capable of addressing the Lord of the Worlds?'"

He then said to him: "O Abu Nasr, Allah—blessed be His name—said in His Mighty Book: {And every human being, We have fastened his bird (fate) to his neck, and We shall bring forth for him on the Day of Resurrection a book which he will find spread open} (Al-Isra: 13). The 'bird' is the student, and the 'spread open book' is the deed."

He said: When the Qaim (the Risen One), may His might be glorified, appears, He will say to him: "I have conveyed; this is his place of safety."

(79) By his narration from our master Abu Abd Allah al-Khasibi, may Allah ennoble his station, by his chain of transmission to the Master al-Sadiq, may His might be glorified, that he said: "When a believer intends to open the Gnosis of Allah the Exalted to a man and impart to him His Oneness, Allah the Glorified looks upon them both. If He knows good in the listener, He makes him hear it; otherwise, He veils his hearing from what is being imparted to him. He, Mighty and Majestic, becomes the Listener to what the believer imparts. So when one of you addresses a man, let him look to what he says and to whom he speaks, for he is addressing Allah, Mighty and Majestic."