(145) It is narrated in the fifteenth exhortation of the Gospel: God, Glory be to Him, says: "Woe to him who knows but does not act; and woe to him who does not know—how his punishment shall be doubled twice over! And woe to him who hears of knowledge but does not seek it—how he shall be gathered with the ignorant in the Fire!"

(146) And it is mentioned therein: "Seek knowledge and act upon it, for if you act upon it, you shall be happy."

(147) It is narrated by a sound chain from Dhu al-Nun al-Misri, who said: Among the words of the Messiah, Mighty is His Might, was: "Whoever knows and acts, he shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven."

(148) From the trustworthy Sheikh Abu al-Husayn Muhammad ibn Ali al-Jali, peace of the Exalted King be upon him, who said: Our sheikh and role model Abu Abd Allah al-Husayn ibn Hamdan al-Khusaybi—may God brighten his face—said to us while we were a group of his "children" (students) in his presence: We narrated from the Knower, Mighty is His Might, that he said: "The etiquette of religion comes before the religion itself. So, adopt the etiquette, then take up the religion, then recognize, then know, then act, and then teach."

The Sheikh Abu al-Husayn Muhammad ibn Ali al-Jali, may God sanctify his soul, said:

I have accepted, so I have submitted as one who surrenders, With a pious heart and a pure soul. I have fasted, though I am "breaking the fast", For the head of worship is the guarding of Taqiyya.

Another said: By your life, a man is naught but his religion, So do not abandon piety out of reliance on lineage. For Islam raised Salman of Persia, While polytheism brought down the accursed Abu Lahab. Have you not seen that God revealed to Mary: {And shake toward you the trunk, it will drop fresh dates}? Had He willed, He would have bent the trunk without her shaking it Toward her; but all matters have a cause.

The Egyptian Epistle - Muhammad ibn Muqatil al-Qati'i