From the 'Book of the Path' (Kitab al-Sirat): Narrated by Abu Abd Allah al-Husayn bin Hamdan (peace be upon him), reaching back (marfu’) to al-Mufaddal bin Umar (peace be upon him), on the authority of the Master al-Sadiq—may His might be exalted.

He says: 'When the Essential Meaning (Al-Ma’na) is absent from the people of defiance, He is manifest to the people of existence and reality; they witness Him and approach Him through His Gate (Bab) and His Name (Ism). He remains with them as followers—those who have ascended, purified themselves, and neighbored the "Possessors of the Ranks" (Ashab al-Maratib). Each person among them possesses a portion of Light by which they are recognized, being marked by the Qaf... etc.'

He says: 'Know, O Mufaddal, that the stars by night travel according to the path of the Moon; they shine beneath it when it is present with them. Yet when it is absent, they emit a brilliance that dazzles the beholder—that is their own inherent light. When it appears among them, they shine beneath it, for it possesses a station in its service that none other can occupy. Its appearance at the beginning of the month as a crescent, its subsequent waxing until it reaches fullness on the fourteenth night, and its later waning and weakening until it disappears at the month's end—this is but an allusion to the world.