He praises. He guarantees to repay him with the most fulfilling reward. But indeed, if a believer severs ties with his believer brother, meets him with what does not please him, belittles him, despises him, or treats him harshly, Allah cuts off from him the sources of His wisdom and makes him forget what He had supported him with. If he persists in enmity toward his brother and manifests his hatred while knowing of his faith and not doubting his religion, Allah strips him of the garment of faith and clothes him in the garment of abasement and humiliation, and makes him in need of the worst of His creation, until he returns to his Lord, asks for excuse for his sin, and receives his brother."

He asked: "O my master, which sin has no expiation nor repentance?" He said: "Disavowal (al-bara') after loyalty (al-wala'), doubt after certainty, shirk after faith, and enmity toward the brothers." He said: "Explain to me the reality of faith and monotheism (tawḥid) in which there is no shirk nor suspicion; explain it to me with the most complete explanation and clarify it with the clearest proof."

He said: "O my son, the sincere monotheist whose monotheism is not mixed with doubt or shirk is he who knows the Name (al-Ism) with the true gnosis, points to the Meaning (al-Ma'na), establishes it, singles it out from His name, worships Him, believes in Him, and unifies Him." He asked: "O my master, what is the doubt that is more hidden than the crawling of an ant? And what is the meaning of His saying — Exalted Glory —: «And most of them believe not in Allah except while they associate others with Him»?¹ He said: "It is he who worships the Name and the Meaning. Do you not see:

What was related from al-Sadiq — Exalted Glory — that he said: 'Whosoever claims that he knew Allah by way of the Name has been ignorant of more than he knew. Whosoever worships the Name and the Meaning has associated partners [with Allah]. Whosoever knows the Name and is ignorant of the Meaning has been ignorant