{And leave the outward of sin and the inward thereof.} (Al-An‘ām: 120). And He Almighty said, narrating from Noah: {Then indeed, I announced to them and I confided to them in private.} (Nūḥ: 9). This saying indicates the validity of the esoteric (al-Bāṭin); for we have seen nothing in existence except that it has an exoteric (Ẓāhir) and an esoteric, because every body (jism) has a Ẓāhir and a Bāṭin.

And also from the book Hujjat al-Arif:

A question [posed] to us by the People of the Exoteric (Ahl al-Ẓāhir): They say: "Make known to us the matter of this esoteric which you profess. Did he [the Prophet] bring it specifically (khuṣūṣan) or generally (‘umūman)? If you say: 'Specifically,' then you have deviated from the path of justice, which is the foundation of your doctrine; and no argument (ḥujjah) is binding upon us since we did not believe in it, because he did not command us to it, nor did we hear it from him. But if you say he brought it generally, then we have seen it only [granted] specifically to certain people and not others. If certain people are distinguished by it, then there is nothing [obligatory] upon the rest."

The Answer—and through God is success: Know that the Creator, Almighty, created creation and placed in them a single, equal capacity (istiṭā‘ah). He empowered them to affirm (al-iqrār) and to deny (al-inkār). Then, He made the exoteric a guide to the esoteric, because there is no path to the esoteric except through the exoteric.