Covenants). He—may God enlighten his person—mentioned therein the Persons (Ashkhāṣ) of all the Five Obligations. He explicitly stated that one who knows the esoteric "Persons" is not obligated to perform the exoteric (al-Ẓāhir).

He said:

"As for the covenants which God commanded to be fulfilled: there is no exoteric deed except that it has an esoteric Person. Whoever knows the 'Persons' of the deeds in their true reality, the obligation of their outward form is dropped from him.

Conversely, whoever does not know or recognize the 'Persons' of the mandatory duties, their outward obligation is not dropped from him, and he shall be punished for neglecting the performance of the obligations we have mentioned—which are Prayer, Fasting, Hajj, Zakat, Jihad, and the rest of the rituals of Hajj.

Thus, if the Gnostic (al-‘Ārif) knows the 'Persons' of these mandatory duties esoterically, the obligation of their outward form is dropped from him, and that which God (Mighty and Majestic) permitted in His Book—after the fulfillment of the Covenants and [discerning] the Permissible from the Forbidden—becomes lawful for him."

He—may God brighten his person—said regarding this meaning in his Diwan: