"O my Master, why do you not show regard for the one who turns to you in repentance?"

He said to me: "Was what befell me not enough for you, O Samia?"

I said: "O my Master, why did you reveal the Secret of God?"

He replied: "Do you know the Master better than I?! By His command I spoke, by His will I called out, and to Him, by His permission, I summoned [people]."

I said: "O my Master, was that which befell you true?"

He turned toward the Qibla, stretched out his hand, and then said:

"You have tested me by Your knowledge of me; indeed, You shall find me patient. If You find in me any constriction of heart or looking back (ishrāf naḥr), there is no harm if You strip me of Your Gnosis (Ma‘rifah) because of my sin—and I seek refuge in You from that! How could You do that to me when Your mercy encompasses all things, and Your pardon has shaded all those who disbelieved in You, even until they mocked Your blessings and ridiculed Your believing servants, yet Your wrath was slow to reach them? And if you were to be angry, nothing could withstand Your wrath. My God and my Master, I find no refuge to flee to except You.

You have killed me repeatedly and tested me by trial, yet Your Unicity (Tawḥīd) remains firmly established in my breast. And how could