Do you not know that the priests and monks, when they reached the degree of Gnosis, practiced renunciation? They became ascetics and travelers, shunning the world and its adornments out of gratitude for the blessings God bestowed upon them, having reached the degree of Faith and knowing Christ with the essence of Gnosis (kunh al-ma‘rifah). This reached such a point in the explanation of the Apostles, who confined themselves in hermitages and churches and reached a level of asceticism unsurpassed by any other creed—acting out of gratitude and love, not out of fear or greed."

I say: He (Almighty) has pointed to this meaning in Surat al-Layl, saying:

{As for he who gives and fears God and believes in the Best, We will ease him toward Ease. But as for he who is stingy and considers himself self-sufficient and denies the Best, We will ease him toward Hardship.} (Al-Layl: 5–10).

Similar to it is His saying (Almighty) in Surat al-Baqarah: {God intends for you Ease and does not intend for you Hardship} (Al-Baqarah: 185).

Its meaning, as reported by our master Abu Sa'id in the book al-Ma‘ārif (The Knowledges) on the authority of al-Jalī regarding the chapter of the esoteric meaning of fasting, states: "Ease refers to the Gates (al-Abwāb), and He does not intend for you Hardship, which