The seeker said: "You have opened to me a matter you had clarified before; I understood and perceived that the Essence is not harmed by what [emanates] from it, provided the heart (al-qalb) turns toward its [true] form despite [outward] wrath." The Sage said: "So it is."

The seeker said: "Inform me about the degree of the Free (al-Hurr), the Slave (al-‘Abd), and the Slave of the Slave (‘Abd al-‘Abd)."

The Sage replied: "As for the Free, it is like Adam and his children—who were pearls within his loins and their souls were within his back—while he was in Paradise. He was not commanded to pray or fast, nor was he forbidden from anything he ate or drank. He used to perform the Prayer of the Angels, which is through the knowledge of Remembrance (al-Dhikr), not through prostration and bowing. No binding obligation was upon him, nor a mandatory right, nor a duty which, if neglected, would lead to torment or punishment. There was no wrath upon him, nor any ill-treatment. He was a spiritual being, obedient, for whom everything he desired was permissible; he knew no worry, grief, or [anxious] thought.

This remained until the Disobedience came from him. Then, He [God] brought him out from the Abode of Might (Dār al-‘Izz) to the Abode of Humiliation (Dār al-Dhil), and from Freedom to Servitude—to command, prohibition, bowing, prostration, and fasting. It was said to him: 'Whenever you fail to do this, you shall be punished and disciplined. But if you return to My obedience, believe in what you doubted,