remember what you forgot, refrain from what I forbade, and return to your Lord with the perfection of that, you shall return to the place from which you were cast out.'

Then the Knower (Al-‘Alim) said: "He shall not return to that place until he knows his Lord in seven repetitions (cycles), just as he was ignorant of Him in seven heavens. Thus, he remains a servant upon whom labor is mandated, until he knows his Lord in the seven repetitions and repents from heedlessness and oversight. [At that point], he is restored to freedom, and the yoke of servitude is lifted from him. Thus, if he performs a deed, its reward is for himself, and if he refrains, there is no punishment upon him; such is the nature of freedom and servitude."

The servant, whether he wills or refuses, has labor imposed upon him as a mandate. The free man, if he wills, acts, and if he wills, he does not. Thus, in this world, nothing of the permissible things is forbidden to him, nor is anything obligatory upon him if he is free. But if he is a bondsman, that which is required of servants and slaves is required of him.

People are of two types: the free and the slaves. As for the Gnostic scholars (the Knowers), they are the free. As for the unlearned (Al-Jumal), they are the slaves.