—meaning, on a firm foundation which is the Truth, which is righteousness from God and seeking His pleasure through obedience—"{better or one who founded his building on the edge of a crumbling precipice}. upon a foundation that is the weakest of foundations, which is Falsehood (Al-Batil) and Hypocrisy (Al-Nifaq), the likeness of which is as the edge of a crumbling precipice.

The decisive sayings regarding the rejection of exoteric religious laws (Shara'') and the affirmation of their esoteric meanings.

Among the decisive sayings regarding the rejection of the outward religious laws (Al-Shara'i' al-Zahira) and the affirmation of their inward [nature] is the word of the Almighty: {He has ordained for you of religion what He enjoined upon Noah and that which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], and what We enjoined upon Abraham and Moses and Jesus—to establish the religion and not be divided therein} (Al-Shura: 13).

I say: This verse confirms regarding the Messengers [either] the divergence from His command—Exalted be He—or the rejection of the outward aspects of these apparent religious laws and the affirmation of their inward [nature]; that is due to the variation of their outward forms and the agreement of their inward [essence], in which there is neither variation nor division. As for the meaning of the Almighty's saying: {and not be divided therein}, it is a warning so that we may reject the Outward (Al-Zahir) and not believe in it at all.