I said: "My Master, inform me about the nature of births (the manifestations)?" He said: "Nothing [literal] was found; we only described pregnancy and birth [as metaphors], and in reality, it was not as we described in this matter. Rather, this is a Will and an instruction (irada wa tafhim) by which Allah intended to make the creation understand and recognize. As for the crescent (al-hilal), it neither increases nor decreases; you only see it according to your own measure—the doubt is in you, not in it."

Among what indicates the lifting of outward obligation (raf' al-taklif al-zahiri) from every rational person is what was mentioned regarding Fasting in the eighteenth part of the fourth volume of Sharh Nahj al-Balagha by Ibn Abi al-Hadid, on the authority of Abu ‘Abdullah [al-Sadiq], who said: "The Messenger of Allah said Allah has not apportioned to His servants anything better than the Intellect (Al-Aql); thus, the sleep of a wise person is better than the night vigil of an ignorant person, and the staying of a wise person is better than the journeying of an ignorant person."¹