Chapter on the Reality of the Outward Forms of Worship

"And I shall recite to you, O seeker, a chapter on the reality of the outward forms of worship that point to the inward hidden secrets, so that it may be easy for you to accept the statements I have presented that explicitly declare their rejection."

"For the Outward (al-ẓāhir) and the Inward (al-bāṭin) are two opposites; neither is established except through the negation of the other. This is because the Outward is nothing but images and parables (amthāl) that Allah placed in His heavenly books as a concealment (talbīs) for the people of denial (ahl al-inkār). Similarly, their Inward consists of signs, proofs, parables, and images that guide the believers—the people of response and affirmation—to the personages (ashkhāṣ) and the meanings of the apparitions (maʿānī al-ashbāḥ)."

The Almighty said in Surah al-Kahf:

{And We have certainly diversified in this Quran for the people from every [kind of] example; but man has ever been, most of anything, [prone to] dispute.} (Al-Kahf: 54).

And the Almighty said in Surah al-Ankabut:

{And these examples We present to the people, but none will understand them except those of knowledge.} (Al-Ankabut: 43).