things I have spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full."
And do not think that without the knowledge of the Names you will enter the enclosure of heaven
And how many, how very many, are such parables in the Heavenly Books!
And from Nahj al-Balāgha, our Master, the Commander of the Faithful—may mercy be upon him—said:
"And know that for every deed there is a plant, and every plant cannot do without water; and the waters are different. That whose irrigation is good, its planting is good and its fruit is sweet; and that whose irrigation is evil, its planting is evil and its fruit is bitter."
The "different waters" refer to the Outward and Inward sciences. That which is "good irrigation" among them is the Inward Science (ʿilm al-bāṭin). That whose "planting is evil"1 is the Ambiguous Outward Science (ʿilm al-ẓāhir al-mutashābih), which renders evil those who incline toward it and drink from its river—the one likened to the River of Saul (Nahr Ṭālūt).
As the poet said:
The origin of a youth is hidden, yet