And by Sheikh Ali al-Suwayri, may Allah sanctify him:

They are the fewest in number among mankind

[But] they are the greatest in status with Allah.

And know that the River of Talut is mentioned in many places in the books of the People of Monotheism (Ahl al-Tawhid) as being the exoteric science (’ilm al-zahir). Among these is what Sheikh Ibrahim al-Tusi, may Allah sanctify him, said in his ’Ayniyya [poem]:

So I said to it: O heart, for the river, it is

The exoteric aspects of a science established by the Mim [the Prophet] as a Lawgiver.

So act by them, for they are the wall

And conceal with them a knowledge [leading] to the Truth.

And do not hold fast to the chains of its science [Which are] embellishments of speech and lost lies

Save for a handful, that which has been made easy

And do not be tested by it, for there are prohibitions against it.

Our master Abu Sa‘id—may Allah sanctify him—said in the book Al-Bahth wa al-Dalala fi Mushkil al-Risala (Investigation and Indication into the Obscurities of the Message):

"These, O my master—may Allah grant you happiness—are the narrations of the People of the Exoteric (Ahl al-Zahir), with chains of