Then he—may Allah sanctify him—continues the discourse on the validity of the Esoteric:

"A question posed to us by the People of the Exoteric (Ahl al-Zahir), who say: 'Inform us of the matter of this Esoteric that you claim; did it come specifically (khususan) or generally (‘umuman)? For if you say: Specifically, then you have deviated from the path of justice—which is the foundation of your doctrine—and it does not constitute a proof binding upon us if we do not believe in it, because He did not command us with it, nor did we hear it from Him. And if you say: It came to it generally, yet we only see it [as being] specific to certain people and not others; and if it is restricted to specific individuals, then there is nothing [obligatory] upon the rest?

The Answer—and with Allah is the success: Know that the Creator (al-Bari)—Exalted is He—created the creation and placed in them a single equal capacity (istitā‘a) and empowered them toward Affirmation (iqrār) and Denial (inkār). Then He made the Exoteric (al-zāhir) a proof of the Esoteric (al-bātin), because there is no path to the Esoteric except through the Exoteric; and through the exoteric nature of things, their esoteric nature is deduced. The Exalted said: {Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing, and the remembrance of Allah is greater} (Al-Ankabut 45).

And the Exalted said: {And he remembered the name of his Lord and prayed} (Al-A’la 15). So He indicated by this statement that