these obligations inwardly, then the obligation of their outward form has fallen away from him." He said regarding this meaning in his poetry:

And it is not permissible for a creature to leave his outward form,

Until he is knowledgeable of that which is inward.

And "until" [Hatta] here signifies the limit or goal, as in the saying of the Exalted: {So I will never leave the land until my father permits me} (Yusuf 80), meaning until he permits him to leave the land of Egypt; meaning leaving it; otherwise, I shall not leave.

And he used to enjoin prayer upon his family.

Likewise, the saying of our Infallible Sheikh: "Until he is knowledgeable of that which is inward"—meaning that when the believer knows the inward of these five limits [prayers], the obligation of their outward form falls away from him. May Allah sanctify his person—he does not intend by that a lack of knowledge regarding these manifest obligations, nor the cessation of their performance among those people who have denied their inward meaning, as he said in his Diwan in verse:

By Allah, that is a thing that is not correct,

Nor has the Book brought it; and truth is our quest.

We were not commanded except to strive [Ijtihad],

And that our deeds be for Allah according to our capacity.