mentioned. Then he recited: {And it is not for any human that Allah should speak to him except by revelation or from behind a veil} (Ash-Shura 51).

He also recited: {and has raised some of you above others in degrees} (Al-An'am 165). Meaning: the degrees of some of them above others.

I said: Is it upon us to know these degrees?

He said: Yes, whoever knows this Inward [Batin], the Outward [Zahir] action falls away from him, so he does not need to establish any of it. But it is upon him to establish the Outward as long as he does not know these degrees or reach them in knowledge. Once he reaches them and knows them, station by station and degree by degree, then Servitude [Abudiyya] falls away from him, and he exits the limit of trial and ownership to the limit of Freedom [Hurriyya] by his arrival and his knowledge.

I said: My Master, is that in the Book of Allah? He said: Yes, have you not heard His saying: {And that to your Lord is the finality} (An-Najm 42).