Each of these nations preferred its own prayer over all other prayers, just as it preferred its own prophet over all other prophets—all of which is contrary to what He (the Exalted) commanded them. They established them according to their corrupt will and what their "Shanbuwiya" souls [souls tied to material desire] craved of worshipping their devils, satans, and idols. This was the opposite of what Allah (the Exalted) intended of the inward meanings. Their example in this is like their saying "No" when He called them in the First Atoms [Al-Dhar al-Awwal] by His saying: {Am I not your Lord?}. The believers intended by their saying "Yes" [Bala]: "You are our Lord." But the disbelievers intended by their saying "Yes": "You are not our Lord." They attributed miracles and power to magic and sorcery, thus deserving the punishment of the plot from He (the Exalted) just as they plotted against Him.

And if a questioner says to us that we believe in the outward of the visible spiritual image and its esoteric meaning, and that the outward is the esoteric and the esoteric is the outward

As for the believers, they deserved an increase in instruction and the refinement [Tadib], the clarification, and the explicit statement [Tasrih] because of their response to Him. He made these outward forms and examples for those inward prayers and other of the five acts of worship so that we may use them as evidence for the [Luminous] Persons and the inward gnoses, and so that we may make their outward forms a veil over the Kaaba of the Inward Religion.