because we are compelled to [need] them and they are indispensable to us, and that is due to our prior action which necessitated them upon us.

Allah has mentioned that He specifically granted the people of Paradise the like of these outward blessings so that we may infer that they benefit from their inner meanings (bawatin) just as we benefit from their outward forms (zawahir); and so that He, Glory be to Him, may veil their inner meaning with their outward form, and that we may know with full certainty that the benefit of the souls through their inner meaning is like the benefit of the bodies through their outward form, and so that we may also infer by their outward form (Zahir) their inner meaning (Batin), for it is a symbol (Mathal) that points to the symbolized (Mamthul). And in the Hadith of the Prophet (PBUH), he said: "There is nothing in Paradise of that which is on Earth except the names."

He has made lawful for us of these blessings that which benefits us both outwardly and inwardly, and has forbidden to us that which harms us both outwardly and inwardly; and He is the Self-Sufficient, independent of the worlds.

And if it is said to us, what is the difference between applying its outward and its esoteric?

And if it is asked of us: "What is the difference between the use of their outward form and their inner meaning?"

We say: The difference is that the use of the inner meaning is for the practice of religion (tadayyun) and the creed (i'tiqad) that is obligated upon