These essences are deeply knowledgeable by virtue of their inherent power, diffuse through physical bodies by virtue of their subtlety, and effective within them by virtue of their vision. They are the host of Allah and the core of creation. They attributed these natural operations to those essences, thereby exalting the Creator—the Most High—above them, except for that which befits Him of absolute wisdom and cosmic governance.'

And one of the scholars said: 'For every pure soul there is a divine breeze [nafhah], and for every breeze there is an insufflation [nafkhah] from the Holy Spirit. This insufflation is the dawning illumination [ishraq] of holy, gnostic knowledges upon the rational soul [al-nafs al-natiqah].'

[158] And Pythagoras the Sage—peace be upon him—said: 'Beware, with all caution, lest you leave your soul impoverished and in need of another physical frame [haykal] to complete through it the perfections it missed. If you do, you will be among those who plead: "Oh, would that we could be sent back! We would do other than what we used to do."'

And he said in his Golden Verses [al-Wasiyyah al-Dhahabiyyah], in which he counseled Diogenes: 'If you practice the virtues I have commanded you,