And this is the meaning of the saying of Sheikh al-Khasibi:

Within a single matrix, followed by its second

Unto the eighty [lifetimes], Neither decreased nor have we increased.

And he also explained that the universes [al-akwan] were commanded by the True One [al-Haqq]—the Most High—not to mingle with one another, yet they mingled.

He—Allah sanctified his subtle essence—said: 'Their indication refers to the earthly creation. The objective behind this is to place this intermingling [under trial] so that the higher celestial elements may be divested and separated from the lower material elements. For whosoever intermingles his deeds, his existential spans [al-ajal] are prolonged over him. And unto Allah is the ultimate return and destiny, on the Day when every soul will be compensated in full for what it has done, and they will not be wronged.'

[161] And Sheikh Hatim said in the Book of Divestment [Kitab al-Tajrid] that Samandiyar al-Nawsali said in his epistle: 'It is narrated from Jabir ibn Yazid al-Ju'fi that he said: I asked my Master al-Baqir [Imam Muhammad al-Baqir]—His glory is mighty—about the soul, and he replied: "Verily, the repentant,