he meets with him in this lower world without revealing his true identity to him, as is mentioned in its proper locus within the books of the faith. Verily, the souls of the believers stem from a single primary element and a single mine; there is no distinction between them, nor any hierarchical variation, except by virtue of priority in responding [to the primordial covenant]. Even if the accidental forms of their physical frames are separated by vast distances, the essential substances of their souls remain permanently connected—joined together by the womb of faith, which signifies the primordial Covenant and Testament [al-'Ahd wa-al-Mithaq], and bound tightly by the firm handles of the gnosis of the All-Merciful. No matter how prolonged the separation of a believer from his brother may be, his image remains vivid within his mind, his beauty stands right before his eyes, and he remains perpetually captivated by his memory, exactly as the poet proclaimed:

My eye passionately adores them while they dwell within its very pupil

And my heart continuously yearns for them while they are cradled between my ribs...