concerning the pathways of the believers after they have cast off the shirts of postponement and attained the rank of the Successors (al-Lāḥiqīn), the saying of the Knower—exalted be His might:

"The wayfarer, upon reaching the rank of the Successors, witnesses nothing but the light of the Tested One (al-Mumtaḥan). He [the Tested One] imparts to him a secret from the knowledge of the Truth that his ears had never heard while in the human state.

If he remains steadfast upon it and acts according to it, he is promoted to the rank of the Listener (al-Mustami‘). Then, the Sincere One (al-Mukhliṣ) manifests to him and imparts to him a secret he had not heard in the rank of the Successor. If he remains steadfast upon it and acts according to it, he is promoted to the rank of the Wayfarer (al-Sā’iḥ). Thereafter, he continues to ascend rank after rank, hearing secret after secret, until he reaches the rank of the Brought Near (al-Muqarrab). This is the ultimate end of the supreme degrees traversed by the Gnostic (al-‘Ārif); it is the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary (Sidrat al-Muntahā), near which is the Garden of Abode."