He replied, "I shall not depart from this position," persisting stubbornly in what he held, while the group bore witness to that.

Thereupon, Ali ibn Mansur al-Mu'addib, may God have mercy on him, said to him, "O Rabiah, ask so that he may answer you, for he is more deeply learned than you."

Rabiah retorted, "It is as if you have agreed with him and inclined toward his opinion!"—thus branding the man, alongside me, with disbelief and accusation of falsehood. So the teacher Ali, may God have mercy on him, began establishing for him the proofs regarding what I had explained to him, following the exposition of my discourse, but Rabiah branded him with disbelief and accused him of falsehood. He proceeded to brand anyone who believed my discourse with disbelief, until his malice swelled and his influence protracted. He filled the lands among us with enmity and filled the hearts of the brethren with grudges against us, casting alienation between us and establishing himself through slander and defamation. Consequently, each of us was forced to confine himself to his own place, severed from his loved ones and his brethren, until he narrowed the paths before us and threw us into the very gateways of destruction.