Likewise, Moses, majestic is his glory, hired himself out to Shu'ayb for eight years, and a hired hand is akin to a servant.
As for Salman the Persian, peace be upon him, it has been narrated that he was owned by a [Jewish] 1 woman, and the Messenger of God, majestic is his glory, purchased him for himself.
Yet, none of this group had their spiritual rank diminished by being purchased [and owned] 2 .
And likewise also, Bilal the Abyssinian, peace be upon him, was a servant to 'Atiq ibn Abi Quhafah.
Similar to him was the servant who lived during the era of our Master al-Sadiq, majestic is his glory; yet none of them were barred from the sanctity of gnostic recognition. This demonstrates that there exists another type of servant and another type of master, recognized by the people of the esoteric (ahl al-batin).
As for the praised servant (al-'abd al-mahmud), he is the one who surrenders ownership of his soul voluntarily by tying his devotion (bi-al-ta'liq) to his master, since no one else holds authority over it.