then I possess the knowledge of The Exoteric (Al-Zahir) and The Esoteric (Al-Batin).” They said: "You have relieved us, may Allah relieve you." And he said: “I outspread its earth, originated its mountains, caused its springs to gush forth, clove its rivers, planted its trees, fed its fruits, originated its clouds, made its thunder heard, illuminated its lightning, brightened its sun, brought out its moon, sent down its rain, and set up its stars. I am the vast, overflowing ocean, and I stilled its regions and originated the moving ships within it. And I am the Side of Allah, His Word, the Heart of Allah, and His Gate from which He is approached:[ “and enter the gate bowing down and say, 'Relieve us,' We will forgive you your sins, and We will increase the doers of good.”] ¹ . And by me and upon my hand the Hour will be established, and by me the falsifiers doubt, and I am the First and the Last, The Exoteric (Al-Zahir) and The Esoteric (Al-Batin), and I am, of all things, Knowing.” Ended.

When the group requested from our master, while they were in the mosque, that he narrate to them, he clarified to them that his speech is difficult, deemed difficult, none comprehends it except the knowledgeable. And when he mentioned to them—based on their persistence—that he is the one who ascended so he conquered, and gives life and causes death, and that he is the First and the Last, The Exoteric (Al-Zahir) and The Esoteric (Al-Batin), and when their understandings could not bear this speech and their minds could not digest it, they immediately attributed him to disbelief, despite their knowledge of his great truthfulness and the depth of his faith. In the state of their lack of understanding the import of his majestic, divine speech and their declaration of his disbelief, he intentionally proceeded to explain that speech of his to them with an outward interpretation that was proportionate to their minds, readiness, and capabilities. At that time, their chests expanded with that explanation which was harmonious with their understandings, and they said to him: "You have relieved us, may Allah relieve you."

And when he resumed his speech, saying: “I outspread its earth and originated its mountains,” to the end of his sermon, of that which no one is capable of saying except Allah, there they remained silent and did not object a second time, imagining that for this speech of his there was a meaning like that which he mentioned concerning his previous saying.