And We have revealed to you the Book, the knowledge of the Criterion which is the manifestation of the differentiations of your perfection, with the truth confirming the Book that was before it, that is, the knowledge of the QurÌān, which is the undifferentiated knowledge that is fixed in your preparedness and watches over you by its manifestation; or [confirming] what was before it of the forms of knowledge that were sent down to prophets who preceded [you] in time. For in the case of Moses, when he returned to subsistence upon [his] annihilation by means of the divinely bestowed existence, it was the faculty of the soul and its authority that was dominant in him, which is why he struck his brother, as where God says and he seized his brother by the head, dragging him toward him [cf. Q. 7:150], and [why] when he asked for the self-disclosure he said my Lord, show me that I may behold You [Q.7:143]. Thus most of the Torah consisted of the knowledge of judgements, that which is concerned with the states of the soul and its refinement, its call being an exoteric one. In the case of Jesus, the dominant was the faculty of the heart and its light, which is why he disengaged himself from the apparel of this world, enjoined monasticism and would say to some of his disciples 'Whoever shall smite you on your [right] cheek, then turn to him who has smote you the other cheek also' [Matt. 5:39]. Most of the Gospel consisted of the knowledge of the self-disclosures of the attributes, character traits, admonitions, and counsels that are concerned with the states of the heart, its purification and its illumining, its call being an esoteric one. In the case of Muḥammad, peace and blessings be upon him, the dominant was the sway of the spirit and its light. Thus he brought together to all the noble character traits, completing of them, equitable in judgements and moderate therein. Thus the QurÌān encompassed what was contained in both [of the preceding] scriptures in terms of knowledge, judgements and gnoses, confirming all of it and watching over it, as well as [containing] supplementary material concerning the affirmation of Oneness, love [of God] and the call to the proclamation of the Oneness [of God]. So judge between them according to what God has revealed, of justice, which is the shadow of [divine] love, which is the shadow of [His inclusive] unity that has been revealed to you, and do not follow their whims, by allowing either one of the two sides to predominate, be it the exoteric or the esoteric; away from the truth that has come to you, in the way of the affirmation of Oneness, [divine] love and justice. For the affirmation of Oneness entails love, and love entails justice and it shadow is cast from the heaven of the spirit unto the heart by means of love and unto the soul by means of justice. To every one of you, We have appointed a divine law and a way, a watering source, such as the source-path of the soul, the source-path of the heart and the source-path of the spirit, as well as a path such as the knowledge of judgements and transactions which is attached to the heart and the wayfaring along the esoteric path that leads to the arrival at the garden of the attributes; and [another path that is] the knowledge of the affirmation of the Oneness and the witnessing which is attached to the spirit and the wayfaring along the path of annihilation that leads to the arrival at the garden of the Essence. If God had willed, He would have made you one community, affirmers of Oneness following the original primordial nature, in agreement over one religion, but that, He may make manifest on you what He has given you in accordance with your preparednesses commensurate with the receptivity of each of you, so that as a result perfections are varied. So vie with one another in good works, that is, in those matters that lead to your perfection, that which has been decreed for [each of] you in accordance with your preparednesses and which brings you near to Him bringing that [potential] out into actuality; to God you shall all return, at the source of the union of existence in accordance with [your] levels, not at the source of the union of the Essence, and He will then inform you of that in which you differed, that is to say, He will make manifest upon you that in which you differed in accordance with your different preparednesses in terms of seeking one of the three gardens, arriving there, being deprived [therefrom] by the impediments by which you are veiled from the perfection that is [latent] in your preparedness.