[Said he,] 'Now, by that You have sent me astray: this is an avowal. Iblis is veiled from the Essence of the unity but not from the attributes and the acts. Thus his presential vision of the acts and his revering of them constitutes a pledge by them, as he vows by His might where God says [that Satan says] Now, by Your might, I shall surely pervert them all [Q. 38:82]; verily I shall sit in ambush for them on Your [straight] path, that is, verily I shall get in their way on the path of affirming the unity of the Essence and shall verily impede them from wayfaring along it by distracting them with what is other than You and I shall verily come upon them from all four directions, those from which the enemy comes at the [moment of] witnessing. For his coming [upon them] from below, that is, from the direction of judgements based on the senses and measures (tadābīr) based on particulars on the basis of what is in the best interest in terms of this world does not necessarily result in being led astray. Nay, it could be profitable in terms of the natural and physical sciences and the intellect could be assisted by [this coming of him] in these [sciences], as has already been mentioned in the interpretation of His words they would surely have received nourishment from above them and from beneath their feet [Q. 5:66]. As for his coming [upon them] from above, this is not possible for him since the higher aspect is the one that is adjacent to the spirit and [the one] from which issue veracious inspirations and angelic castings and [from which] are effused gnoses and spiritual realities; which leaves the four directions, the places from which issue his evil whisperings. As for 'from before him', [he comes upon him thus] by making him feel secure from God's plotting and tempting him with [the concept of] God being Forgiving and Merciful such that he does not come to fear [Him] and so [Iblis] slows him down from [the performance of] acts of obedience. As for 'from behind him', [he comes upon him thus] by making him fearful of impoverishment and [his] offspring being ruined after him and so he [Iblis] incites him to gather and store up for them and for himself in the future having entertained the hope of a long life. As for [Iblis' coming upon him] from the right side, [he does so] by adorning for him qualities of excellence in him and making him proud of his merit, his knowledge and his [acts of] obedience, veiling him thereby from God by making him see the causes of his excellence. As for [Iblis' coming] from the left side, [he does this] by driving him to acts of disobedience and vileness and summoning him to passionate desires and pleasures.