And when you withdraw from them, that is, [when] you keep yourselves apart from your souls and their faculties by means of disengagement, and from that which they worship except God, in the way of their wishes and vain desires, then take refuge in the Cave, in the body, in order to deploy the corporeal instruments for the seeking of perfection by means of forms of knowledge and [righteous] deeds and be forsaken therein, broken and tamed, as if dead, by avoiding ego-centric movements, bestial whims and predatorial assaults. In other words, die a voluntary death: Your Lord will reveal for you something of His mercy, a true life through knowledge and gnosis, and prepare for you in your affair some comfort', some perfection which can be benefited from, by the manifestation of qualities of excellence and the rising of the lights of self-disclosures, so that you might take pleasure in the witnessings and enjoy perfections, as God says: Why, is he who was dead, and We gave him life, and appointed for him a light by which to walk among people [Q. 6:122]. And he [the Prophet], peace be upon him, said of Abū Bakr, may God be satisfied with him, 'Whoever wants to behold a dead person walking upon the face of the earth, let him behold Abū Bakr': in other words, one who is dead to himself, walking by means of God. Or [it means] when you withdraw from your people and their objects of worship that are other than God in the way of their differing demands, disparate goals, myriad vain desires and adopted idols, then take refuge in the Caves of your bodies and refrain from curious movements and from going forth in the footsteps of passionate desires; but cleave to acts of spiritual discipline and your Lord will reveal from His mercy an extra perfection, a strengthening and assistance by means of resources from the angelic realm and holy reinforcements, and He will grant you victory over them and prepare for you a religion and a way from which you can benefit as well as an acceptance so that creatures will find guidance through you to salvation.
In [their] taking refuge in the cave upon separating [from their people] there is another mystery that can be understood as the entry into the cave of the Mahdī when he has emerged and Jesus has descended. But God knows best. And in the revealing of a mercy [from God] and the preparation of a comfort in their affair upon the taking refuge in the cave there is an allusion to the fact that the mercy that is latent within their preparedness is only revealed upon their corporeal attachment and perfection through the configurations thereof.