20:84 He said, “They are close upon my footsteps, and I hurried to Thee, my Lord, that Thou mayest approve.”
“They are close upon my footsteps. I did not leave them behind out of neglect, and I hurried to Thee, my Lord, that Thou mayest approve. O Lord, You Yourself know and You are aware of my secret core. With this hurry I did not want to neglect them, nor was I aiming to abandon attending to the rightful due of companionship with them. Rather, I wanted Your approval and I was seeking an increase in Your satisfaction.”
He said, “O Moses, My approval lies in taking care of their hearts. 'I am with those whose hearts are broken for My sake.' 'I am the sitting-companion of him who remembers Me.' O Moses, when you seek Me, seek Me in their hearts, for I sit with the rememberers in the solitariness of And He is with you [57:4]. I am the intimate of the hearts of the poor, the remembrance of the spirits of the recognizers, present with the mystery of the lovers, the light of the eyes of the familiar, the resource of the frightened, the traveling supplies of the distressed, and the refuge of the weak. O Moses, wherever you see a poor man, thrown down by the iniquity of the days, wounded by the times, be his servitor. As long as you can, do not seek to be apart from him. Be the purchaser of his companionship, for his makeup is the storehouse of the secrets of the Beginningless and preparation for the bazaar of the Endless.”
He gave Muṣ?afā the same advice: “And let not thy eyes turn away from them [18:28]. O Muḥammad, be careful not to turn your eyes away from them. Do not sell them to others, for they are the ones pulled up by My remembrance, named by My bounty, adorned by My gentleness, lifted up by My will. They have come forth from knowledge, are displayed by predetermination, have found the mark of the desire, and were pulled up by the proclamation of the decree.
“In the Beginningless they were made apparent by My knowledge, today they are existent by My command, tomorrow they will be kept by My decree. Knowledge has the rulership of the Beginningless, the command has the rulership of the present moment, the decree has the rulership of the Endless.
“When a sultan has special friends, he gives each of them a rulership. The rulerships are three: the rulership of the Beginningless, the rulership of the present moment, the rulership of the Endless. O knowledge, you take the side of the Beginningless! O command, you take the road of the present moment! O decree, you seize the skirt of the Endless!
“O child of Adam! I gave you three attributes, and in the end I conveyed you to Myself. First I entrusted you to the sultan of knowledge, then I gave you to the king of the command, then I surrendered you to the emperor of the decree. Then I gave this call in the world: 'Surely the final end is unto your Lord' [53:42]. O knowledge, you give to the command. O command, you give to the decree. O decree, you give to Me.”
Knowledge is all limpidness, the command is all trial, the decree is all subsistence. Who knows what is made ready inside these secrets?