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the worshipper] (3) belief in one God, to the exclusion of all others (4) belief in the Two Handfuls[1] (5) belief in Providence (6) belief in the Abrogating and (7) in the Abrogated (8) belief in God, His angels and apostles and (9) in fore-ordained Fate, general and particular, its good and ill, sweet and bitter.’ (Q.) ‘What three things do away other three?’ (A.) ‘It is told of Sufyan eth Thauri[2] that he said, “Three things do away other three. Making light of the pious doth away the future life, making light of kings doth away [this] life and making light of expenditure doth away wealth.”’ (Q.) ‘What are the keys of the heavens, and how many gates have they?’ (A.) ‘Quoth God the Most High, “And heaven shall be opened, and it shall be [all] doors”[3] and quoth he whom God bless and keep, “None knoweth the number of the gates of heaven, save He who created it, and there is no son of Adam but hath two gates allotted to him in the skies, one whereby his subsistence cometh down and another wherethrough his works [good and evil] ascend. The former is not closed, save when his term of life comes to an end, nor the latter, till his soul ascends [for judgment].”’ (Q.) ‘Tell me of a thing and a half thing and a no-thing.’ (A.) ‘The thing is the believer, the half thing the hypocrite and the no-thing the infidel.’ (Q.) ‘Tell me of various kinds of hearts.’ (A.) ‘There is the whole [or perfect] heart, which is that of [Abraham] the Friend [of God], the sick heart, that of the infidel, the contrite heart, that of the pious, fearful ones, the heart consecrated to God, that of our Lord Mohammed (whom God bless and preserve) and the enlightened [or enlightening] heart, that of those who follow him. The hearts of the learned are
- ↑ Apparently referring to the verse, “The earth all [shall be] His handful [on the] Day of Resurrection and the heavens rolled up in His right [hand].”—Koran xxxix. 67.
- ↑ See Vol. II. p. 126, note.
- ↑ Koran lxxviii. 19.
