“Happy is the man who knows his limits and does not exceed them.” The sun has manifestations from a fragment of glass, to a droplet of water, a pool, the ocean, and the moon to the planets. Each contains the sun’s reflection and image in accordance with its capacity, and knows its limits. In accordance with its capacity, a drop of water says: “There is a reflection of the sun on me.” But it cannot say: “I am a mirror like the ocean.” In just the same way, there are degrees in the ranks of the saints, in accordance with the variety of the manifestations of the Divine Names. Each of the Divine Names has manifestations like a sun, from the heart to the Divine Throne. The heart too is a Throne, but it cannot say: “I too am like the Divine Throne.”

Thus, those who proceed reluctantly and with pride instead of knowing their impotence, poverty, faults, and defects, and prostrating entreatingly before the Divine Court, which form the basis of worship, hold their miniscule hearts equal to the Divine Throne. They confuse their drop-like stations with the ocean-like stations of the saints. They stoop to artificiality, false display, and meaningless self-advertisement in order to make themselves fitting for those high ranks, and cause themselves many difficulties.

I n S h o r t : There is a Hadith which says: “All will perish save those who know, and those who know will perish save those who act, and those who act will perish save the sincere, and the sincere are in grave danger.” That is to say, the only means of salvation and deliverance is sincerity. It is of the greatest importance to gain sincerity. The tiniest act performed with sincerity is preferable to tons of those performed without sincerity. A person should think that what gains sincerity in his actions is doing them purely because they are a Divine command and that their result is Divine pleasure, and he should not interfere in God’s business.

There is sincerity in everything. A jot of love, even, with sincerity is superior to tons of official love for which return is wanted. Someone described this sincere love as follows: “I do not want a bribe, recompense, return or reward for love, for love which requires a price in return is weak and short-lived.” Sincere love has been included in human nature and in all mothers. The compassion of mothers manifests this sincere love in its true meaning. Evidence that through the mystery of this compassion mothers do not want or seek a reward or bribe in return for their love of their children, is their sacrificing their lives and even their eternal happiness for them. While all a hen’s capital is its life, a hen sacrificed its own head in order to save its chick’s head from the jaws of a dog—as Husrev witnessed.