under obedience to the one for whose sake the act is done—either Iblis or ostentation—when the person charged undertakes the work with this intention. The contender is not there. The one making sincere has thus established nonexistence as existence and is ignorant of the matter as it is in itself.
(Leaving Witness of the Contender)
Someone ruled by what we have mentioned sees every creature's forelock in God's hand and sees his Lord upon a straight path. The One holding your forelock does not turn you from the path upon which He is. Sincerity is then only an expression for seeing Him in a particular witnessing, rather than in every locus of manifestation, although He is in every locus of manifestation. The person in this state cannot see a veil between himself and the One he witnesses. He cannot distinguish one thing from another, for the entity is one, upon a straight path.
Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Six: On Knowledge of the Station of Truthfulness and Its Mysteries
Truthfulness is God's sword upon His earth.
Be truthful: see the truthful one through his outward showing.
If the Dajjāl comes, strike with it
his head, with the edge from its breadth.
The sword is bounded by its two edges, in
supererogatory action and obligatory action.
Notes
Translator’s note TN4205-1: The poem's unvoweled ʿrḍ admits senses including outward showing, breadth, and honour. The translation uses outward showing in relation to the truthful person and breadth in relation to the sword, retaining the compressed edge/breadth imagery rather than supplying an unstated explanation.
