in the year five hundred and eighty-six, God have mercy upon him: Musa al-Saddarati, one of the Substitutes who are carried, told me, “When my companion and I went to the mountain named Qaf, a mountain surrounding the sea surrounding the earth—
“God had created a serpent upon that sea’s shore, between the sea and mountain. Its body encircled the surrounding sea until its head met its tail.
“We stood beside it, and my companion told me, ‘Greet it: it will answer you.’” Musa said, “I greeted it.
“It said, ‘Peace be upon you, and God’s mercy and blessings.’ Then it asked me, ‘How is Shaykh Abu Madyan?’ Abu Madyan was in Bijaya at that time. I told it, ‘I left him well. What do you know of him?’
“It marveled and said, ‘Is there anyone upon the face of the earth who does not love him and is ignorant of him?[19] By God, ever since God took him as a friend, He called him out within our essences and sent his love down to earth within our hearts. No stone, clod, tree, or animal fails to know and love him.’
“I told it, ‘By God, there are people who wish to kill him through ignorance of him and hatred toward him.’ It said, ‘I did not know anyone could be in such a state concerning one God loves.’” This belongs to that door.
From it is the testimony of hands, feet, skins, mouths, and tongues, mute in our view but speaking in the actual affair. Every creature, apart from Adam’s children, is in the station of humility and lowliness,
Notes
[19]
(The compared edition agrees with the phrase “does not love him and is ignorant of him” in this account. Its construction has been retained without a conjectural correction.)
