“After the valley of which I have just spoken (continued the hoopoe), another presents itself to the sight. This is the valley of knowledge (ma’rifat), which has neither beginning nor end. There is no one who can hold a different opinion about the length of the road that must be travelled through this valley. No road is truly like this one; but the temporal traveller is one thing, the spiritual traveller another. The soul and the body, through perfection or decline, are ever advancing or falling away. Necessarily, the spiritual road manifests itself only within the bounds of each person’s respective powers. How, indeed, on this road which Abraham, the friend of God, travelled, could the weak spider follow in the elephant’s footsteps? Each individual’s progress will be proportionate to the excellence he has been able to attain, and each will draw near the goal only according to his disposition. If a gnat were to fly with all its might, could it ever match the violence of the wind? Thus, since there are different ways of traversing this expanse, every bird cannot fly in the same manner. Spiritual knowledge (ma’rifat) has different aspects here. Some have found the mihrab, others the idol.”
When the sun of knowledge shines in the vault of this path, which cannot be properly described, each is enlightened according to his merit, and finds the rank assigned to him in the knowledge of truth. When the mystery of the essence of beings shall be clearly revealed to him, the furnace of the world will become a garden of flowers. The adept will see the almond, though it be surrounded by its skin. He will no longer see himself; he will behold only his friend; in all that he sees, he will see His face; in every atom he will see the whole; beneath the veil he will contemplate millions of secrets, as brilliant as the sun. But how many individuals have not been lost in this quest for the sake of one who has been able to discover these mysteries? One must be perfect if one would cross this difficult road and plunge into this stormy ocean. When one has a true taste for these secrets, one feels at every moment a new ardour to know them. One is truly parched with the desire to penetrate these mysteries, and would offer oneself a thousand times in sacrifice to attain them. Even if thou shouldst reach the glorious throne with thy hand, do not cease for an instant to utter these words of the Koran: “Is there nothing more?” Plunge into the ocean of knowledge, or at least put upon thy head the dust of the road. As for thee, who art asleep and cannot be congratulated on thy success, why not mourn? If thou hast not the happiness of being united with the object of thy affection, arise and at least mourn thy absence. Thou who hast not yet contemplated the beauty of thy friend, cease sitting, arise and seek this secret. If thou knowest not how to set about it, be ashamed. How long wilt thou remain like an ass without a bridle?