He is the One who gives dominion to whom He wishes and the One who takes it from whom He wishes. True dominion is (to be found) in the liberation from the humiliation of (physical) needs, the subjugation of appetite(s) and the fault of the disgrace of ignorance. Therefore (in the case of) the one from whose heart the veil is lifted so that he can know the beauty of God’s presence, and the one who is granted the ability to be abstemious so that as the result of it he has no need for (the things of) God’s creation, and is provided strength and support so that by means of them he controls his own attributes (ṣifāt), God has raised this man to a position of honour and gives him dominion in this world. God will (also) raise him to honour in the hereafter in terms of this person’s gaining access to Him, and God will call for him, saying, “Ah, thou soul at peace! Return unto thy Lord!” The One whom God causes to look to human beings in such a way that he is dependent upon them and is so much under the dominion of greed that he is not content even when he has sufficient to satisfy his needs, and the one who advances gradually by his cunning until he is deceived about himself and (thus) remains in the darkness of ignorance, God abases such a one and dispossesses him. That is the workmanship of God Most High, as and when He desires (it). For He, Al-Muʿizz Al-Mudhill, (is the One of Whom it is said) “Thou exaltest whom Thou wilt and Thou Abasest whom Thou wilt”. And this lowly one is the one to whom God speaks and says, “But ye tempted one another, and hesitated, and doubted, and vain desires beguiled you until the ordinance of God came to pass; and the deceiver deceived you concerning God; so this day no ransom can be taken from you”. This is the utmost limit of abasement.