They measured not God with the rightful due of His measure.... Say “God,” then leave them to play in their plunging. In other words, they did not recognize Him with the rightful due of His recognition, they did not describe Him with the rightful due of His description, and they did not venerate Him with the right- ful due of His veneration. No one has recognized Him as is worthy of Him. No one has known Him as is worthy of Him. They encompass nothing of His knowledge [2:255]. You have been given no knowledge save a little [17:85]. Majestic is the Unity, so how can there be finding? Holy is the Self-Sufficient, so how can there be arrival? He is known, but encompassing Him in knowledge is absurd; He is seen, but perceiving His attribute is impossible; He is recognized, but having an overview of His descrip- tion is not correct. He took away His attribute and measure so that no one exalted would reach His exaltation, no understanding would perceive His extent, no knower would know His measure. What familiarity has water and dust with Him who always was and always will be? What affinity has eternity with new arrival? How can the subsistent Real join with the trace of what undergoes annihilation? How can the worthy link up with the unworthy? How can the prisoner of variegation reach the guise of stability? If others were of any use in His gentle presence, the passionate for His beauty would have a hope for union. It would be possible to search, were there a way to seek; He would be known in the end, were there a way to ask. Say “God,” then leave them. This is an eloquent allusion to the reality of solitariness, the center point of togetherness, making the aspiration one-pointed, recognizing the Real as one, and turning away from others toward Him. Say “God,” then leave them: Keep the heart turned toward Him and leave aside the others. What does someone seized by His love have to do with others? In this work, this world and the next are like a wall, and, for the recognizer, talking about the two is noth- ing but defect and shame. Shiblī said to one of his companions, “Stick to God, leave everything else, and be with Him. And say, “God,' then leave them to play in their plunging.”