(UWBP). The merit is not universal and general; rather, the substance of the supplication holds such extraordinary value, and by following that Being (UWBP) who manifested the greatest name, such merits may be possible for others. However, there are a number of crucial conditions: it is not enough just to recite it, for it would spoil the balance of the precepts and damage obligatory acts.

Thirdly: Just as the supplication is exempt from exaggeration and is literally true when one looks to Muhammad (UWBP); so too, when one looks to the reality of the hundreds of divine names in the supplication, it is possible that the merit proceeds from their infinite manifestations. The Truthful Bringer of News (UWBP) spoke of a very small part in order to show the infinitude of the potential emanations, and left it vague and absolute for encouragement. Then, with the passage of time that potential and absolute matter came to be seen as actual and universal.

Fourthly: In the Twentieth Flash, about sincerity, there is a footnote about a person who is given a paradise with the breadth of five hundred years. Take a look at it and you will see that his being given that vast paradise does not mean he is given ownership of it in a way we do not understand. For just as a person's house belongs to him in many different ways and he owns it; so through his numerous senses he owns in a sort of way the things on the face of the earth, and has disposal over them, and can benefit from them. He can say: "The huge earth is my house; it was given to me; and the sun is my lamp." That is to say, some merits and rewards that appear extraordinary and irrational, look to this truth.

Furthermore, in Islam, Muhammad (UWBP) is the primary recipient of all the meritorious and virtuous actions of Muslims and he receives a mountain's worth of merit and reward from one of our prayers, for which we receive only an atom's worth. His private invocations and supplications make plain the highest rank accorded him in connection with his sainthood, in his private conversations, not in connection with the Shari'a and his messengership. By mentioning these points, he was encouraging his select heirs who follow him to the letter.

I declared: "None knows the Unseen save God!" [^57] and "God alone has knowledge of this!" Praise be to God, the man who was beset by doubts and scruples was saved from them and gained complete certainty. I am sending this with the thought that it might be useful for some of you. Endless greetings to you all.

[^57]:See, Q 27:65; also, Tirmidhī, Thawāb al-Qur'ān, 7; Dārimī, Faḍā'il al-Qur'ān, 21.

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