‘My slave never ceases to draw near to Me through supererogatory acts (nawāfil) until I love him. And when I love him, I am his hearing by which he hears, his sight by which he sees, his hand by which he grasps, and his foot by which he walks.’ The Sufis regard this ‘divine utterance’ as defining a basic principle of their metaphysical doctrine, and at the same time alluding to the goal of their mystical practice.
