Unfortunately, intending to protect the Siihni way, the first group, and especially literalist schol­ars, have denied saints of great importance and been compelled to accuse them of misguidance. While the saints' supporters, which form the second group, have abandoned the right path due to their excessive good will towards shaikhs of that sort; they have fal­len into innovation, and even misguidance.

In connection with this, for a long time a matter preoccupied my mind: at a crucial time I execrated a group of the people of misguidance. Then an awe­some collective strength arose in the face of my malediction; it both turned it back on me and pre­vented me repeating it.

Then I saw that facilitated by a collective strength in its wrongful activities, that group of the people of misguidance was dragging the people along behind it. It was being successful. This was not due to com­pulsion alone: since it had combined with a desire aroused by the power of sainthood, some of the believers were being carried away by it; they looked on the group favourably and did not consider it to be too bad.

I took fright when I perceived these two secrets. "Glory be to God!" I exclaimed, "can there be a sainthood other than that of the true way? Would the people of reality (ehl-i hakikat) support such a terri­ble current of misguidance?" Then one blessed Day of 'Arafat, following a praiseworthy Islamic prac­tice, I recited Sura al-Ikhlas hundreds of times and through its blessings, the matter entitled "Answer to an Important Question" was imparted to my impo­tent heart, together with the following truth, through divine mercy:

As is told in the well-known, meaningful story of Jibali Baba, which dates from the time of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, some saints are in a state of ecstasy while appearing to be rational and reason­able. Others appear to be sober and in command of their reasoning faculties, and sometimes they enter a state outside this. One class of this sort are confused and cannot distinguish between things. They apply a matter they see while in a state of intoxication to things after they have returned to a state of sobriety. They are then in error but do not realize it. Some ecstatics are preserved by God and do not enter mis­guidance on their spiritual journeying. But others are not preserved, and may be found in the sects follow­ing innovation and misguidance. They have even been held to be unbelievers.