A brief reply to the question is this: the heads of most of those at the top are drunk  and  they cannot  read  them.  And  even  if  they do  read  them,  they cannot understand them; they give them the wrong meaning, and interfere. They should not be shown them until they come to their senses lest they interfere. There are also many unscrupulous people who out of spite or ambition or fear, deny the light or close their eyes to it. Therefore, I advise my brothers to be cautious and not to give the truths to those who are unfit,3  or do things which excite the suspicions of ‘the worldly.’4

                   -----------------------------

3   See, Ibn Maja, Muqaddima, 17.

4   An anecdote about an event that could have led to something serious: yesterday morning the son-in-law of one of my friends came to me. Joyfully, as one bearing good news, he said to me: “They’ve printed one of your books in Isparta and a lot of people are reading it.” I replied: “That prohibited one hasn’t been printed; a number of copies have been obtained by means of a hectograph, about which the government can say nothing.” And I added: “Be careful not to say anything about this

to those two dissemblers, your friends. They’re looking for something to use as a pretext.” My friends! The man was the son-in-law of one of my friends, and in that connection may also be thought of as my friend, but because he is the barber he is the friend of the unscrupulous teacher and dissembling District Officer. One of our brothers apparently said something there without being aware of it, so it was a good thing that he came first and told me about it. I warned him and anything untoward was forestalled. And behind this screen the duplicating machine published thousands of copies.