Even though the path they follow is misguidance,  they  preserve  their  agreement.  It  is  as  if  they  were  making  their godlessness into a form of worship of the truth, their misguidance into a form of sincerity,  their irreligion into a form of solidarity, and their hypocrisy into concord, and thus attaining success. For genuine sincerity, even for the sake of evil, cannot fail to yield results, and whatever man seeks with sincerity, God will grant him it.5

But as for the people of guidance and religion, the religious scholars and those who follow the Sufi path, since they rely upon truth and reality, and each of them on the road of  truth thinks only of his Sustainer and trusts in His succour, they derive dignity from their  belief. When they feel weakness, they turn not toward men, but toward God and seek help from Him. On account of difference in outlook, they feel no real need for the aid of the one whose outlook apparently opposes their own, and see no need for agreement and unity. Indeed, if obstinacy and egoism are present, one will imagine himself to be right and the other to be wrong; discord and rivalry take the  place  of  concord  and  love.  Thus  sincerity  is  chased  away  and  its  function disrupted.

Now the only remedy for the critical consequences of this awesome state consists of nine commands:

1. To act positively, that is, out of love for one’s own outlook, avoiding enmity

for other outlooks, not criticizing them, interfering in their beliefs and sciences, or in any way concerning oneself with them.

2.  To  unite  within  the   fold  of  Islam,  irrespective  of  particular  outlook, remembering those numerous ties of unity that evoke love, brotherhood and concord.

3. To adopt the just rule of conduct that the follower of any right outlook has the right to say, “My outlook is true, or the best,” but not that “My outlook alone is true,” or that “My  outlook alone is good,” thus implying the falsity or repugnance of all other outlooks.

4. To consider that union with the people of truth is a cause of divine succour and the high dignity of religion.

5. To realize that the individual resistance of the most powerful person against the  attacks  through  its  genius  of  the  mighty  collective  force  of  the  people  of misguidance  and  falsehood,  which  arises  from  their  solidarity,  will  inevitably be defeated, and through the union of the people of truth, to create a joint and collective force also, in order to preserve justice and right in the face of that fearsome collective force of misguidance.

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5   Yes, “Whoever seeks earnestly shall find” is a rule of truth. Its scope is comprehensive and includes the matter under discussion.