Memorial of the Saints / Account of Harith al-Muhasibi

This is a brief prose passage in classical Persian presenting a philosophical and theological question about the nature of mystical knowledge (ma'rifa): whether such knowledge is a right that God holds over the servant, or a right that the servant holds over God. The question is posed so sharply that the person addressed abandons his writing entirely. The passage touches on the tension between human effort and divine grace in attaining knowledge of God, suggesting that framing ma'rifa as something the seeker achieves through his own striving raises serious theological difficulties.