imam ibn `aTayillah as-sakandari raDiyallahu `anhu in his laTayif al-minan: a monarch once asked a gnostic: 'do you aspire to be in my place?' the gnostic [`aarif] replied: 'do i aspire to be in my slave's place?' the monarch asked: 'am i, your slave?' the gnostic said: 'nafs [lower self] and desire [hawa] are my slaves and i have subdued them. you are the slave of nafs and hawa; thus you are the slave of my slaves. would i aspire to be in a slave's place?'
