This excerpt is taken from “The Mine of Meaning,” discourses of the 14th c. CE Shaikh Sharafuddin Maneri (‘the Revered Master’) compiled by his student Zain Badr Arabi (‘the ‘Helpless One’).

The Helpless One asked: “What is the sign of the love of God?”

The Revered Master replied: “The sign of the love of God is when the love of God is all that is found in a person’s heart. He then realises that he loves God. Such a person is also known as one who has attained union. For example, when Rabi’a Adawiyya was asked if she considered Satan, the enemy of God, to be her enemy as well, she replied, ‘I love God. I have no time for him!’

Translation Paul Jackson, S.J.