It is a reference to this that Imām 'Alī (' a )...

It is a reference to this that Imām 'Alī (' a ), in his Sha'bāniyyah Supplication, says: “O Allah, grant me complete devotion to you.”[^5] When the heart reaches this stage of sincerity and it is cut off other than Allah, and in the kingdom of his existence there is no admission to other than Allah, Satan who approaches man by other than Allah's way will have no power over him, and Allah will admit him into His shelter, and he will be placed in the fortified fortress of divinity, as He says: “The expression 'there is no god but Allah' is My fort, so whoever enters My fort is safe from My torture.”[^6] Entering the fort of 'there is no god but Allah' is of several degrees.

Likewise, being safe from the torture is also of several degrees. So, the one who, externally, internally, cordially and formally, is admitted to Allah's fortress and under His protection, will be safe from all degrees of torture, including being veiled off Allah's Beauty and being separated from meeting the Beloved, the Most High and Almighty which veiledness and separation are at the top of the tortures.

Imām 'Alī (' a ), in the Kumayl Invocation, says: “Suppose that I can patiently bear your torment, how can I patiently bear separation from you?” Our hand is short of that. The one who could reach that stage would be a real servant of Allah, under the vaults [domes] of divinity, and Allah, the Exalted, would manage his kingdom, getting him out of the Taghūt 's patronage. This is the dearest state for the men of Allah and the most special degree for the pure, and the others have no share of it.

It is most likely that the owners of hard hearts among the deniers and of stiff souls among the obstinate, who are far away from such a state, deny it altogether and regard any talk about it to be false and in vain. Or they rather take such affairs, which are the delight of the holy men [ awliyā' ], and which are frequently mentioned by the Book and the Sunnah , to be God forbid! of the fabrications of the sūfis and false rumors of the literalists.