Here the vulgar may object to my assertion that they know one another to be saints, on the ground that, if such is the case, they must be secure as to their fate in the next world. I reply that it is absurd to suppose that knowledge of saintship involves security. A believer may have knowledge of his faith and yet not be secure: why should not the same hold good of a saint who has knowledge of his saintship? Nevertheless, it is possible that God should miraculously cause the saint to know his security in regard to the future life, while maintaining him in a state of spiritual soundness and preserving him from disobedience. The Shaykhs differ on this question for the reason which I have explained. Those belonging to the four thousand who are concealed do not admit that the saint can know himself to be such, whereas those of the other class take the contrary view. Each opinion is supported by many lawyers and scholastics. Abú Isḥáq Isfará´iní[118] and some of the ancients hold that a saint is ignorant of his saintship, while Abú Bakr b. Fúrak[119] and others of the past generation hold that he is conscious of it. I ask the former party, what loss or evil does a saint suffer by knowing himself? If they allege that he is conceited when he knows himself to be a saint, I answer that Divine protection is a necessary condition of saintship, and one who is protected from evil cannot fall into self-conceit. It is a very common notion (_sukhan-i sakht `ámiyána_) that a saint, to whom extraordinary miracles (_karámát_) are continually vouchsafed, does not know himself to be a saint or these miracles to be miracles. Both parties have adherents among the common people, but opinion is of no account. Footnote 118: See Ibn Khallikán, No. 4. Footnote 119: See Ibn Khallikán, No. 621; Brockelmann, i, 166.