I made four mistakes in my preliminary steps in this way: I thought that I remember Him, that I know Him, that I love Him and that I seek Him. But when I reached Him, I saw that His remembering of me preceded my remembrance of Him, that His knowledge about me preceded my knowledge of Him, that His love towards me was more ancient than my love towards Him, and that He sought me in order that I would begin to seek Him.

Abu Yazid Al-Bistami (804 – 874)