Through ḥikma (wisdom), one becomes an ʿālim (a person of knowledge). At that point, one arranges matters according to the order of ḥikma, making no alteration in their respective ranks. Thus, when one loves, one knows what love is, what it means to be a lover, what the reality of the beloved is, and what is sought from the beloved.
So, does the lover have a will (irāda) and choice (ikhtiyār) that would enable him to love the things his beloved loves, or, if he has no will in that ḥāl (spiritual state), does he love everything he loves only for himself? The one who loves with knowledge knows this as well. He knows both the wujūd (existence) of the beloved, and the existent who desires that existence to be present only in its own essence. Thus, we can say that the beloved, even if not present in the essence of that existent but only in the existent itself, is a being loved for the sake of that existent.
If this existent (the beloved) is one to whom will (irāda) can be ascribed, then it is possible for the lover to love him not for himself, but for the beloved's own sake. If will cannot be ascribed to the beloved, then the lover loves the beloved only for himself; that is, the beloved is loved not for its own sake, but for the lover's own sake. For the beloved is not characterized by love for anything or by any purpose. However, the thing in which this beloved is found may be a being possessing will (irāda).
Thus, the lover can understand that the beloved loves the things he loves, and as a result, loves the beloved. However, this is an indirect love (dependent on things loved in common). Shared love brings about love. After the lover seeks the wujūd (existence) of the beloved, he desires to attain it directly. In short, the existence of the beloved is identical to union with it. (Futūḥāt, II, 327-328)