Scholars who base themselves on intellectual associations do not have cognizance of divinity, and therefore do not have gnosis.
This is well-explained in one of my favorite Sufi treatises by Hujwiri, known as
Revelation of the Mystery (
Khasf al-Mahjub). I will present some of the most pertinent selections of his explanations:
If reason were the cause of gnosis, it would follow that every reasonable person must know God, and that all who lack reason must be ignorant of Him; which is manifestly absurd. Others pretend that demonstration (istidlal) is the cause of knowledge of God [such as scholars demonstrating their intellectual beliefs of Gnostic scriptures], and that such knowledge is not gained except by those who deduce it in this manner [meaning: if you do not accept the scholarly interpretations of the scriptures, then the scholars say you are wrong].
...In reality Man's only guide and enlightener is God. Reason and the proofs adduced by reason are unable to direct anyone in the right way. If the infidels (fornicators, whether they be Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, etc.) were the return from the place of Judgement to this world, they would bring their infidelity back with them (cf. Koran vi, 28). When the Commander of the Faithful, 'Ali, was asked concerning gnosis, he said, "I know God by God, and I know that which is not God by the light [cognizance] of God." God created the body and committed its life to the spirit (jan), and He created the soul (dil) and committed its life to Himself [through the path of initiation]. Hence, inasmuch as reason and human faculties and evidences have no power to make the body live, they cannot make the soul live, as God hath said: "Shall he who was dead [spiritually] and whom We have restored to life [in divinity] and to whom We have given a light whereby he may walk among men...?" (Koran vi, 122), i.e. "I am the Creator of the light [understanding, intuition, insight] in which believers [of the Gnostic doctrine] are illumined." It is God that opens and seals the hearts of men (Koran xxxix, 23; ii, 6): therefore He alone is able to guide them...
...The first step of demonstration [through intellectual speculation and scholarly debate] is a turning away from God, because demonstration involves consideration of some other thing, whereas gnosis is a turning away from all that is not God. Ordinary objects of search [in the intellectual, scholarly domain] are found by means of demonstration, but knowledge [gnosis, marifah in Arabic] of God is extraordinary [and is only verified through meditation, insight, and experience].
As I mentioned to a student in another post:
God Most High has said, “In that are signs for those who read the signs” (15:75). “By those who read the signs” means “for those who can see the inward state of things” or “those who have insight" [and therefore certainty]."
—Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri
There are three forms of certainty in order to read the signs, scriptures, and experiences of the divine:
'ilm al-yaqin: the knowledge of certainty
'ayn al-yaqin: the eye of certainty
'haqq al-yaqin: the truth of certainty
The knowledge of certainty is like hearing about fire.
The eye of certainty is like seeing fire.
The truth of certainty is like being consumed by fire.
Scholars only speak and write about fire, never having seen it or let alone been consumed by it. Therefore, it is not unusual for the donkeys of the intellect, the stubborn animal minds attached to their beliefs, to denigrate the writings of Samael Aun Weor, who is a great bonfire in the internal planes.
Remember also that Jalalludin Muhammad Rumi was a scholar when he met his Guru, his master Shams of Tabriz, who took all of Rumi's books and threw them into a well, signifying, symbolically, Kabbalistically: "White wash the devil (your theorizing, demonic mind) and burn [or bury] your books (intellectualism and speculation, by throwing them into the well of Yesod and by going into your own spiritual earth, so as to extract real wisdom)."
Divinity grants us certainty in accordance with our works. In order for you to move beyond the knowledge of certainty, you must see and experience. Then, you will be inoculated by the spirit "of the dead letter that kills [the scholars who go towards the second death, having experienced nothing they read]."
Meditate on these sayings by Rumi:
"A donkey with a load of holy books is still a donkey."
“If in thirst you drink water from a cup, you see Allah in it. Those who are not in love with Allah will see only their own faces [interpretations] in it.”