are applicable to him.  Even as He hath said:  “Man is My mystery, and I am his mystery.”  Manifold are the verses that have been repeatedly revealed in all the heavenly Books and the holy Scriptures, expressive of this most subtle and lofty theme.  Even as He hath revealed:  “We will surely show them Our signs in the world and within themselves."(73) Again He saith:  “And also in your own selves:  will ye not then behold the signs of God?"(74) And yet again He revealeth:  “And be ye not like those who forget God, and whom He hath therefore caused to forget their own selves."(75) In this connection, He Who is the eternal King—­may the souls of all that dwell within the mystic Tabernacle be a sacrifice unto Him—­hath spoken:  “He hath known God who hath known himself.”

I swear by God, O esteemed and honoured friend!  Shouldst thou ponder these words in thine heart, thou wilt of a certainty find the doors of divine wisdom and infinite knowledge flung open before thy face.

From that which hath been said it becometh evident that all things, in their inmost reality, testify to the revelation of the names and attributes of God within them.  Each according to its capacity, indicateth, and is expressive of, the knowledge of God.  So potent and universal is this revelation, that it hath encompassed all things, visible and invisible.  Thus hath He revealed:  “Hath aught else save Thee a power of revelation which is not possessed by Thee, that it could have manifested Thee?  Blind is the eye which doth not perceive Thee.”  Likewise, hath the eternal King spoken:  “No thing have I perceived, except that I perceived God within it, God before it, or God after it.”  Also in the tradition of Kumayl it is written:  “Behold, a light hath shone forth out of the Morn of eternity, and lo! its waves have penetrated the inmost reality of all men.”  Man, the noblest and most perfect of all created things, excelleth them all in the intensity of this revelation, and is a fuller expression of its glory.  And of all men, the most accomplished, the most distinguished and the most excellent are the Manifestations of the Sun of Truth.  Nay, all else besides these Manifestations, live by the operation of their Will, and move and have their being through the outpourings of their grace.  “But for Thee, I would have not created the heavens.”  Nay, all in their holy presence fade into utter nothingness, and are a thing forgotten.  Human tongue can never befittingly sing their praise, and human speech can never unfold their mystery.  These Tabernacles of holiness, these primal Mirrors which reflect the light of unfading glory, are but expressions of Him Who is the Invisible of the Invisibles.  By the revelation of these gems of divine virtue all the names and attributes of God, such as knowledge and power, sovereignty and dominion, mercy and wisdom, glory, bounty and grace, are made manifest.