the veil, and the door was opened, while the back and the behind remained. He said, “I see you from behind my back.” We have tasted this station, praise be to God. The Real is known in things only while things remain manifest and their ruling is lifted.
The eyes of the common people fall only upon the ruling of things. The eyes of those who possess the openings of unveiling fall, within things, only upon the Real. Some of them see the Real in things; others see things and the Real within them. There is a distinction between the two: at the opening, the first one’s eye falls only upon the Real[13], and he sees Him in things. The second one’s eye falls upon things, and he sees the Real within them because the opening exists.
The root of this opening’s manifestation from the divine Side is the state expressed in His saying, “We shall test you until We know those of you who strive” [Muhammad 47:31]. Testing lifts the veil of the claim that the engendered being had been making, and unveiling occurs. This is the particular attachment of divine knowledge to how the affair has actually occurred, so He knows the truth of the engendered being’s claim from its falsehood.
From this divine attribute the opening of unveiling appears. No ruling appears in existence without having a root in the divine Side upon which it relies, and the affair can only be so. We have mentioned in more than one place that God’s knowledge of things comes from His knowledge of Himself. The world therefore came forth in His form, and no ruling whatever falls outside it. He, glorified is He, is the Lord and Sovereign of everything. Things are thus
Notes
[13]
(The word divisions in the contrast between seeing the Real in things and seeing things with the Real within them have been restored according to the new edition.)
