Manuscript volume 25 · Page 293

وهو ﴿أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ من حَبْلِ الْوَرِيدِ﴾ [ق: ١٦]، فهو عين المنعوت بأن له حبل الوريد، فعلمنا أنه عين كل صورة، ولا نحيط بما في الوجود من صور، فلا نحيط به علما.

فإن قلت: «فأنت من الصور»، قلنا: وكذٰلك نقول، إلا أن الصور وإن كانت عين المطلوب فإنها أحكام الممكنات في عين المطلوب، فلا تبال بما ينسب إليها من الجهل والعلم وكل وصف، فإني أعلم كيف أنسب وأصف وأنعت، ف﴿لِلَّهِ الْأَمْرُ من قَبْلُ ومن بَعْدُ﴾ [الروم: ٤].

فالحق حق وإن لم تكن، كما هو الحق حق وإن كنت، لا فرقان، فللظاهر حكم لا يكون للباطن من حيث ما قلت فيه باطن في العبادة، وللباطن حكم لا يكون للظاهر من حيث ما قلت فيه ظاهر في العبادة، وكل حكم له مقام معلوم وكل مقام له حكم معلوم.

(العلم والعبادة به)

فلا يعلم شيء إلا به، فلا يعبد إلا به، ولهٰذا نبه الحق من لا علم له بما ذكرناه على رتبة العلماء بالله، فقال إنه سمع العبد وبصره، فما أبصرته إلا به ولا سمعته إلا به، فعينه عين سمعك وبصرك، فما عبدته إلا به، وليس بعد إعلام الحق عز اسمه وجل ذكره إعلام، ولا بعد أحكامه فيما حكم فيه أحكام.

He is ‘nearer to him than his jugular vein’ [Qaf 50:16]. He is therefore the very one described as possessing a jugular vein. We know that He is the very entity of every form. We do not encompass the forms within existence, so we do not encompass Him in knowledge.

If you say, ‘You are among the forms,’ we say: so we affirm. Yet although the forms are the very One sought, they are the rulings of possible things within the Entity of the One sought. Do not concern yourself with the ignorance, knowledge, or any attribute assigned to them, for I know how I attribute, describe, and qualify. ‘To God belongs the affair before and after’ [al-Rum 30:4].

The Real is Real though you do not exist, just as the Real is Real though you exist, without distinction. The outward has a ruling not possessed by the inward insofar as you call it inward in worship; and the inward has a ruling not possessed by the outward insofar as you call it outward in worship. Every ruling has a known station and every station a known ruling.

(Knowledge and Worship Through Him)

Nothing is known except through Him, so He is worshipped only through Him. For this reason the Real alerted those without knowledge of what we mentioned to the rank of those who know God, saying that He is the servant’s hearing and sight. You have therefore seen Him only through Him and heard Him only through Him. His Entity is the very entity of your hearing and sight. You have worshipped Him only through Him. Beyond the Real’s making-known, mighty is His Name and majestic His remembrance, there is no making-known, nor beyond His rulings in what He ruled are there rulings.