Likewise, you understand from his saying "Form": That it is verified by witnessing and falls under sensation. But when the Knower intellectualizes it and strips it of the [physical] form and materials, he perceives it as an Abstract Intelligible, upholding the Whole, preceding in its existence the existence of [other] existents. Deficiency and corruption do not enter it, and it is perfect in its essence indicated as 'The Whole' (Al-Kull)1, because the Whole requires no addition to it, nor subtraction from it.
Footnotes
1Al-Sadiq (Exalted be His Might) said: "As for the believers, they do not see us as a form, but they see us as Light and Power." Al-Sadiq (Peace be upon him) said to the woman: "Indeed, increase and decrease do not occur in the Crescent Moon; the doubt is only located in you, not in it." Abu Shu'ayb said: "The heart erases what the eye sees."