"Nor is the Creator other than it." Meaning that the Gate is not known except by the Attribute. And the Attribute of the Gate is the rank of the Great Orphan (Al-Yatim al-Akbar), and it is the Body through which the Gate appeared for definition. Thus, you have singled out (Afradta) the Gate, understood it, and verified it in the rank of the Abstract Intellects and Souls1.
And if you say:
"It is He (Hiya Huwa) — in affirmation, origination, truth, and certainty,"
Footnotes
1The word "Rank" (Rutba) indicates its falling under the sense of sight. And since the eye is not fit to be a vessel for the Worshipped Meaning, you must strip from the Visible every sensory attribute the eye sees, and intellectualize it as Abstract, untainted by Accidents.After abstracting the Form, you say: "It is the Total Goal." (Meaning the end of motion or the utmost of the sought to reach the knowledge of the Beloved).And you say: "It is not the Totality of the Creator." (Meaning in terms of vision and view).And you say: "Nor is the Creator other than it." (In Reality and Substance, because the Creator, the Almighty, does not manifest through other than His Essence).For He (Mighty and Majestic) is the Gate of Existence. And that Gate is not known except by the Attribute—meaning the Visible Form manifesting with the attribute of Radiance. And the Gate has the Rank of the Great Orphan, which is the rank of the Shadow (the Body by which He appeared for definition).Therefore: After abstracting the Form and knowing that it is the goal of the sought for attainment, and that it is not the Totality of the Creator from the perspective of our vision, nor is the Creator other than it from the perspective of Himself, we have Singled Out (Ifrad) the Meaning from the sensory perceptions and verified Him in the intellectual perceptions stripped of materials and forms.Al-Sadiq (Exalted be His Might) said: "The 'Most Difficult' is singling out the Meaning from the Form, because it is 'duna-ha' (a veil before Him) which He set up to negate the Attribute from Him." (Note: "Duna-ha" here does not mean 'below/inferior,' but rather 'a veil').Al-Makzun said:"And I singled Him out without separation, And I did not say, with connection, That the Light is other than the Illuminator."