Thus, they perceived the Quiddity (Mahiyya) of their movement, which is the fastest of movements."
Therefore, it is obligatory upon you not to be incapable of knowing [these] matters—meaning the Ranks of Existence—and knowing their realities, and ascending to the knowledge of their quiddities as they are [in themselves].
And the people descending upon the Estuary of the Euphrates are the Sabians (Al-Sabi'un)1, the scholars of the Science of the Spheres (Ilm al-Aflak) and the knowledge of the Decree (Qada') through them regarding what exists. And they are the first who spoke about Extracting the Hidden Conscience (Ikhraj al-Damir)2.
And he said:
"Indeed, these—who possess dense, turbid, fleshy bodies due to the heaviness of Nature and its murkiness—reached the knowledge of the Simple Soul and understood its motion, which is the fastest and most subtle of motions, until they understood what is existing through the motion of the Celestial Figures (Al-Ashkhas al-'Ulwiyya).