He replied: "(The sun is the Mim and the moon is the Meaning.) It is not fitting for the Messenger to overtake the One who sent him, just as the night is not before the day; for Light is before darkness, and the Creator of being is before the Place."

To proceed: Perhaps whoever comes across this epistle of ours may find confusing our statement regarding the Lord Mim—exalted be his glory—that he is the worshiper not the Worshipped, and might not submit to us in this. We, by the praise of God, have not deviated from the intended path of Oneness, nor have we said regarding this except what our Lord and jurist Abu Abd Allah al-Khasibi—may God brighten his face—said in his epistle. This is his statement in a section of it: "If one asks us: what is the proof that Ali is the Worshipped Meaning? Clarify it for us from the Book, just as you clarified that Muhammad is His servant, Messenger, and Prophet from the Book of God the Almighty?"

We say to him: We clarify it for you from the Book, and it is the word of the Mighty and Sublime: {God—there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is before them and what is behind them, and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills. His Throne extends over the heavens and the earth, and their preservation tires Him not. And He is the High, the Great}¹.

This is followed by the verses of the Noble Quran used as evidence for what I mentioned to the end of the section; there is no need to repeat them here.