He does not vanish from His Being even if He appears for His witnessing (iyanihi). Since the Meaning is a sustained Essence, self-sufficient and unique, He is neither compelled nor in need.

His saying: {they are the mother of the Book}: what I have said clarifies that they are the Essential Manifestations, since the Book is the Name, and its inception is from the light of the Essence of the Meaning and its return is to Him. His saying: {and others unspecific (mutashabihat)}: they are the Manifestations of the Meaning in Likeness, meaning in the likeness of the form of the Name.

(648) As our Master al-Sadiq—exalted be his glory—said: "The Name is other than the Named, and the Inhabitant is other than the Inhabited. He is distinct from him by His pre-eternity, manifest by his perfection." Thus the Meaning—exalted are His favors—when He appears in the likeness of the form of the Name, He does not wear him as a "shirt" (qamis); rather, He conceals him beneath the shimmering of the light of His Essence from which He manifested and originated him. He appears in the likeness of his Nominal Form, yet the High World sees Him only as Anza' Batin, because their hearts and vision do not turn, nor do their perceptions differ.

{As for those in whose hearts is deviation}: "deviation" (al-zaygh) is the disease, meaning doubt; they follow that which is "unspecific" seeking discord. Discord (al-fitna) is for them to say that the Meaning, the Name, and the Gate are the same. No! Rather, the Mim [Muhammad] and the Sin [Salman] are two servants of the Meaning; they were not, and then He originated them.

{seeking discord and seeking an interpretation [suitable to them]. And no one knows its interpretation except God. But those firm in knowledge say, 'We believe in it. All [of it] is from our Lord.' And no one will be reminded except those of understanding}¹.