We and you both say that the Creator is other than the created, the Image is other than the One Imaged (al-Musawwir), the Example is other than the One Exemplified, and the Messenger is other than the One who sent him?"

We said to him: "Verily, that visible Image in which He appears is not created; for had we said it was created and the Meaning (al-Ma'na) was apart from it, we would have been exactly like the rest of creation."

He [the Sheikh] says: If we then answered you regarding that Image—the Anza’ al-Batin, of medium height among men, bald-headed, broad-faced, with heavy-lidded eyes, large forearms, sturdy limbs, broad between the shoulders, and slender-legged—is it He, or is He other than it?

We say to him: "Had we said it was created, we would have been like the rest of creation among the Opposites (al-Adad), the Shurat who curse and disassociate from Him, and the Nasiba who prefer others over Him."

He [the Sheikh] says: Rather, we say: "That visible Image is He—in affirmation, existence, beholding, and certainty." He asks: "Then what do you say regarding His words: {Vision perceives Him not}, while that Image was perceived and beheld?"