claimed, our Master [al-Khasibi] would have allowed in his treatise for the Meaning to cast His semblance [upon another] when manifesting His hidden states..." etc.
Regarding the transmitted saying: "The exoteric of the Meaning is the esoteric of the Name, and the exoteric of the Name is the esoteric of the Gate," he says: "It is not as the people of ignorance assume—that there are three distinct visible and witnessed images, differing in form, stature, and actions, such that one is the interior of the other... etc."
He [Abu Sa'id] says: "Since the All-Knowing manifested through an image, Justice and Wisdom necessitated that He (Exalted be He) appear to them in an image homogenous (mujanisa) to their own forms, yet distinct (mubayana) from their essence."
He says: "Verily, the Meaning (al-Ma'na) called from His Light." Meaning: (The Muhammadan Image [called] to His Essence, the Anza'i Image).
In the commentary on the words of the Exalted: {Until, when fear is removed from their hearts, they say [to one another], "What has your Lord said?" They say, "The Truth." And He is the Most High, the Grand} 1 , he says: This refers to when the Commander of the Faithful appears on the first day of the White Return (al-Raj'ah al-