If he [the opponent] says: 'It is the Pre-eternal, Primordial Meaning,' then he has retracted his claim that the Form is [merely] the Name. It is narrated that one of the scholars was asked about gazing upon the Visual Form: 'How should one look upon it?'

He replied: The observer merely looks upon the radiance of that Form according to his own capacity and the simplicity of his essence (jawhar). He casts the light of his own sight toward that Observed Light; however, [the intensity of the Observed Light] prevents him from full perception. Consequently, the observer's light returns to him, and he sees nothing but the likeness [of his own capacity]. This defect within him is the 'Defect of the World'—it is that which is referred to as 'the defect within the effect' (al-'illa fil-ma'lul). This is one of the instances where the attribute [replaces the essence in perception]."

From 'The Treatise of Dhu al-Qarnayn' (Risalat Dhi al-Qarnayn): Authored by the wise Sheikh Ali bin Miqdad al-Halabi.

His statement: 'Praise be to God, the Most High, the Supreme...' [leading] to his saying: 'The Universal Form of the Unseen, the Pre-eternal Primordial Meaning, the Lord, the Worshipped, the Holy, the Manifested One; the Unique, the Eternal, the Everlasting, the Ever-Living, the Self-Sustaining, the Manifested, the Witnessed, the Manifest Truth (al-Haqq al-Mubin)