known the Manifest (al-Ẓāhir) by His reality. Thus he establishes Him, affirms Him, acknowledges His acts and judgments, and believes in His Furqan and Qur’an.

I want you both to mention to me what you heard: to what station of knowledge have you reached, and to what degree of Gnosis have you arrived?"

My Master said to him: "That which we heard, believed in, and verified is that Amir Al-muminin is the Meaning (al-Ma‘nā)—the One for whom no goal is perceived and no end is reached. An Eternal who does not vanish, a Justice who does not wrong, a Generous who is not stingy, and a Wise who does not hasten. Ali who rose above everything, Powerful; He encompassed everything with His rule and preserved everything with His knowledge. Sights do not perceive Him, but He perceives the sights. Imaginations do not reach Him, and He is the Subtle, the Aware. And that Muhammad is His Great Name and His Ancient Veil; and that Salman is His Gate through which none is approached except through him."

He said to us: "When you say that Muhammad is His Name, His Veil, and His Attribute—and you know that the Name is other than the Named, and the Attribute other than the Described—how is Monotheism (Tawḥīd) pure for you with this?"

(He continued): "He is His Veil, and you know that the Veil is the Manifest (Ẓāhir) of the Veiled One, and that the Interior (Bāṭin) is veiled by the Veil and manifest from it. Upon this only do estimation, individuation, indications, names, and attributes fall: upon the Manifest of the Essence (Ẓāhir al-Dhāt). Because of Him it stood and appeared; for His place, He was witnessed and seen.

He is within us, not by an attribute attached to Him, but what appeared through Him was as a similitude for the people of the Abode, and as a trial, and to establish the proof against whoever denies the manifestation. Thus he who acknowledges and intends the proof