And He veiled Himself with the Earth, so they were ignorant of Him; and He veiled Himself with their bodies, so they knew Him. O Jabir, he who knows Allah [only] from the veil with which He alone is uniquely covered has not truly known Allah."

The Gnostic—peace be upon him—said: "Allah manifested in His Essence only so that [the creation] might be guided by His Divine Etiquette (ādāb)."

The Gnostic said to the questioner in the Book of the Foundation (Kitāb al-Asūs): "If He says, 'I am a servant,' the Lord has spoken the truth, for He is a 'servant' in the perception you hold. It is valid for Him to say, 'I am your servant,' and it is valid for Him to say, 'I manifested myself as a servant.' Such is the inflection of speech (taṣrīf al-kalām), while Power itself has no inflection."

It was reported in the Book of the Image and the Exemplar (Kitāb al-Ṣūra wa al-Mithāl) from the Master [Imam] al-Sadiq—mercy be upon him—that he said: "Were it not for concealment (talbīs), no one would be ignorant of Allah; and were it not for explicit declaration (taṣrīḥ), no one would know Allah. Allah hid His religion until it was thought He must not be worshipped, and He manifested His command until it was thought He must not be unknown." The author of the book Realities of the Secrets of Religion (Ḥaqāʾiq Asrār al-Dīn) reported it exactly as mentioned.