Indeed, their property is that every form preserves the order of a genus among the creatures; for the creature is the image of the [spiritual] Form that speaks for it and informs of it, and it is the image of the spirit of that creature."

"Then he said—may Allah sanctify him: 'As for the benefit in mentioning them, it is to facilitate the path for every seeker among the men of this science, so that he may reach his goal and perceive his reality through them. For if a thing is expressed by a speaking form (ṣūra nāṭiqa), it is closer to direct observation (al-ʿayān) and understanding than [mere] reports about it. Therefore, they made Prayer (al-Ṣalāt) a form, Almsgiving (al-Zakāt) a form, Fasting (al-Ṣawm) a form, Pilgrimage (al-Ḥajj) a form, the Kaʿba a form, and Jihad a form... etc.'"

"And the most illustrious Master, Ḥasan ibn Ḥamza al-Shīrāzī—may Allah the Almighty sanctify him—excelled and spoke well in his book titled al-Tanbīh (The Warning), narrating from the Divine Sages (al-ḥukamāʾ al-ilāhiyyīn): 'Indeed, the sensibles (al-ḥissiyyāt) are passages to the intelligibles (al-ʿaqliyyāt); for the world of witnessing is an exemplar for the world of the Unseen (al-Ghayb). Everything in the world of the Kingdom (al-Malakūt) is hidden from us; we neither understand it nor reach knowledge of it except through its exemplar in our world, which we observe and comprehend.