just as prayer is offered at My Throne; for there, I shall answer your prayer.'

I say: If it were permissible to believe in the outward form (ẓāhir) of this House, it would have been obligatory for Jesus and Moses to command pilgrimage to it, just as our Master Muhammad (PBUH) commanded. Likewise, it would have been obligatory for them to fast the month of Ramadan, and to manifest all the outward laws (al-sharāʾiʿ al-ẓāhira) that the Prophet (PBUH) manifested. Furthermore, it would have been obligatory for our Master Muhammad (PBUH) to command the people to kill anyone who works, eats, or drinks on the Sabbath, just as Allah and His Messenger Moses commanded, according to the saying of the Almighty in His Mighty Book:

{Say, "O People of the Scripture, you are [standing] on nothing until you uphold the Torah, the Gospel, and what has been revealed to you from your Lord."} (Al-Māʾidah: 68)

Despite this, all the Men of Monotheism (Rijāl al-Tawḥīd) believe and establish that the Personages (Ashkhāṣ) of these inward acts of worship are other than their originated outward forms. They have explicitly declared this meaning in many places and have also declared the rejection of these forms except when among the Opposites (al-Aḍḍād).

And I say further: If it were permissible for us to believe in the outward, sensory images, it would be permissible for us to believe in the