causes indicating the appearance of water in the form of snow and its transformation back into water; its appearance in the form of ice and its transformation back into water; its appearance in the form of hail and its transformation back into water, and so on. Furthermore, its coloring with redness, greenness, yellowness and black and white, and other colors of dye with which water is colored. These colors indicate, through their signs, the diversity of His (the Exalted) attributes in His human and luminous manifestation. This is referred to as the "Great Coloring" by the saying of the Exalted: {The coloring of Allah; and who is better than Allah in coloring? And we are worshippers of Him} (Al-Baqarah 138).

Just as the Glorified did not make this water transform and appear from the form of water into the form of snow and others except by means of coldness—which transforms through increase, decrease, and moderation—likewise, the manifestations of the Creator to His creatures do not transform, increase, decrease, or disappear except by way of their (the creatures') own transformations and existence. Allah (the Exalted) shows the creatures this transformation, imaging, increase, and other things through His human and luminous manifestations because of the variation in their states.

What confirms this is the non-transformation of water from its state before the existence of coldness; for before its existence, it was not in the form of snow or ice. Likewise is the discourse regarding the existence of His Essence (the Exalted) before creation. However, when these natural