Lightning (Al-Barq)? Can anyone fill his sight with it—and that is just the measure of a thread. So how would it be if all the gates of heaven were cleaved? This is the proof for what I mentioned to you.

The Pre-eternal (Al-Azal) has not ceased, but it is the hearts that have ceased.. (Hiddenness and Manifestation).

The venerable Sheikh (may Allah sanctify his soul) said in the "Epistle of the Inward and Outward" (Risalat al-Butun wa al-Zuhur): "The Pre-eternal (Al-Azal) has never departed from its essence, even if it appeared to the vision. It is only the hearts and the sights that have shifted and fluctuated, perceiving absence and appearance, veiling and presence. All of creation—at the time when the Meaning (Al-Ma'na) veils the Name (Al-Ism) and appears in a form like his image—falls into three categories: The People of the Purity of Purity, the People of Mixture with Purity, and the People of Murkiness."

"As for the People of the Purity of Purity: they know that their Master has never ceased, changed, appeared, or become hidden. Rather, He is He, without cessation, transition, or shifting from state to state. The People of Mixture with Purity: they think that He appeared in the likeness of the image of the Veil (The Name) as an honor to it, and this is the aforementioned middle, proximate station. As for the People of Murkiness: both states are veiled from them, so they see the Meaning as one of them—a human being like themselves."