He depicted them with these images for concealment and to facilitate the arrival at the inward meanings intended by them, because sensory images are accepted by those of dull understanding, let alone than the expert scholar. As the philosopher-scholar Hasan ibn Hamza al-Shirazi—may Allah sanctify him—narrated in the book Al-Tanbih, on the authority of the Divine Sages [Al-Hukama' al-Ilahiyyun], their saying: "Sensory things are bridges to intellectual entities"(AL_ hissiyyat maabir ila al _aqliyyat) For the World of Witness [Al-Shahada] is a metaphor for the World of the Unseen [Al-Ghayb]. Everything in the World of the Kingdom [Malakut] is hidden from us; we do not understand it nor reach knowledge of it except through its likeness in our world which we witness and comprehend. Thus, we come to know the meanings of what is absent through what is present, as a grace from the Creator—Exalted is His Power. Were it not for that, we would not understand those secrets nor comprehend those lights.

It was narrated in the book Al-Sirat on the authority of the Greatest Master, Muhammad—peace be from him—that he said: "Indeed, Allah created creatures whom He made keys to good and locks to evil." Good is the Inward [Al-Bāṭin], and evil is the Outward [Al-Ẓāhir].

It was narrated in the book Al-Hujub wa al-Anwar on the authority of the Master al-Sadiq—peace be from him—that he said: "Whoever knows the five, the five fall away from him."