Among that which indicates the meaning of lawfulness (al-tahlil) and prohibition (al-tahrim) is what was established by the Master Abu Sa'id—may Allah sanctify him—in the book Al-Dala’il, where he said:

"Indeed, everything whose consumption was forbidden was [originally] human, then it was metamorphosed (musikha), yet the human soul (al-nafs al-nasutiyyah) remained within it... [up to his saying]: so when the human soul departs from them, it becomes lawful to eat them, keep them, draw near through them, and slaughter them for the sake of Allah, and through them one draws closer to Allah."

This is supported and confirmed by what was narrated by Al-Mufaddal ibn Umar in the twenty-eighth chapter of the book Al-Haft wa al-Azilla, on the authority of the Master (al-Mawla) al-Sadiq, when he [Al-Mufaddal] questioned him, saying: I said to my Master:

"What is the sign of the first and second metamorphosis (al-masukhiyyah), and what is the difference between them?" He replied: "The sign of that is [the law] of lawfulness and prohibition. Everything whose eating and slaughtering is forbidden remains as it was in the first age, before this time of yours and before this Adam of yours."

I said: "My Master, before our seven Adams, and before our earth and our heaven, were there [other] earths and heavens?"

He replied: "O heedless one! Allah, Mighty and Majestic is He, has always been and shall never cease to be. Whenever He brought forth an