Similarly, when a human being perceives the sun to be the size of a small circle—whereas it is countless times larger than the earth—this does not mean that the sun has shrunk and actually become this small size. Rather, it is our own deficient vision that has displayed the sun to us contrary to what it truly is.

Such is the vision of the Essence by created beings: it occurs strictly in accordance with their personal capacities and spiritual readiness. For the Essence is One—it neither transitions, nor vanishes, nor alters, nor changes—but the vision of it by the onlookers is what differs.

This is exactly like the light of the sun passing through glass of various colors: everyone perceives that light according to the color of the glass through which they look. One sees it as white, another as blue, and another as red—even though the light is a single light, completely free of change or coloration within itself. For this reason, we find that all entities, from the Greatest Name (al-Ism al-A‘ẓam) down to the landmarks of humanity, each perceives the Creator through the attributes of their own state of being.

Consequently, they said: