yet there is no inherent fire within the glass, nor within the sun itself, nor did the sun incarnate into that glass. In like manner did the cosmic elements shine forth in conjunction with human bodies; and were it not for their extension from their source from which they were impressed, they would vanish and no stability would be found for them. Just as the eye without light cannot behold any matter whatsoever, even if it be sound and free from defects and diseases—and the proof of this is the extinguishing of a lamp in a dark night and entering a pitch-black place."

Jalal al-Din al-Sufi said in the "Book of the Rectification of Names" [Kitab Taqwim al-Asma']: "If a questioner should ask us: 'What are these Names, what is their distinct property, and what is the benefit of invoking them?' We would say to him: 'They stand in relation to the Universal Form just as physical faculties stand in relation to the organs and limbs that move and act within the particular, individual form. As for their distinct property: every form preserves the order of a specific genus of created beings, and created beings are themselves but reflections of that speaking Form that articulates on His behalf and provides information about Him."