but not in terms of structural perfection and destiny. He encompassed within him whatever exists in the macrocosm [al-'alam al-kabir]—both its celestial and terrestrial realms, its sensory and intellectual dimensions. Thus, he is like an abridged manuscript, like foam rising from the churned liquid, and like oil extracted from sesame. Nay, he is the locus of manifestation for the secret of existence, the cream of the universe's churning, and upon his existence rests the secret of structural containment, by virtue of the cosmic encapsulation embedded within him."

The second facet: Whosoever recognizes his soul from the perspective that it is a subtle, spiritual essence paired with a dense, material physical body—two opposing entities whose conjunction is a marvel, since what benefits the body harms the soul, and what harms the body benefits the soul—and neither inside of it nor outside of it; neither attached to it nor detached from it. For it is a simple, singular substance [jawhar basit fard] without spatial confinement [ghayr mutahayyiz]. It is that which sustains the body, whereas the body does not sustain it; and it is the governor of the body's affairs, whereas the body is not its governor.