[170] And His presence within creation is exactly as the Sage [al-'Alim]—His glory is mighty—stated in Kitab al-Asous: 'Verily, the description of the Primordial Omnipresent [al-Qadim] must mean He is either internally within or externally outside, either co-mingling [mumazijan] or structurally distinct [mubayanan]. If He were physically co-mingling with things, He would possess a matching physical form [shakl] to them. Yet, He is structurally distinct from them in the absolute nature of His essence, primordiality, and power. I do not say He is distinct from them in a manner of conflicting opposition [mudad], nor do I mean that He is not present within them; rather, I mean that His underlying Essence is transcendentally separate [mufariq] from all created substances, even though He is within them. I do not say He is mixed with them, because they are temporally originated [muhdathah] while He is Primordial [Qadim].

Nay, He is simultaneously within them and external to them. That is because He is within them yet bears no resemblance to them. Furthermore, His presence throughout the totality of creation is not like a uniform, localized presence within each singular part, because created entities possess numerical multiplicity [dhawat a'dad].