alteration, and variation across every moment, interval, epoch, and age. They transcend Him from absence and presence, occultation and manifestation, holding that He is the Living, the Self-Subsisting, the Eternal, the Everlasting, who has never departed from His transcendent being. Even when He manifests to visible sight, He—in ultimate reality—neither shifts nor ceases; rather, He merely veils physical sights and turns human hearts, showing them what appears to be absence, presence, occultation, or manifestation.'

[172] And al-Sadiq—His glory is mighty—said: 'Our followers [shiatuna] are an intrinsic part of us; they were created from us, born from the remaining residue of our celestial clay. Whatever grieves us grieves them, and whatever gladdens us gladdens them. Therefore, if anyone seeks us, let them head toward them, for they are the absolute Gate [al-Bab] through which we are reached.'

[173] And Muhammad ibn Shu'bah said in Kitab al-Asaifar: 'Al-Sadiq—His glory is mighty—stated: Our physical frames [ajsamuna] were created from the celestial clay of 'Illiyyin,