When we say "Primary Matter" (al-Hayula), we mean by it the substance that possesses length, width, and depth, whereby it becomes an absolute body (jism mutlaq). When we say "the Universal Body" (al-Jism al-Kulli), we mean by it the total corporeal frame of the cosmos in its entirety.

Verily, Allah, Majestic is His Praise, named the Abode of the Hereafter al-Hayawan (the True Life) because it is the world of spirits and the mine of souls, whereas this world is the world of physical bodies and their constituent elements bodies are dead by their very nature; life is only imparted to them by souls and spirits through their immanence within and alongside them, just as the sun imparts light and radiance to the air by shining upon it.

Verily, spiritual substances (al-jawahir al-ruhaniyyah) are divided into two categories: Primary Matter (al-Hayula) and Form (al-Surah). Form is of two types: detached forms (mufariqah), such as the Soul and the Intellect, and non-detached forms (ghayr mufariqah), such as geometric shapes and dyes.