there are realities that are higher and more noble than the substance of the Soul—such as the Creator, the Exalted, the Intellect, and the Forms detached from matter, who are the nearest angels of Allah—and there are realities that are lower than the substance of the Soul, such as Primary Matter (al-Hayula), Nature, and physical bodies.

in its entirety. Thus, the Soul's knowledge of things that are beneath it in nobility occurs by way of the senses—which operate through direct contact, touch, intermingling, and physical encompassment. Conversely, its knowledge of realities that are more noble and higher than it occurs by way of logical demonstration (al-burhan), which compels the intellects to yield to its truth without physical encompassment or direct contact. Finally, its knowledge of its own essence and substance occurs by way of the Intellect.

For the relation of the Intellect to the Soul is like the relation of light to sight, or like the relation of a mirror to the person looking into it. Just as sight cannot perceive any object except by means of light, and just as a human cannot view his own face except by means of a mirror and looking into it, so too the Soul cannot behold its own essence except by the light of the Intellect,