The Essential manifestation is impossible with respect to creation, because it yields a darkness like one who stares into the sun—for whoever stares into it perceives nothing. Imam Al-Hasan [Al-Basri] was asked about the gnostic (al-'arif) and gnosis (al-ma'rifah), and he said: "The color of the water is the color of its vessel," and he remained silent. He intended that water has no inherent color, but only appears colored by the color of its vessel; similarly, Allah the Exalted has no form, but only manifests in accordance with the form of the gnostic who knows Him, up to his saying: It is said In divine knowledge, all cosmic vestiges (al-athar al-kawniyyah) are mirrors in which the Face of the Supreme Truth (al-Haqq al-'Ali) manifests. For the vestige is the very form of the Agent (al-mu'aththir) from the standpoint of manifestation, yet it is not the very self of the Agent from the standpoint of non-manifestation (al-butun). This is because the vestige is brought into existence and reduced to non-existence in accordance with the will of the Agent and His direct orientation. Thus, the Agent is a reality behind the vestige, unchanging through either origination or annihilation.