And Al-Raddad said in his treatise: "As for the names of the Meaning used for recognition and expression, they are disconnected and connected letters, like our saying: Abel [Habil], Seth [Shayt], Joseph [Yusuf], Joshua [Yusha'], Asaph [Asif], Simon [Sham'un], and Ali, Commander of the Faithful. For these are identifying names that apply to the form through which He directly engaged the world, while the Named Entity denoted by them is more ancient than them; and that is his saying: 'To us belongs the meaning of the names, and from the letters belongs their course.'"

[99] And Al-Sadiq, His glory is mighty, was asked: "Where was Allah before there was a constructed heaven, an outstretched earth, night and day, and a revolving celestial sphere?" He said: "He was, and there was no place." The questioner said: "Was He a manifestation or an inward concealment?" He said: "Neither manifest nor inward; for if He were manifest, to whom would He have been manifested so that He could become inward? And if He were inward, from whom would He have been hidden so that He could become manifest.

For if He were manifest, His manifestation was to His Essence by His Essence; and if He were inward,