As for its inward meaning: it is a command from the Meaning (al-Ma‘nā)—Mighty is His Might—to the believers. When they turn toward the Greatest Veil (al-Ḥijāb al-A‘ẓam), which is the inner reality of Prayer and the "Face of Pre-eternity" through which one turns to Him, they must sanctify His Personages in the manifestations of the Unseen and the Witnessed.
This sanctification is achieved through the Gnosis of the Noble Gate (‘Ilm al-Bāb al-Akram), which is the inward reality of the Water that gives life to everything dead. To this, the Exalted refers: {And We made from water every living thing} 1 .
The term "thing" (shay’) here is more general than mere physical compounds that require water to live. It includes the Intellects, the Angels, and the Detached Souls. If the intended meaning were merely physical water, the judgment of this verse would be void, as not every [spiritual] thing lives by physical water.