THE PROBLEMATICS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE FORM AND THE MEANING

And you, O Sheikh, have believed in a visible form and mounted it upon the Meaning (al-Ma'na), and it is no longer easy for you to negate it, because you made it the light of the Essence (nur al-dhat), while the light of the Essence is the reality of the Name (al-Ism). You made the Meaning veiled by it, and you said in your book: "Whoever is able to separate the disc of the sun from its light, he is able to separate the Meaning from the form."

And herein, O Sheikh, an interpolation has befallen you, because you made the light of the Essence the Anza'i form (associated with al-Anza' al-Batin), and you said: "Indeed, there is no path to the Unseen," and you said: "Indeed, the Unseen is subject to increase and decrease," while your own belief is centered on the witnessed form, and you have declared disbeliever whoever worships the Unseen. Then you said, O Sheikh: "And the one who points to the Unseen, by what does he know it, and by which names does he name it and call upon it?"

Your reliance is based on the premise that the form is the light of the Essence, and you and your Iblis, Rabiah, have believed that the form of the Creator—the One, the Ancient,