So He, His glory is magnificent, said: "If it were from His light, His light would have existed before Him; and if it were from the light of His light, the light of His light would be more ancient than Him; and if it were from the light of His Essence, the light of His Essence would be closer to God than Him, and Muhammad, His glory is magnificent, would have no merit over anyone else. Rather, I say: He is His light from which He appeared; there is [between them] ¹ no difference and no separation."

He said: "So if there is between Him and him no difference and no separation, how is it said: 'from the light of His Essence'?" The Master, His glory is magnificent, said: "This speech is an identification attributed to the Essence. Do you not see that if a man approaches you, you say to him: 'From where have you approached?' and he says to you, 'From such and such a place.' Has that place from which he came thereby become partitioned? Partitioning only occurs when a thing emerges out of another thing,