The Meaning is elevated above these things, and is neither pointed to by these indications nor characterized by these descriptions, except [in the way] 1 the name of Ali fell upon this human form, though it is not human; rather, He merely interacted with the creation through it.
THE REALITY OF THE FORM OF THE MEANING
And the saying of our master Abu Abdillah, may God sanctify him: "A light unlike other lights, because He is the Illuminator of lights, and lights are the stations of the Line [of emanation]," and his saying: "A thing unlike other things, because He is from a genus [and an essence] 2 in the sense of existence—not like the things that constitute the Gate and its eleven stations, because He does not manifest through them. And his saying: "A body unlike the subtle bodies" that have no form and from which no earthly or heavenly signs manifest.
The Truth is neither 3 a taste, nor a color, nor an odor, nor a form 4 ; rather,