And it is the One (al-Wahid) which the Unique (al-Ahad) originated from His light. And the Unique does not enter into a number, and the One is the root of numbers and to it is their return, and it is the originator of them."

I said: "O my Master, does the Master Mim (الميم) say: 'I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate'?"

So he said: "O Mufaddal, he only meant the sequence that is sequenced from his light. So the meaning of his - majestic is his praise - saying 'and Ali is its gate' means that he is the highest of ranks and the gate of the Mim (الميم). And from him they enter into the city and the knowledge of knowledge. And from him is the translator of what his master supplies him with of the knowledge of the kingdom (malakut) and the majesty of divinity (lahut)." ¹

I said: "O my Master, does the Master Mim (الميم) say: 'I and Ali are like these two'—I do not know right or left—and he joined his two index fingers together?"