sacrifice unto Him--hath spoken: "He hath known God who hath known
himself."

I swear by God, O esteemed and honoured friend! Shouldst thou ponder these
words in thine heart, thou wilt of a certainty find the doors of divine
wisdom and infinite knowledge flung open before thy face.

From that which hath been said it becometh evident that all things, in
their inmost reality, testify to the revelation of the names and
attributes of God within them. Each according to its capacity, indicateth,
and is expressive of, the knowledge of God. So potent and universal is
this revelation, that it hath encompassed all things, visible and
invisible. Thus hath He revealed: "Hath aught else save Thee a power of
revelation which is not possessed by Thee, that it could have manifested
Thee? Blind is the eye which doth not perceive Thee." Likewise, hath the
eternal King spoken: "No thing have I perceived, except that I perceived
God within it, God before it, or God after it." Also in the tradition of
Kumayl it is written: "Behold, a light hath shone forth out of the Morn of
eternity, and lo! its waves have penetrated the inmost reality of all
men." Man, the noblest and most perfect of all created things, excelleth
them all in the intensity of this revelation, and is a fuller expression
of its glory. And of all men, the most accomplished, the most
distinguished and the most excellent are the Manifestations of the Sun of
Truth. Nay, all else besides these Manifestations, live by the operation
of their Will, and move and have their being through the outpourings of
their grace. "But for Thee, I would have not created the heavens." Nay,
all in their holy presence fade into utter nothingness, and are a thing
forgotten. Human tongue can never befittingly sing their praise, and human
speech can never unfold their mystery. These Tabernacles of holiness,
these primal Mirrors which reflect the light of unfading glory, are but
expressions of Him Who is the Invisible of the Invisibles. By the
revelation of these gems of divine virtue all the names and attributes of
God, such as knowledge and power, sovereignty and dominion, mercy and
wisdom, glory, bounty and grace, are made manifest.

These attributes of God are not and have never been vouchsafed specially
unto certain Prophets, and withheld from others. Nay, all the Prophets of
God, His well-favoured, His holy, and chosen Messengers, are, without
exception, the bearers of His names, and the embodime