“According to some Sufis, the first point of observation in reflecting upon the Divine Essence consists of the Divine Names, which are regarded as trustworthy indications of what may be known beyond the worlds of acts and works. The second stage of this intellectual and perceptive process consists of the Divine Attributes. These encompass our thoughts and feelings, determine the boundaries of our intellectual movements, reflections, and conceptions concerning the All-Sublime Essence, and, more precisely, restrict and frame our considerations, reflections, feelings, and perceptions concerning the Necessarily Existent One so that we do not enter the forbidden realm beyond human comprehension. They thus show us the limits of our understanding. This approach is intended to clarify the truth expressed in the statement, ‘The Divine Essence is encompassed by His Attributes.’ Beyond these lie the ‘Divine modes of being and acting’ and the ‘sacred considerations’ upon which even the Divine Attributes rest—or, more accurately, which function as their loci of manifestation and disclosure.”¹⁾

“As for the Second Determination—also called the Second Objective Reality—it has traditionally been regarded as the title for all the Divine modes of being and acting and the sacred considerations, as manifested through the Divine Names and the Divine Attributes in different loci and mirrors, within the wavelengths of the manifestation of Divine Unity and the manifestation of Divine Oneness. Just as the determinations of different beings in Divine Knowledge before their emergence into external existence are called the immutable archetypes or the Realm of Divine Power, their disclosure through different mirrors, according to the capacities and abilities granted to each being, based upon the Divine Names, and their reflection upon the Tablet of Effacement and Confirmation within the framework of the manifestation of Divine Oneness—according to some, the manifestation of Divine Unity—have also been called the Second Objective Realities. Some have interpreted these Second Objective Realities, in terms of the degrees or layers of creation, as metaphysical beings such as those belonging to the Realm of Spirits.”²⁾

“For the traveler on the path of truth, the first inward dimension perceived and sensed in relation to the Divine Attributes and the Divine Names is an abstract inwardness, also called relative inwardness. Beyond this lies an inward dimension belonging to the realm of the Divine Essence, which unfolds in the conscience and surrounds the inner world of the one who has reached the final stages. This has traditionally been called ‘the innermost of all inward dimensions.’ Thus, although many people have reached the horizon of inwardness, the number of those who are acquainted with the mysteries of Divinity is quite small.”³⁾

“…every human spirit is, in one sense, open to and directed toward the Realm of the Inner Dimensions of Existence. The people of this path have called a vision, perception, and intuition from this perspective ‘the Near Victory.’ They have called the heart’s perceptions and receptivity toward the Divine Attributes and the Realm of Divine Power ‘the Manifest Victory.’ The observations of the innermost faculty directed toward the Realm of Divinity have traditionally been honored with the title ‘the Absolute Victory.’ Human beings are candidates for Paradise and eternity, as well as for the vision of God and His good pleasure in Paradise, through these subtle faculties.”⁴⁾

“The blessed word ‘Allah,’ also called the Majestic Name and the Supreme Name, is the Name of the Most Exalted and Sublime Being Who makes Himself known to us through His Most Beautiful Names, establishes a framework for our minds, logic, and reasoning through His Divine Attributes, is the Most Sacred One designated by all the Names, the Transcendent One described by all attributes of perfection, the sole Sovereign of the throne of Divinity, and the incomparable Lord of the dominion of Lordship. As Sayyid Sharif also states, the blessed word ‘Allah’ is, ‘insofar as He is He,’ the exclusive proper Name of the Divine Essence. According to scholars of the principles of religion, it is a Name of the Essence. This blessed word, also known as the Majestic Name and the Supreme Name, is likewise referred to in a particular sense as the Supreme Name.

All the names belonging to the Divine Essence are names of attributes, whereas the word ‘Allah’ is a Name of the Essence and contains all the Divine Names either by direct implication or by inclusion. For instance, if a person were to declare faith by saying, ‘There is no deity but the All-Holy… but the All-Compassionate… but the All-Mighty…’ and so on, the intended meaning would not be fully expressed, because such statements would not completely designate the One known through His Most Beautiful Names and recognized and encompassed through His Divine Attributes. For, whether aware of it or not, such a person would restrict the spheres of Divinity and Lordship to the fields of manifestation of the Names the All-Holy, the All-Compassionate, and the All-Mighty, thereby turning the All-Encompassing into something encompassed and, in a sense, limiting the sphere of Divinity.”⁵⁾

“We seek to know Him through hundreds of Names such as the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate, the One, the Eternally Besought, the Unique, the All-Living, the Self-Subsisting, the Eternal, the All-Powerful, the All-Knowing, the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing, the All-Mighty, the All-Compelling, the All-Beautiful, the All-Majestic, the All-Great, the All-Generous, the All-Kind, the Supremely Great, the Deity, the Master, the Sovereign, the Lord, the All-Wise, the Speaker, the Creator, and the Provider; and through dozens of Attributes such as life, knowledge, hearing, sight, will, power, might, wisdom, grandeur, dominion, eternity without beginning, permanence, speech, and Divine will. Yet despite all this, we still cannot claim that we know Him fully or ever will. Rather, we continually breathe the words مَا عَرَفْنَاكَ حَقَّ مَعْرِفَتِكَ يَا مَعْرُوفُ, ‘O Known One, we have not known You as You deserve to be known,’⁶⁾ and seek refuge in the consideration اَلْعَجْزُ عَنِ الْإِدْرَاكِ إِدْرَاكٌ, ‘The realization that He cannot be comprehended is itself comprehension.’⁷⁾ God cannot be comprehended, for He encompasses everything to a degree beyond all encompassing. To claim that He can be fully encompassed would mean imagining that the All-Encompassing could at the same time become encompassed, which is an obvious contradiction. Moreover, all the derived Names that serve as our sources of illumination in knowing Him are insufficient—whether individually or collectively—to bring us to the innermost reality of Divine Oneness in the Truth of God. Rather, they remain inadequate. Logic and reasoning, under the shade of the Most Beautiful Names, can acquire knowledge and recognition of the All-Glorified Essence only to the extent that He wills and intends. Indeed, all that we know and can ever know concerning Him consists of this. How beautifully the famous German poet expressed it:

‘Whatever we may say concerning Him, the innermost reality of the Creator remains beyond comprehension. A human being can possess only a vague perception and an approximate idea concerning the Divine Essence. Indeed, we continually sense the existence of God both within our own spirits and throughout nature. What significance, then, does it have whether we know His innermost reality?’ In truth, even if we remember God through hundreds of Names and boundless Attributes, our expressions will still fall far below the truth. Since the Supreme Existence called Divinity manifests itself through different disclosures not only in the human being but also throughout all the modes and conditions of both the greater and lesser worlds and within the rich yet restricted breast of nature, how adequate can human description ever be concerning such a Being?’ We therefore prefer to remain reverent toward Him and cautious concerning ourselves.

It may be because of such a consideration that both the leading theologians and many Sufis have, in one sense, preferred to refer to Him through the pronoun ‘He,’ on account of the depth of its absoluteness and the vastness of its comprehensiveness, and have attached their reflections to its all-encompassing meaning. Indeed, ‘He’ is a mysterious word broad enough to express the Divine Essence together with all His majestic manifestations, all His beautiful disclosures, all His Most Beautiful Names, and the entirety of His Divine Attributes. Because of this comprehensiveness and breadth, some have regarded this pronoun as the Supreme Name, provided that its referent is kept in view. It would perhaps be more appropriate to call it the Supreme Name insofar as it fully expresses the station of Divine Unity.

When the Divine Essence is viewed from the perspective of Divine Oneness, the Divine Names and Attributes are set aside and the Absolutely Unique Essence is intended. When viewed from the perspective of Divine Unity, however, the Divine Names and the Divine Attributes are also perceived and sensed. At this point, the conscience may contemplate Him together with all His works, acts, Names, and Attributes, which means perceiving and sensing the sphere of Lordship.

The level of the true realities of existence is called the sphere of Divinity because, with respect to the Absolutely Unique Essence, it expresses the Necessarily Existent One. The Supreme Name ‘Allah’ is the exclusive Name of this level. In this sense, Divinity is the title of a transcendent reality that is witnessed through its works, known through its decrees, yet cannot be encompassed. What we know and understand concerning Divinity consists only of some of its qualities. Even this is insufficient for complete knowledge of that sphere. For there are many other exalted Attributes concerning it that remain unknown to us. To be able to say, ‘I have fully understood and encompassed it,’ one would have to know all those Attributes together with their particular characteristics. This is not possible for human beings.”⁸⁾

“The flawless and uninterrupted works visible in the universe, which manifest the mystery of هَلْ تَرٰى مِنْ فُطُورٍ, ‘Can you see any flaw?’ and the artistry present in the orderly beings of creation clearly indicate the perfection of the acts of an All-Powerful Maker. The perfection of those acts self-evidently indicates the perfection of the Names of that Majestic Agent. The perfection of those Names necessarily indicates and bears witness to the perfection of the Attributes of the All-Beautiful One designated by those Names. The perfection of those Attributes certainly indicates and bears witness to the perfection of the modes and qualities of that All-Perfect One. The perfection of those modes, with the certainty of truth, indicates the perfection of the Essence possessing them so clearly that all forms of perfection visible throughout the universe appear, in relation to His perfection, as no more than faint and weak shadows. They are signs of the perfection, symbols of the majesty, and indications of the beauty of the All-Perfect Essence.”⁹⁾

“…the truth of Lordship manifested within the reality of activity makes itself known through such modes and operations as creating, bringing into existence, fashioning, and originating with knowledge and wisdom; determining, shaping, administering, and directing with order and balance; transforming, changing, sending down, and perfecting with purpose and will; and feeding, bestowing, honoring, and favoring with compassion and mercy. Within the manifestation of the truth of Lordship, the truth of the emergence of Divinity, which is perceived and recognized with self-evident clarity, also makes itself known through the compassionate and generous manifestations of the Most Beautiful Names and through the majestic and beautiful manifestations of the seven affirmative Divine Attributes: life, knowledge, power, will, hearing, sight, and speech.”¹⁰⁾

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