is that the very concern of the Creator is the creature, and the concern of the creature is the Creator. All of that issues from a single essence—indeed, it is the one essence itself, while at the same time it is the many essences.

He is: “My father, do as you are commanded.” Then he went on to say, “He slaughtered nothing but his own self; he wedded none but his own self.”

He also said, “Among His Most Beautiful Names is ‘the Exalted’ (al-ʿAli). Over whom could He be exalted when none exists but He? Or above what could He be exalted when nothing exists except Him? His exaltedness, then, pertains to Himself; and, insofar as existence is concerned, He is the very being of all beings. What people call ‘originated things’ are exalted in themselves—they are nothing but He.”

It is related from Abu Saʿid al-Kharraz that he was asked, “By what means did you come to know your Lord?” He replied, “By His combining the opposites,” and he recited: “He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden; and He is, of all things, All-Knowing” ⦗al-Hadid: 3⦘.

By this he meant that—exalted is He—attributes that are mutually contradictory with respect to anyone else are united in His case, for a created being can never be simultaneously first and last, inner and outer.

It is authentically reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say, “You are the First; nothing is before You. You are the Last; nothing is after You. You are the Manifest; nothing is above You. You are the Hidden; nothing is beneath You—”