The Bezel of the Wisdom of Transcendence Exists in the Essence of Noah
May God inspire you through His spirit. According to the people of truth, holding that God is wholly transcendent amounts to limiting and restricting Him. Those who believe in God’s transcendence without reservation, especially if they adhere strictly to religious doctrine, may misbehave and unknowingly deny the truth and the messengers. They imagine they are right, but they are mistaken, akin to someone who accepts parts of a religion while rejecting others. This is particularly true if they understand that divine expressions in the Scriptures convey simple meanings to the common people but hold deeper, comprehensive meanings for the elite, depending on the ordinary usage of a given language.
The Real is manifest in every created and comprehended thing, yet He remains hidden from all comprehension, except for those who recognize that the cosmos is His form and essence. The cosmos is His manifest name, while in another sense, He is the spirit of that which is manifest, embodying His hidden nature. The Real’s relationship to the manifest forms of the cosmos mirrors the spirit’s governance of a form. When defining a human being or any other entity, we can speak of both manifest and hidden aspects. The Real, in His manifest aspect, can be defined by every definition, for the forms of the cosmos are infinite and cannot be fully encompassed. The definitions of these forms depend on the knowledge one possesses of them. Consequently, the Real’s definition remains unknown, as it requires knowledge of every form—an impossible task. Thus, defining the Real is inconceivable.
Similarly, those who emphasize the Real’s immanence without acknowledging His transcendence also limit and restrict Him, failing to truly know Him. Only those who combine transcendence and immanence in their understanding, albeit in a general way, grasp the cosmos broadly, though not in its details, just as they know themselves generally but not in every particular. This is why the Prophet taught that whoever knows their soul knows their Lord. God Himself declared He would show His signs on the horizons, meaning the external world, and within people’s souls, meaning the internal world, until it becomes clear to the observer that He is the Real. You are His form, and He is your spirit. Your bodily form relates to you as the Real relates to you, like the spirit governing your body’s form. Your definition encompasses both external and internal aspects. If the spirit leaves your body, you are no longer called a human being; the form might resemble a human but is no different from wood or stone, bearing the name “human” only figuratively. However, the Real never disconnects Himself from the forms of the cosmos. Just as a living human is defined by the spirit in reality, so the cosmos is defined by the Divinity.
The human form praises its governing spirit and soul in its unique language, and similarly, God causes the forms of the cosmos to praise Him. Yet, we cannot understand their praise, as we cannot encompass all cosmic forms. All praises stem from the Real’s languages, expressing His glory. Thus, it is said that praise belongs to God, the Lord of all existents, meaning He is the source of all praise, both the one who praises and the one praised.
If you hold only to transcendence, you restrict Him; if you hold only to immanence, you limit Him. But if you embrace both doctrines, you are correct, becoming a leader and master in knowledge.
Noah called his people at night, symbolizing their intellect and spirituality, which are hidden, and by day, symbolizing their external forms and senses. However, he did not unite the external and internal aspects, as expressed in the phrase “there is nothing like Him.” As a result, their innermost perception rejected his call due to this separation, and his invitation only increased their resistance. Noah then spoke of himself, revealing that he called them so God would forgive them, not to reveal the unity of these aspects. They understood his words, which is why they thrust their fingers into their ears and covered their heads with their garments—an act of covering to which he called them. They responded actively, not by yielding to God. The phrase “there is nothing like Him” both affirms and negates likeness to God. Muhammad, gifted with all-comprehensive words, did not call his people separately at night or by day but intertwined the two, calling them at night by day and by day at night.
In his wisdom, Noah promised his people that God would send abundant rain from the sky, meaning various forms of intellectual knowledge and reflection, and that He would grant them wealth to incline them toward Him. When God draws you to Him, you see your form in Him. Those who imagine they see Him do not know, but those who recognize they see themselves are the knowers. Thus, people are divided into those who know and those who do not. Noah’s offspring represent the fruits of their reflection. Knowledge of this matter comes through revelation, far beyond mere reflection. Their wealth and children increased their ruin, and their trade yielded no profit. What they grasped, believing it was theirs, vanished. For Muhammad’s followers, it is said to give out of what God has passed down to you, while for Noah’s people, it was to entrust themselves to none but God. Their property is theirs, with God as their trustee. They are appointees of God’s property, and God is the Owner of the Property, as al-Tirmidhi noted. They deceived greatly, for calling to God is a deception for those addressed, as God has never been absent and is always called upon. Noah declared he called them out of clear awareness, directing their attention to the truth that the entire cosmos belongs to God. They responded by deceiving him, just as he deceived them.
The follower of Muhammad knows that calling to God is not a call to His essence but to His names. It is said that the god-fearing will be gathered to the Merciful as a group, using a particle of direction tied to God’s name, the Merciful, indicating that the cosmos is under the providence of a divine name that obliges humans to be god-fearing. In their deception, Noah’s people urged not to abandon their gods—Wadd, Suwa‘, Yaghuth, Ya‘uq, and Nasr. Renouncing these gods would limit their knowledge of the Real, for He is reflected in every worshiped god, whether known or unknown.
For Muhammad’s followers, it is decreed that you worship none but God, meaning He ordered it. The knower understands the object of worship and the form through which it is manifested for worship. They recognize that separation and multiplicity in these objects are like parts in a sensible form or spiritual faculties in a spiritual form. Thus, God is worshiped in every object of worship. The inferior person imagines divinity in these objects, leading them to worship stones or other things. If asked to name their idols, they would list stones, trees, or stars. If asked whom they worshiped, they would say “a god,” not God or the god. The superior person, free from imagination, sees these as divine manifestations to be exalted without confining worship to a specific object. The inferior person claims they worship idols to draw nearer to God, while the superior, the knower, declares your God is one, so submit to Him wherever He is manifest, bringing good news to the humble whose natural fire is extinguished, saying “a god” rather than “a nature.”
Noah’s people led many astray, confusing them about the One through various aspects and attributions. They were urged not to increase the misguidance of those who harm their souls. The elect, who inherited the Scripture, are the foremost among three groups, given precedence over the moderate and the foremost. By those who go astray, Noah meant the perplexity of Muhammad’s follower, who prays to increase their perplexity regarding God. When lightning flashes, they walk forward, but in darkness, they stand still.
The perplexed person circles the Pole, moving continuously without interruption, while one who takes a long course veers away, seeking only their current state and imagining their aim, beginning, end, and what lies between. The person on the circular course has no starting point, no exit, and no final destination. They possess complete existence, endowed with all-comprehensive words and wisdoms.
Because of their steps beyond, Noah’s people were drowned in the seas of God’s knowledge, which is perplexity, and entered a Fire, which, for Muhammad’s followers, equates to drowning. When the seas boil over, it is like an oven set ablaze. They found none to help them but God, their only source of aid, and were annihilated in Him forever. Had God brought them to the shore of nature, the phenomenal world, He would have lowered them from this lofty rank, though the entire cosmos belongs to God, exists through God, and is God.
Noah prayed, “My Lord,” not “My God,” for Lord signifies stability, while God has many names, as He acts differently each day. By Lord, Noah meant stability amid variation, for only God has real existence. Noah asked God not to leave any unbelievers on earth, meaning to make them dwell in its depths. A follower of Muhammad might say that if you drop a rope, it will fall upon God, for everything in the heavens and earth belongs to Him. When buried in the earth, you are within it, your place. From the earth you were created, to it you return, and from it you will be raised again, due to the variety of aspects involved. Noah urged not to leave those who conceal, who covered their heads and plugged their ears to find cover, as he called them to be covered, for covering means concealing.
Noah emphasized “one” to show that the call and its benefit are universal. If God left them, they would lead His servants astray, confounding them and drawing them from servanthood to the mysteries of Lordship within them. They would see themselves as lords after being servants, thus both servants and lords. They would produce only those who break, manifesting what was concealed, or those who conceal, hiding what was manifest after its revelation. They manifest the hidden, then conceal the revealed, bewildering the beholder, who cannot discern the aim of manifestation or concealment, nor the unity of the one performing both actions. Noah prayed, “My Lord, conceal me,” so none would know his true value or station, just as God’s value is unknown when it is said they did not assess God’s true worth. He sought concealment for his parents—intellect and nature that produced him—and for whoever enters his house, his heart, believing the divine messages within derive from their souls. He included male believers from the intellect and female believers from the souls. He asked not to increase those who are obscure, the people of the hidden world behind dark veils, but to grant them destruction, meaning annihilation in God, so they see only the Real’s face, unaware of their souls. It is said to Muhammad’s followers that everything perishes except His face. Destruction means annihilation. To know Noah’s mysteries, one must ascend to his sphere, the sun. God speaks the Truth.