for Him. You have authority within the cosmos. Obliteration of obliteration is your appearing by way of veiling and concealing Him. You veil Him within obliteration of obliteration, so the cosmos witnesses you as creation without Real. They do not know God sent you as a veil before them so they would not look upon Him. Obliteration of obliteration opposes obliteration: it is not an intensification of it, but like the nonexistence of nonexistence.
When the servant is established, upon departing the Real’s Presence toward creation, in authority over them without their awareness—though they may be aware concerning some persons of this kind, like the Messengers, peace be upon them, whom God made vicegerents upon earth to convey His ruling concerning them; He concealed this within the heirs, vicegerents without people’s awareness—this vicegerent, recognized or unrecognized, cannot occupy vicegerency before acquiring the meanings of the letters opening Qurʾanic surahs, their alphabetic letter-openings, such as “”, alif, lām, mīm, and the others occurring at the beginnings of certain Qurʾanic surahs.
When God acquaints him with their realities and meanings, vicegerency is appointed for him and he becomes fit to deputize. This concerns his knowledge of these letters’ outward aspect. As for their inward aspect, upon that ascending way he returns to the Real within them, discovering their secrets and meanings from the name the Hidden, until reaching their limit.
Then He veils
Notes
Translator’s note TN5561-1: The supplied text has an empty quotation before the spelled-out alif, lām, mīm; it is retained without supplying missing characters. “Alphabetic letter-openings” follows the discussion of the muʿjama letters at surah openings and the explicit letter list that follows.
