Real.
I have seen Him within this self-disclosure and seen many people of God not recognize Him and deny Him. I marveled until informed that, though they belong to the people of God, this is through acting upon God’s commands, not knowing: they are people of faith. Since three ranks lie between alif and rāʾ among these letters, rāʾ lacks alif’s strength. Alif neither bears nor receives a vowel-motion, whereas rāʾ is not thus.
(Seclusion and Being Alone)
Know that obliteration of obliteration is more complete among the people of God within this world, while obliteration is more complete within the Hereafter. Only God’s most particular elect attain obliteration of obliteration: it belongs to intellects whose bodily structures are illumined. The elect attain obliteration, which belongs to illumined souls. May God make us among those whose obliteration He obliterates, so their Real is alone with them.
This is called the Real’s seclusion: He is neither witnessed nor seen. Even if some people know Him, He is not witnessed by them. From this reality the people of God took seclusion to be alone, having seen Him, exalted is He, take it to be alone with His servant.
Hence within a time there is only one called the Succor and the Pole: the one with whom the Real is alone and secluded apart from His creation. When he leaves his illumined bodily structure, He is alone with another person, not with two persons at one time.[62] This divine seclusion belongs to the knowledge of secrets neither divulged nor disclosed. We have mentioned and named it only to alert the hearts of those heedless
Notes
[62]
(“بشخص” was corrected to “بشخصين” [“with two persons”] by comparison with the newer edition.)
