that mutual encounter here is the act of two agents. It is a descent from two, each seeking the other so as to alight upon or with him—say it as you wish. They meet along the way at a particular place. This is called a mutual encounter because of this seeking on the part of each.
In reality this descent is an ascent on the servant's part. We call it a descent[1] only because through that ascent he seeks to alight with the Real.
He, exalted is He, said, “To Him ascends the good word, and righteous work raises it” [Fāṭir 35:10]. It is thus his Burāq, by which he is borne by night to Him and alights with Him.
Concerning Himself, exalted is He, according to what the Messenger of God, God's blessings and peace be upon him, related from Him, he said, “Our Lord descends to the lowest heaven every night”—the report in full.
He described Him as descending to us and for us. This is a descent of the Real to creation, while from us it is a descent of creation with the Real. We cannot possess elevation, grandeur, and independence of Him. Ours is the attribute of smallness and poverty toward Him; His is the attribute of self-sufficiency and grandeur.
All of us are poor toward Him,
All of us are small before Him,
All of us see Him as other than ourselves,
While He is the Great, independent of us—
Except me: I see Him
As my very entity, and I am indeed well informed.
After knowing this, I said: I am
A servant poor toward His self-sufficiency.
(The Ranks of Considering the Two Sides of Mutual Encounter)
In reality, through us we alight with Him, and through us He alights with us. Were it not for this,
Notes
[1]
(Here the author distinguishes between the direction of the servant's ascent and the end he seeks: alighting with the Real. From this consideration he explains calling the movement from both sides a “mutual encounter.”)
