within the one ruled upon. God has stated that the identity referring back to Him is identical to what we have mentioned. No disposal therefore proceeds from Him except within Himself.
(Firstness, Lastness, and the Meaning of Concealment)
He drew attention to this through the one who kills himself, and the Garden's being forbidden to him. There is therefore no veil over him, for He is manifest to him and cannot conceal Himself from him. He made this a forestalling of Him, because He mentioned two things, first and last. The last may hasten and have the ruling of firstness, while the first, in relation to this one who hastens, has the ruling of lastness.
For this reason the expression related by the interpreter from God is, ‘My servant has forestalled Me with his own self; I have forbidden him the Garden.’ Nothing conceals Him after this unveiling, for He knows who preceded and who followed, just as ﴿He who created﴾ knows, ﴿and He is the Subtle﴾ [al-Mulk 67:14]—thus He does not appear—﴿the Aware﴾, through attaining tasted knowledge that the known thing has bestowed.
The known thing precedes knowledge in rank, even if the two are concurrent within the mind insofar as the known thing is known, not insofar as it is existence or nonexistence. It is what gives the knower knowledge. Felicity and wretchedness must therefore exist within engendered being, even if only through the air's coldness and heat, and beyond.
Whatever suits the constitution is felicity, and whatever does not suit it is wretchedness. Carry this ruling onward to aim, perfection, and the Revealed Law, judging in all this as you judge through suitability and its absence. Understand, for I intend brevity and drawing attention. God ﴿speaks the truth, and He guides the way﴾ [al-Aḥzāb 33:4].
Notes
Translator’s note: The author draws here on janna, ‘Garden,’ and the root meaning of concealment to develop his allusion. The passage's shifts of pronouns are compressed; the capitalization follows the discussion of divine Firstness, Lastness, and knowledge.
