from the moon. For this reason we call the particular spirit light, because God made the moon a light. It is light through being made so, just as the sun is radiance through being made so. The sun is intrinsically light, and the moon is intrinsically effacement. Annihilation therefore belongs to the moon, and subsistence to the sun:
To the moon belongs annihilation in every respect;
to the sun belong illumination and subsistence.
From the beautiful face, in all its beauty,
come to us gladness and encounter.
We protected its beauty from every eye,
as bark protects a tree.
In the heaven we alighted upon an existence
to whom belong the encompassing Throne and the Cloud.
To Him belong advance and retreat within us;
His are the ruling of radiance and eminence.
When He draws near, His sitting place is spacious;
when He raises us, praise is ours.
His is the ruling of volition in my existence;
He is the Chooser, doing what He wills.
Then the spiritual and sensory faculties followed the creation of this particular spirit, breathed through the way of oneness, for He said, “I breathed” [al-Hijr 15:29]. As for the spirit of Jesus,
