In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
But His command when He wills a thing, is only to say to it: "Be," and it is. So glory be to Him in Whose hand is the dominion of all things, and to Him you are being brought back. (36:82-3)

First ray:

O my ignorant soul. You mention the following Qur'anic truths: the Divine Being is One, despite His acts' universality; the Divine Person is One, yet His Lordship's functions (e.g., sustaining, upbringing, and administering) are universal and unassisted; He is One, yet His control is all-embracing and unshared; He is not contained in space, yet is omnipresent; He is close to all beings despite His infinite transcendence; and He is One, yet dominates everything simultaneously. The Qur'an is wise, so it does not impose non-reason on reason. Reason sees an apparent contradiction between these "truths." Please explain in a way that will cause reason to submit.

My reply is as follows: Relying on the Qur'an's enlightenment, I say that the Divine Name of Light has solved many of my difficulties and will solve this one. Choosing comparison, which clarifies the mind and enlightens the heart, I say as Imam Rabbani did:

I am neither of the night nor a worshipper of the night;
I am a servant of the sun, therefore I give tidings of the sun.

Since comparison is a most brilliant mirror to the Qur'an's miraculousness, I will use it to explain this truth. A being may gain universality via mirrors. While being only one individual, it may become like a universal thing with general functions. For example, the sun is one being, but is made so universal by all transparent objects that it fills Earth with its reflections and images. Although its heat, light, and seven-colored light encompass whatever they confront, each transparent thing contains the sun's heat, light, seven colors, and image. Thus it becomes a throne for the sun. The sun is manifested in all objects with all its attributes (unity), and so encompasses all things confronting it; it is manifested in one object with all or many of its attributes simultaneously (oneness), and so is present, with many of its attributes, in each item.

We have passed from comparison to discussion of a thing's presence through some sort of manifestation of its being. Out of the many types of possible manifestation, I will discuss three:

The first: reflections of dense, material objects: Such reflections are other than the thing reflected, and so have a different identity. They are also lifeless, having no quality other than their lifeless appearance. For example, if you enter a store full of mirrors, one Said will become thousands of Saids, but only the one living Said is Said—the others are dead.

The second: reflections of material, light-giving objects: Such reflections are neither identical with nor other than the original. While not of the same nature as the original, they have most of its features and may be considered as living. For example, the sun is reflected in countless objects. Each reflection either contains its heat or light, together with its light's seven colors. If the sun were conscious, with its heat as its power, its light as its knowledge, and its seven colors as its seven attributes, it would be present in everything simultaneously, and able to rule over or make contact with each one freely and without one hindering the other. It also would be able to meet with all of us via our mirrors. While we are distant from it, it would be nearer to us than ourselves.

The third: A reflection of pure spirits created from light and having their original purity: Such reflections are living and identifiable with the original. However, since they reflect or manifest themselves according to the receptive object's or mirror's capacity, the reflections are not wholly of the same nature as the original. For example, Gabriel could be with the Prophet as Dihya (a Companion), prostrating in the Divine Presence before God's Most Exalted Throne, and be in innumerable other places relaying the Divine Commands simultaneously. Performing one duty does not block another.

In the same way Prophet Muhammad, whose essence is light and whose identity is of light, hears each member of his community in this world call blessings upon him simultaneously. On the Day of Judgment, he will meet with all purified people at the same time. In fact, some saints who have acquired a high degree of purity and refinement (abdal: substitutes) are seen in many places and doing many things simultaneously. Just as glass and water reflect material objects, so do air, ether, and certain beings of the World of Ideas or Immaterial Forms reflect and transport such beings with the speed of light and imagination. This allows them to travel in thousands of pure realms and refined abodes at the same time.

Helpless and subjugated items like the sun, and creatures like matter-restricted spirit beings, can be present in many places at once because they are either light-giving creatures or created of light. Despite being particulars bounded by certain conditions, they become like absolute universals. With their limited power of choice, they can do many things at once.

The Most Holy Being is wholly transcendent and free of matter, far above and exempt from any restriction and the darkness of density and compactness. All lights and luminous beings, whether light-giving or created of light, are dense shadows of His Names' sacred lights. All existence and life, as well as the World of Spirits and the World of Ideas or Immaterial Forms, are semi-transparent mirrors of His Beauty. His attributes are all-embracing, and His essential "functional" qualities are universal. What could escape or hide from His manifestation with all His Attributes, particularly His universal Will, absolute Power, and all-encompassing Knowledge? What could be difficult for Him? Who could be distant from Him? Who could draw close to Him without acquiring universality?

The sun's unrestricted light and immaterial reflection makes it nearer to you than your eye's pupil, while your being bounded by certain conditions keeps you far from it. To draw near, you must transcend many restrictions and acquire many universal attributes. You would have to acquire an identity unaffected by heat, and a form able to receive all of its manifestations or live in its vicinity. Only then could you directly approach, to a degree, the sun in its essential identity and meet with it without veil. In the same way, the All-Majestic One of Grace, the All-Gracious One of Perfection, is infinitely near to you, while you are infinitely far from Him.

Related Items:

• Eleventh Truth (Four Indications)
• "God is the Greatest,"
• "Houris are clothed in 70 garments, yet the marrow of their leg-bones may be seen"
• "Some inhabitants of Paradise will be given a place as large as the world"
• A look at the death and the Hereafter in the light of the Qur'an