Third ray:

O my transgressing soul, full of doubts and subject to evil suggestions. You say that such verses as: In His hand is the dominion of everything (36:83), There is not a moving creature, but He has grasp of it by the forelock (11:56), and: We are nearer to him than the jugular vein (50:16) show that God is infinitely near to us. On the other hand, such verses as: To Him you are being brought back (36:83) and: The angels and the spirit ascend to Him in a day the measure of which is 50,000 years (70:4), as well as the hadith: "God Almighty is beyond 70,000 veils" and such truths as those contained in the Prophet's Ascension, show that we are infinitely far from Him. Please explain this.

O my soul, consider the following: At the end of the "First Ray," I said that the sun is nearer to you than your eye's pupil (your spirit's window and mirror), due to its unrestricted light and immaterial reflection. However, because you are bounded by certain conditions and imprisoned within matter's walls, you are very far from it. You can make contact with it only through some of its reflections and shadows, meet with it through particular manifestations, and draw close to its colors (attributes) and rays and images (a grouping of its names).

If you seek direct contact, you must transcend numerous restrictions and acquire many universal attributes. Simply put, in terms of spiritual transcendence, only after becoming as large as Earth, expanding in spirit like the air, rising as far as the moon, and directly confronting the sun as the full moon does, could you claim to meet with the sun in person and without any veil, and draw near to it to some degree. In the same way, the All-Majestic One of Perfection, the Peerlessly Beautiful One, the Necessarily Existent One, the Creator of All Things, the Eternal Sun, the Monarch with no beginning and end, is nearer to you than yourself, although you are infinitely far from Him.

A king has many names or ranks, one being Commander-in-Chief. With this rank, he enjoys full authority in all military offices and ranks from the office of Field Marshall to that of Corporal. A private acknowledges a corporal as his superior, and through him is in touch with one connected to the Commander-in-Chief. If he wishes direct contact with the Commander-in-Chief, he must rise higher in the ranks. This means that the king is extremely close to the soldier in many different ways (e.g., through his name, rule, law, knowledge, and so on). If he is purified spiritually, he may oversee every soldier simultaneously without being seen. Nothing can block him. But many ranks and veils block the private from the king's presence. Sometimes, however, the king admits a private to his presence out of his compassion, and favors him with his grace.

In almost the same way, the All-Majestic One, the Lord of the command Be! and it is, for Whom the suns and stars are like soldiers, is nearer to all things than themselves, while all things are infinitely far from Him. If you wish to enter His Presence of Grandeur directly, you would have to pass through 70,000 veils of darkness and light (i.e., material and physical veils as well as those of the Divine Names and Attributes), transcend thousands of particular and universal degrees of each Name's manifestation, rise through the most elevated levels of His Attributes, and ascend as high as His Greatest Throne, which is favored with His Greatest Name's manifestation, or His Names' most universal manifestation. If God does not favor you by drawing you to Himself, you would have to strive and journey spiritually for thousands of years.

For example, if you want to draw near to Him through His Name of Creator, you must connect with Him first on account of His being your creator, and then on account of His being the Creator of all human beings, living creatures, and beings. Otherwise, you will remain in shadow and only find a particular manifestation.

A note: As the king in the above example is relatively impotent, he uses such intermediaries as field marshals and generals to execute his commands. But the Absolutely Powerful One, in Whose hand is the dominion of all things, needs no intermediaries. Angels and natural causes are only appearances, veils to His Dignity and Grandeur, heralds and observers of His Lordship's sovereignty—being the Sustainer, Upbringer, and Administrator—in worship, amazement, helplessness, and want. They are not His assistants, and cannot be partners in His Lordship's sovereignty.

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