of falling into various abysses, embracing materiality, and becoming submerged in causes. As for the Unity of Witnessing, it is harmless; it is an exalted way of the people of sobriety.
O God, show us what is indeed the truth, and make us follow it!
Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.(2:32)
THIRD MATTER
An important matter that has not been solved by philosophy and reason.
Every day in [new] splendour does He [shine]!(55:29) * Indeed, your Sustainer is Doer of what He will.(11:107; 85:16)
Q u e s t i o n : What is the reason for the astonishing unceasing activity in the universe? What is the wisdom in it? Why do these fleeting beings not stop, but are continuously changed and renewed?
T h e A n s w e r : To explain the wisdom in this would require a thousand pages. So we shall leave aside a full explanation and condense in two pages an extremely brief summary of it.
If a person performs a natural function or social duty enthusiastically, anyone who observes him carefully will certainly understand that there are two things that make him act in this way:
The First are the benefits, fruits, and advantages resulting from the duty, which are called the ultimate cause.
The Second: Such things as love, desire, and pleasure cause him to perform the duty enthusiastically, and these are called the necessitating cause and reason.
For example, eating food; the pleasurable longing arising from appetite drive a person to eat, and afterwards, the result of eating is nourishing the body and perpetuating life. In the same way, “And God’s is the highest similitude,”(16:60) based on two sorts of divine names, the awesome and astonishing endless activity in the universe occurs for two vast instances of wisdom, each of which is also infinite:
The First: Almighty God’s Most Beautiful Names have incalculable sorts of manifestations. The variety in creatures arises from the variety of the manifestations. The names require to be manifested in a permanent fashion; that is, they want to display their embroideries; that is, they want to see and display the manifestations of their beauties in the mirrors of their embroideries; that is, they want every instant to renew the book of the universe and missives of beings; that is, they necessitate the continuous mean