and divine proclamation. After it has been studied by intelligent beings and has stated its meaning to innumerable readers, its corporeal form, which is like a letter or a word, disappears.
For about a year this instance of wisdom was sufficient for me. Then the truly wonderful and subtle miracles of art to be found in creatures, in particular in animate beings, were disclosed. I understood that these subtleties of art which are so fine and wonderful are not only to set forth meanings for the gazes of intelligent beings. For although innumerable such creatures may study each being, their studying is both limited, and not all of them will be able to penetrate all the subtleties of art in those animate beings. That is to say, the most important result of the creation of animate beings and the most significant purpose of their natures is to present to the Pre-Eternal Self-Subsistent One’s own gaze the marvels of His art and the compassionate gifts and bounties He has bestowed.
As for this purpose, it satisfied me for a long time and from it I understood the following: the wisdom and purpose of creation, which is to present the endless subtleties of art in beings, particularly in animate beings, to the gaze of the Pre-Eternally Self-Subsistent One, that is, for He Himself to behold His own art, was sufficient for that vast outlay.
Some time later I realized that the subtleties of art in the individual features and forms of beings did not continue; they were being renewed and were undergoing change at great speed; they were being transformed within an endless activity and creativity. I started to ponder over it, saying: “The wisdom in this creativity and activity must necessarily be as extensive as the activity itself.” Then, the two instances of wisdom mentioned above began to seem insufficient; they lacked something. With extreme curiosity I began to search and seek for a further purpose and instance of wisdom.
All praise be to God, through the effulgence of the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition, after some time a vast, limitless wisdom and purpose became apparent at the level of the mystery of Self-Subsistence. And through it, the divine mystery called the talisman of the universe and riddle of creation was understood. It is explained in detail in the Twenty-Fourth Letter, so here in the Third Ray we shall briefly mention only two or three points.
Look from this point to the manifestation of the mystery of Self-Subsistence: it has plucked all beings out of non-existence, and according to the meaning of the verse,
It is God who has raised the heavens without any supports that you can see,(13:2)