On the Throne (al-ʿArsh)

Know that the Throne, in [the way of] verification, is the locus of manifestation of the Magnificence, the place-rank of the self-disclosure, and the special property of the Essence; and it is called the body of the Presence and its place.

But it is the place transcendent above the six directions; it is the highest vista (al-manẓar al-aʿlā) and the most radiant locus, the one comprehending all the kinds of existents.

So it is, within absolute existence, like the body for human existence -- in the consideration that the corporeal world comprehends the spiritual world, the imaginal, the intellectual, and what is beyond that.

And for this, some of the Sufis expressed it as the Universal Body (al-jism al-kullī) -- and in that there is room for reconsideration; for the Universal Body, even though it comprehends the world of spirits,

the spirit is above it, and the Universal Soul is above it; and we do not know that in existence there is anything above the Throne except the All-Merciful (al-Raḥmān). And they have expressed the Universal Soul as the Tablet (al-Lawḥ).

So this is a ruling that the Tablet is above the Throne -- and that is contrary to the consensus (al-ijmāʿ).

Granting that whoever among our companions, the Sufis, has said

that the Throne is the Universal Body does not dispute with us that it is above the Tablet -- and he has expressed it [the Tablet] as the Universal Soul.

And there is no doubt that the rank of the Soul is higher than the rank of the Body; and what the unveiling (al-kashf) gave us concerning the Throne was [given] absolutely, since we have brought it down into the ruling of [verbal] expression.

We said that it is a sphere (falak) encompassing all the spheres, the meaning-ones and the form-ones; the surface of that sphere is the All-Merciful place-rank (al-makāna al-raḥmāniyya).

And the very ipseity of that sphere is absolute existence, whether entified or rulingly [conceptual]; and this sphere has an outward (ẓāhir) and an inward (bāṭin).

Its inward is the world of holiness (ʿālam al-quds), which is the world of the Names of the Real (glory be His and exalted) and His Attributes; and the world of holiness and its locus of disclosure is what is expressed as the Dune (al-Kathīb) to which the people of the Garden go out on the day of their being driven forth for the witnessing of the Real.

And its outward is the world of humankind (ʿālam al-ins), which is the place of likening (tashbīh), corporealization, and imaging; and for this it is the roof of the Garden.

So every likening, corporealization, and imaging -- of any body, spirit, word, meaning, ruling, or entity -- is the outward of this sphere. So whenever the Throne is said to you absolutely [unqualified],

know that what is intended by it is this sphere [just] mentioned; and whenever it is qualified by some attribute, know

that what is intended by it is that [particular] aspect of this sphere -- as His saying "the Glorious Throne" (al-ʿarsh al-majīd), for what is intended by it, from the world of holiness, is the All-Merciful rank, which is the wellspring of glory (majd).

And likewise "the Mighty Throne" (al-ʿarsh al-ʿaẓīm): what is intended by it is the essential realities and the soul-ish requisites whose place-rank is the Magnificence (al-ʿaẓama); and that is from the world of holiness; and the world of holiness is an expression for the divine meanings sanctified above the created rulings and the cosmic deficiencies.

And know that the body, in the human frame, is the gatherer of all that the existence of the human comprehends -- of spirit, intellect, heart, and the like of that.

So it is, in the human, the counterpart of the Throne in the world; for the Throne is the frame of the world and its body, the gatherer of all its scattered things.

And by this consideration our companions said: it is the Universal Body. And there is no disagreement between us, by reason of the unity of meaning in the two expressions. And God knows best.