Whoever knows their Self, knows their Lord. Praise belongs to God… Before whose Oneness there is no Before, unless the Before is God. And after whose Singleness, there is no After, unless the After is God. HE IS — and there is not with Him any before, or after… Above, or below; Closeness, or distance; How, or where, or when; Time, or moment, or duration; Manifested existence, or place… And He is now, as He has always been.
It is the One without Oneness, And the Single without Singleness… It is not composed of Name and Named… For The Name is That, and The Named is That… And there is no Name or Named, other than That. It is The First without Firstness, And The Last without Lastness… It is The Apparent without Appearance, And The Hidden without Hiddenness… It is the very existence of the Letters of the Names, The First, and The Last; The Apparent, and The Hidden… There is no First or Last, Apparent or Hidden, Except Him… Without the Letters which form these Divine Names becoming Him; And without Him becoming these Letters.
Understand this, so as not to make the mistake of those who believe in incarnation: He is not in anything; and no thing is in Him — whether entering into Him, or coming out of Him… It is in this way that you should know Him, and not through theoretical knowledge, reason, understanding or conjecture… Nor with the senses, the external eye or interior sight or perception. No one sees Him except Himself, no one reaches Him except Himself and no one knows Him except Himself. He knows Himself through Himself and He sees Himself by means of Himself. No one but He sees Him. Its veil is its Oneness since nothing veils it other than that. His own being veils Him. His being is concealed by His Oneness without any condition.No one other than That sees It. No sent prophet, perfect saint or angel brought close knows It. Its Prophet is That; Its Messenger is That; Its Message is That; and The Word is That. He sent Himself from Himself, through Himself to Himself. There is no intermediary or means other than Him. There is no difference between the sender, that which is sent and the one to whom it is sent. The very existence of the prophetic message is His existence. There is no existence to any other who could pass away, or have a name or be named.
Because of this, the Prophet said, “Whoever knows their self, knows their Lord.” He also said, “I knew my Lord through my Lord.” What the Prophet pointed out by that, is that you are not you, but you are Him and there is no you. It is not that He enters into you or that you enter into Him, or that He comes out of you or that you come out of Him. That does not mean that you have being and you are qualified by this or that attribute. What is meant is that you never were, and never will be, whether through yourself or through Him or in Him or with Him. You have never ceased to be, nor are you existent. You are Him and He is you, without any of these imperfections. If you know your existence in this way, then you know God; And if not, then not.
Most of those who claim to know God make the knowledge of God dependent on the passing away of existence; and on the passing away of that passing away. That is clearly an error and misconception. The knowledge of God does not require the passing away of existence, or the passing away of that passing away. Because things have no existence, and what does not exist cannot pass away. Passing away implies the prior existence of the thing that passes away. If you know yourself without existing, and passing away, then you know God. And if not, then not.
The Prophet said, “Whoever knows their Self, knows their Lord.” He did not say, “Whoever annihilates their Self, knows their Lord.” Your being is no thing. And whatever is nothing cannot be placed in relationship to anything else. Whether it is capable of passing away or not. And whether it is existent or nonexistent. The Prophet alluded to the fact that you are nonexistent, as you were nonexistent before creation. Because Now is Eternity without Beginning. And Now is Eternity without End. And Now is Timelessness. God is the very Being of Eternity without Beginning, Eternity without End, and Timelessness. Even though, in reality, there is no Eternity without Beginning; Eternity without End; or Timelessness. If it were otherwise, He would not be alone, without any associate.
If someone asks, “What is the way to knowledge of the Self, and knowledge of God?” The answer is, “It consists in being aware that God is, and nothing is with it. And it is Now as it has always been.” If someone then says, “I see myself as other than God, and I do not see God as myself.” The answer is, “The Prophet meant, by the word Self, your Being, and your Essential Reality. And not the Self which is called the blaming self, or the lower self, or the self which is known as the confident and peaceful self.” So the Prophet saw things as they are: that is, he saw them as the essence of God, which is exalted — without how or where. The word ‘things’ applies to the Self, and to other things, because the existence of the Self, and the existence of things, are equal, in terms of being things. When you know the things, you know yourself. And when you know yourself, you know the Lord. Because what you think is other than God, is not other than God, but you do not know it. You see Him, and you do not know that you see Him. When this secret is revealed to you, you will know that you are not other than God, but that you yourself are the object of your quest. You do not need to get rid of yourself. You have not ceased; nor will you cease to exist — without time, and without moments. You will see God’s attributes as your attributes; your exterior as God’s exterior; your interior as God’s interior; your first as God’s first; and your last as God’s last — without any doubt or uncertainty. You will see your attributes to be God’s attributes; and your essence to be God’s essence — without you becoming God, and without God becoming you, in the least degree. Everything passes away except God’s face: both outwardly and inwardly. This means that there is no existent but that. Nothing other than that has being, and therefore has to pass away, so that God’s face remains. There is nothing except God’s face. It is as if a person who does not know something, then comes to know it. There existence does not disappear, but their ignorance disappears. There existence remains as it was, without being exchanged for another. And without the existence of the ignorant person being added to or mixed with the knowing person. Ignorance simply disappears. That is why the person who has reached the essential truth is allowed to say: “I am the truth.” Or, “Glory to me.” No one has truly reached God, unless they see their attributes to be the attributes of God, and their essence to be the essence of God. They see that their Self has never been their own; nor that it was — and then it passed away. Because there is no Self except Himself, and there is no being except God’s Being. When you know yourself, your egoism disappears: and you know that you are no other than God. If you had an independent existence, you would have no need of passing away — or of self-knowledge. You would therefore be a Lord apart from God; but there is no Lord apart from God, who is blessed and exalted. The benefit of the knowledge of the Self, is to know for certain that you are neither existent, nor non-existent. That you are not; never have been; and never will be. In this way, the meaning of “there is no God but God” becomes clear. There is no divinity other than That. Being belongs to none but That. There is no other except God. There is no God but That.
If someone now asks you, “What is the way to union?” When you assert that there is no other than God; yet one thing cannot be united to itself — then this is the reply: ... There is no doubt that in reality there is neither union not separation, distance or closeness. Since union is only possible between two things, and if there is only one: there can be neither union, nor separation. Union requires two things, which are either similar, in which case they are equal; or dissimilar, in which case they are opposites. However God is exalted far above having any opposite or equal. Therefore union lies in something other than union. Closeness in something other than closeness. And distance in something other than distance. There is union without union, closeness without closeness, and distance without distance. If someone asks, “We understand union without union, but what does closeness without closeness, and distance without distance mean?” Then the answer is: “I mean that, in those times of closeness and distance, you were not anything other than God… But you did not know yourself. And you were not aware that you were always That - without you. When you reach God; that is, when you know yourself in a way that is beyond all condition: you know that you are That — and you did not know before whether you were That, or other than That. When knowledge comes upon you, you know that it is through God that you know God, not through yourself. Whoever understands this knows that there is no union or separation. The Knower is That. And the Known is That. The One who sees is That; and what is seen is That. The One who arrives is That; and what One arrives at, is That. No other than That reaches union; no other than That separates from That. Whoever understands this is free from the polytheism of polytheism, and whoever has not understood this has not breathed the scent of this freedom from polytheism. You thought you were you. But you are not you, and never were. For if you were you, you would be a Lord, and a second of two.
Stop what you were thinking: between God’s Being and Your Being, there is no difference. God is no different from you. Nor you from God. If you say in ignorance, you are Other — you are stubborn; but if your ignorance disappears, you are submissive. For your union is separation; your separation, union; and your distance is closeness. Through that you become suitable. Abandon the intellect, and understand by the light of unveiling; so that what you are safeguarding does not escape you. Do not debase yourself by associating Other with God — for associating Other with God is debasing. God has informed us in saying eyes do not perceive The Absolute — that there is no Other except That. This means that no Other than That perceives That. That is, One who perceives That, is That. There is no Other than That. It is the One who Perceives Its Own Essence, not Another. Eyes do not perceive That, for they are nothing other than That Being. Whoever maintains that eyes do not perceive that, because they are transient; and what is transient cannot grasp what is Eternal and Everlasting — still does not know their Self. For there is nothing, and there are no eyes that are not That. That perceives its own Being without the existence of perception, without condition and without Other. I knew the Lord through the Lord, without doubt or uncertainty. My essence is really Its essence, without lack or imperfection. There is no Otherness between them, and my Self is where the Invisible appears. Since I have known myself, without mixture, or blemish — I have reached Union with my Beloved, without distance or closeness. I received a gift overflowing, without any giving or intermingling. Myself did not vanish in That… Nor does the One who vanished, remain.