Know that the [divine] gifts and favors manifest in the realm of determined being, whether through His servants or not, are divided into two kinds, gifts of the Essence and gifts of the Names, just as there are those gifts [bestowed in answer] to a specific request and those [given in answer] to a general request. There are those gifts also that are bestowed without any request, whether they derive from the Essence or the Names. An example of a request for something specific is one who says, "0 Lord, grant to me such and such," specifying something to the exclusion of anything else. An example of a general request is one who says, "Grant to me what You know to be in my interest, whether for my subtle or physical being."
Those who ask are of two kinds: The first kind is urged to make a request by a natural eagerness, for, Man was created hasty, while the second kind is moved to make the request because he knows that there are certain things with God that cannot, in accordance with the divine Prescience, be obtained except by asking for them. He says [to himself], "Perhaps what we are about to ask for from God is of this kind." Thus his request is by way of taking full account of the possibilities inherent in the divine Command [the thing asked for]. He cannot know what is in the knowledge of God, nor can he know his own eternally determined predisposition to receive, for to be, at each instant, aware of one's [eternal] predisposition is one of the most difficult kinds of knowledge. Indeed, were it not for that with which the predisposition imbues the request, he would not make the request at all.
For those practicing the Presence of God who do not usually know this, the most they attain to is to know it [their predisposition] at the time [of receiving or asking]. This is because, by reason of their presence with God, they know what the Reality bestows on them at that time and they know that they receive it only because of their predisposition to receive it. They are of two kinds: those who know their predisposition by knowing what they receive, the others knowing what they [will] receive by knowing their predisposition. Of these, the latter is the more complete knowledge of the predisposition.
There are also those who ask, not because of any natural impulse, nor yet through knowledge of the possibilities, but simply to conform with God's command, Call upon Me and I will answer you. Such a one is eminently a servant, for in such a supplication there is no trace of self-interest, the concern being directed solely to conformity with the behest of his Master. If his state necessitates a request on his part, he asks for more servanthood, whereas if it necessitates silence and resignation, he is silent.
Job and others were sorely tried, but they did not ask that their affliction from God be lifted from them. At a later time their state necessitated their making such a request and God answered them. The speed or tardiness in granting what is requested depends entirely on the measure appointed for it with God. If a request is made at just the right moment for it, the response is swift, but if its time is not yet due, either in this life or until the next life, the response will be postponed until that time. By this is meant the granting of the thing requested, not the principle of divine response, which is always, "I am here," so consider well.
As regards our reference to those gifts bestowed without any request being made, I meant a request that is articulated, for in the case of any [divine] action [gift] there must be a request [a recipient], whether it be expressed in words or is inherent in the state or predisposition.
Similarly the praising of God usually means its articulation, whereas in the inner sense the praise is necessitated by the [spiritual] state, for that which impels you to praise God is that essential element in you that binds you to a Divine Name, whether expressing His activity or transcendence. The servant is not aware of his predisposition, but only of the spiritual state, which he knows as that which impels him, since knowledge of the predisposition is the most hidden. Those who [receive God's gifts and] do not make a request omit to make a request only because they know that God possesses, in respect of them, predetermining knowledge. They have made themselves ever ready to receive whatever comes from Him and have withdrawn completely from their separative selves and their aims.
Of these persons there are those who know that God's knowledge of them, in all their states, corresponds to what they themselves are in their state of pre-existent latency. They know that the Reality will bestow on them only that which their latent essences contribute to Him [as being what He knows Himself to be]. Thus they know the origin of God's [predetermining] knowledge concerning them. Of the Folk there are none higher or more intuitive than this kind [who do not ask], for they have grasped the mystery of the divine Pre-measurement. This group is itself divided into two parts: those who possess this knowledge in a general way and those who have a detailed knowledge, the latter [knowledge] being more elevated and complete. In this case he knows what God knows concerning himself, either because God informs him of what his essence has contributed to His knowledge of him, or because God has revealed to him his essence in all its infinite fluctuations of spiritual state. This is higher than the general knowledge.
Such a one, in respect of his knowledge of himself, knows himself as God knows him, since the object [of knowledge] is the same in both cases. However, in respect of his creatureliness, his knowledge is nothing but a favor from God, one of a multitude of predetermined [spiritual] states [inherent] in his essence. The recipient of such a revelation recognizes this fact when God shows to him the states [inherent] in his essence; for it is not possible for a creature, when God shows to him the states of his essence, on which the created form will be cast, to look on it as the Reality looks on the latent essences in their state of non being, since they are formless attributions of the Essence. If all of this is understood, we can say that this parity [in knowledge, as between God and the servant] is a divine favor predetermined for that servant. In this regard is His saying, [ We will try you] until we know [which of you strive], which bears a very exact meaning, quite other than that imagined by those who have no direct experience [of the divine mysteries]. Concerning this verse, the most the transcendentalist could say, using the highest of his mental powers, would be that the [apparent] temporality in God's knowledge is due to its dependence [on creatures], except that he maintains the distinction of the knowledge from the Essence, and so ascribes the dependence to it and not to the Essence. By this he is distinguished from the true knower of God, the recipient of revelation.
Returning to the subject of the divine gifts, we have already maintained that these stem either from the Essence or from the Divine Names. As for favors or gifts of the first kind, they can result only from a divine Self-revelation, which occurs only in a form conforming to the essential predisposition of the recipient of such a revelation. Thus, the recipient sees nothing other than his own form in the mirror of the Reality. He does not sec the Reality Itself, which is not possible, although he knows that he may sec only his [true] form in It. As in the case of a mirror and the beholder, he sees the form in it, but does not see the mirror itself, despite his knowledge that he sees only his own and other images by means of it. God makes this comparison so that the recipient of a divine Self-revelation should know that it is not Him Whom he sees. The analogy of a mirror is the closest and most faithful one for a vision of a divine Self-revelation.
Try, when you look at yourself in a mirror, to see the mirror itself, and you will find that you cannot do so. So much is this the case that some have concluded that the image perceived is situated between the mirror and the eye of the beholder. This represents the greatest knowledge they are capable of [on the subject]. If you have experienced this [in the spirit] you have experienced as much as is possible for a created being, so do not seek nor weary yourself in any attempts to proceed higher than this, for there is nothing higher, nor is there beyond the point you have reached aught except the pure, undetermined, unmanifested [Absolute]. In your seeing your true self, He is your mirror and you are His mirror in which He sees His Names and their determinations, which are nothing other than Himself. The whole matter is prone to intricacy and ambiguity.
Extracts from his book "The bezels of wisdom"
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it was an awesome read!
