“Not a thorn pricks without his will; Not a thread is broken without his direction.”
He is strong, and possesses a perfect power; without the help of instruments he performs every thing; from nothingness he brings forth beings; he hears without an ear; he sees without an eye:
“He hears the petition from afar and near: He sees, be there light or darkness.”
He speaks, but his speech comes not from his throat, nor from the tongue and the palate; but what he announces or withholds is nothing more than his speech; and his silence is eloquence.
“When God, the Almighty, without words and letters Spoke to nothingness sublime mysteries, Nothingness was moved by delight at these speeches, Dancing through the area of existence.”
The emergencies of the world, good or bad, are all from his disposition; and the actions pleasing or repulsive, are all his creation.
“The good and evil, if they be the necessities of predestination, The one is contrary, the other conformable, to his pleasure. He does what he likes, and knows of no hinderance nor favor; Who is possessed of power like his? Justice and virtue tend towards him, Injustice is foreign to his actions.”
The angels are neither females nor males, and are pure of all depravity and sins. Some of the first rank among them are entranced in the contemplation of the divine perfection which they witness, so that they are not aware of God Almighty having created the world and mankind. The second order of angels are the ministers of bodies and gigantic forms; the revolution of the heavens is their office; and with every drop of rain an angel comes down, and no leaf appears without an angel fostering it. But among the angels four are distinguished, namely: _Jabrîl_, _Isráfîl_, _Mâîkáíl_, and _Azráîl_. The message of revelation is the business of Jabrîl; to sound the trumpet belongs to Isráfîl; the surety of professions is Mâikáil’s; and Azráil seizes the souls. Four angels are the appointed guardians of mankind, and write down the good and the bad; two of them are occupied with this business during the day, and two during the night. The writers of the good keep the right side, those of the bad the left. The angels can in some form appear to men;