makes the whole universe into a mighty book of wisdom every letter of which contains a hundred words, and every word of which contains a hundred lines, and every line of which contains a thousand chapters, and every chapter of which contains hundreds of small books.

Then see the imperious beauty of a justice which holds the whole universe and all its beings in equilibrium; and maintains the balance of all the heavenly bodies, lofty and lowly; and supplies symmetry and proportion, the most important elements of beauty; and causes everything to acquire the optimum state; and gives the right to life to living beings, and ensures that their rights are preserved; and halts and punishes aggressors.

Then consider the inscription of man’s life story in his memory, as tiny as a grain of wheat, and the programmes of the second lives of all plants and trees in their seeds; and the members and faculties necessary for the defence of living beings, for instance bees’ wings and their poisonous stings, and the small bayonets of thorned plants, and the hard shells of seeds; and see the subtle beauty of dominical preservation and protection.

Then consider the guests at the table of the earth of the Most Merciful and Compassionate One, Who is absolutely Munificent, and the pleasant smells of the numberless different foods prepared by mercy, and their beautiful and various colours, and their delicious and differing tastes, and the organs and members of all living creatures which assist their pleasure and enjoyment; and see the exceedingly pleasant, sweet beauty of dominical bestowal and munificence.

Then consider the meaningful forms of foremost man and of all living creatures, which are opened up from droplets of fluid through the manifestation of the Names of Opener and Giver of Form, and the attractive faces of the flowers of spring opened up from seeds and tiny nuclei; and see the miraculous beauty of Divine ‘opening’ and giving of form.

Thus, by analogy with these examples, each of the Divine Names has a sacred beauty particular to it a single manifestation of which makes beautiful the vast world and innumerable species of beings. You may see the manifestation of a Name’s beauty in a single