At one time, the benefits shown by human science and philosophy [1]  concerning the aims of beings appeared to me to be extremely insignificant. I understood from this that such philosophy leads only to futility.  Consequently,  leading philosophers either fall into the swamp of nature, or they become Sophists, or they deny divine knowledge and choice, or they call the Creator “self-necessitating.”

At that point, divine mercy sent the name of All-Wise to my aid, and it showed me the great aims of creatures. That is to say, every creature, every artefact, is a dominical missive for conscious beings to study. This aim satisfied me for a year. Then the wonders in the art of beings were unfolded to me, and the former aim began to seem deficient. Another, much greater aim became apparent, which was that the main aims of creatures look to their Maker. I understood that it consists of creatures’ presenting to His gaze the perfections of His art, the embroideries of His names, the embellishments of His wisdom, and the gifts of His mercy; it is their being mirrors to His beauty and perfections. This aim satisfied me for a long time, then the miracles of divine power and attributes of dominicality (şuûnât-ı rubûbiyet) in the extremely swift changes and transformations within the astonishing activity in the art and creation of things  became   apparent.   The  former   aim  too  began  to  appear  insufficient.   I understood that a necessitating cause, a motive, was necessary as great as that latter aim.

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[1] Human science and philosophy refers to those philosophies which are derived from human reason and which hold science to be the source and measure of truth rather than divine revelation. [Tr.]