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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Risalah Al- Wilayah:vicegerency (a Treatise On Islamic Mysticism and Spiritual Wayfaring) Chapter 2: If the system of creation is not mentally posited, how could its reality be? In other words: Of what kind are these hidden secrets that are concealed in the shariah? We Say: Intellectual arguments unanimously agree that causality and effect are like perfection and deficiency, and diffusion is like the diffusion of a shadow from the object that casts it.

They also agree that deficiencies are among the exigencies of the level of effect, and that this world has other worlds prior to it in a cause and effect manner, until it arrives at the First Almighty Truth.

What can be concluded from this discussion in general is that all perfections that exist in this world exist in what is above it in a higher and nobler form and the deficiencies in this world are specific to this world, do not exist in the levels above it, and of course are not transferred to them. This is a short explanation, and to explain and comment on this subject to its full capacity and afford it the credibility it deserves is very difficult, or impossible.

An example: The perfections of this world, like delicious food, quenching drinks, beautiful pictures, and the like are some of the greatest things one enjoy in this realm. The first thing about them is that they do not exist permanently; they appear only for a limited time and are beset by myriads of natural afflictions and external defects or possible deformities which, if one of them is experienced the beauty of these perfections would disappear.

The pleasure sought in these things, and indeed the pleasure itself and the subject of pleasure are all posited between thousands and thousands of negating factors which if [any of these three] incline towards them, the pleasure will become nullified and be ruined. Moreover, if we contemplate enough we will find that all of these deficiencies and negative factors like physical and delusional deficiencies, go back to matter, whether from the beginning or through the mediation of something else.

Accordingly, if there was no matter then there would have been no deficiency to go back to. Therefore, these pleasures are restricted to this world only, and the world that is above this one is devoid of these deficiencies and free of these defects. For indeed without argument, they are forms without matter and are imaginal pleasures.