I glorify and declare holy Allah, Exalted is He, who veils the secret of His particularity (maʿrifa, experiential knowledge of God) with the manifestation of human nature, and who is manifest with the majesty of lordship (rubūbiyya) in the display of servanthood.
Poetic Translation
I glorify that Pure Being who conceals your particular secret
From sight by the manifestation of humanity
And who, with the greatest attribute of lordship,
Is manifest and apparent in the display of servanthood as al-Ḥaqq (the Real).
Explanation
O Lord, open the eye of the soul and save it from spiritual blindness! / Make me an eye that sees on the path to the secret of the Beloved's abode!
The secret of particularity refers to the divine knowledge and maʿrifa (experiential knowledge of God), and the hidden sublime mysteries that Allah bestows upon the great awliyāʾ (friends of God), and inspires into the hearts of the asfiyāʾ (the pure ones), who are the treasuries of the unseen. More precisely, it is the reality of maʿrifa that annihilates the existence and being of anything other than Allah. This maʿrifa is the result of the preparation for the hereafter and the receptivity to divine effusions by the people of walāya (sainthood). The Absolutely Wise Lord veils His pure divine secrets so that they are not held hostage to the existence of created things (mā siwā), human defects, and natural states, and thus remain hidden from ordinariness and publicity. For all people of intellect admit the necessity of a cloud for the shining sun, and a veil for the beauty of the beautiful.
The manifestations of servanthood in which Allah, Exalted is He, is apparent with the majesty of lordship (rubūbiyya), are those contingent states and attributes—such as neediness and illness—that suddenly appear as part of human nature and necessitate the need for Allah. When a person is afflicted by one of these contingent attributes, which are inherent to the reality of humanity, he is necessarily compelled to seek refuge in the attributes of the Pre-Eternal, the Necessary Existent, to remove this affliction. Therefore, before the eye that sees the Real, the existence of a true deity, characterized by the majesty of lordship and capable of removing such afflictions, becomes manifest and apparent. If these manifestations of servanthood, which are the reality of worship, did not appear in the realm of manifestation, the majesty of lordship would remain unknown; and if the majesty of lordship did not show its face from behind the veil of servanthood, it would remain forever hidden in the solitude of the inner realms, never becoming manifest or visible. For this reason, the noble Hasan al-Shadhili said:
Asfiyāʾ: Those realized individuals who possess purity, taqwa (God-consciousness), and perfection, who inherit from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and strive to revive and implement his path and aims. He said: "Servanthood is a most precious jewel that lordship has brought to the marketplace of manifestation!"
Fa-subḥāna’l-laṭīf al-khabīr, wa huwa ʿalā kulli shayʾin qadīr.
Some people of truth have interpreted the verse, "Do as Allah has done ihsan (spiritual excellence) to you!" (al-Qaṣaṣ 28:77), in light of this wisdom as follows: "O My servant, you were hidden and without sign, and I was manifest and apparent. I showed you ihsan and made you manifest, and concealed My secret of lordship within you. So you, too, show ihsan as I have done, and by concealing My existence, make Me manifest!"
The appearance of multiplicity is but the reflection of the light of hudā (guidance) of God; the diversity of forms in things is the effect of...