Angels are intellects created from amā (the Cloud of Unknowing). From this station, the first thing created is the divine Pen. Allah chose the Pen, presented it, and in the assembly convened to create the entire cosmos, assigned it its task, entrusted it with overseeing the interests of creation, and made this an act of worship offered as a means of drawing near to Allah... (Futūḥāt, II, 416)
Amā, according to us, is the station (ḥaḍra) of aḥadiyya (absolute oneness). For no one other than Him can know it. He, however, is within the veil of Majesty. It has been said that it (amā) is the station of wāḥidiyya (the source of names and attributes), for amā is a subtle cloud. A cloud is a veil between the sky and the earth. This station is a veil between the heaven of aḥadiyya and the earth of multiplicity of creation. The Prophetic ḥadīth does not contradict this. For when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked, "Where was our Lord before He created creation?" he replied, "He was in amā."
This station is determined by the first self-disclosure (taʿayyun). For it is the locus of multiplicity, the place where realities (ḥaqāʾiq) manifest and where the relations (nisab) pertaining to names reside. All things that become manifest are created. The First Intellect appeared first. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "The first thing Allah created was the Pen." Therefore, before the first created thing was created, and even after, there was nothing in amā. The proof is that the one who accepts this view calls this station the station of possibility (imkān), the station that unites the rulings of necessity (wujūb) and possibility (imkān), and the reality of the human being (insānī ḥaqīqa). It is known that all of these are created. In this station, it is accepted that the Real (al-Ḥaqq) manifests with the attributes of creation. All of these require that creation was not present before it was created. Otherwise, what could the questioner mean by asking about the creation of the corporeal world! Thus, amā...