It has been so named.
Again, some ʿārif (gnostics) have given this level the name adem-i mukaddem ʿalā’l-wujūd (non-existence preceding existence). By this designation, they do not mean that it was—God forbid—non-existent and then later came into being, but rather that existence cannot be ascribed to the Exalted Divine Essence, who is transcendent above nisba (relational attribution) and other manifestations. On the contrary, they intend by this level the reality of Absolute Existence (Mutlaq Wujūd), which is unknowable in every respect and for which there is absolutely no possibility of knowledge. For this reason, the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) called this level amā (the Cloud). (Marātib, 12)
The things said by Shaykh Muhyiddin and his followers concerning the Necessary Essence (Wājib Dhāt) are remarkable. The Essence is subject to no determination, it is unknown and mutlaq wujūd (absolute existence).
Nevertheless, they have affirmed the encompassing, nearness, and togetherness (maʿiyya) of the Essence. This judgment, regarding the Essence, is nothing other than a judgment that exalts and declares Him transcendent. The correct view in this matter is the nearness and proximity of knowledge, as stated by the scholars.
Although the cosmos is the locus where the perfections of the attributes are witnessed and the names are manifested, as asserted by the proponents of tawhid (the oneness of God) al-wujūdī (of existence), the manifest recipient (mazhar) and the manifesting (zāhir) are not identical, nor is the shadow the same as the original. (Maktūbāt, I, 42)
dhāt/dhātullāh 1249
O son, listen to this difficult-to-understand secret! The very exalted and transcendent essential perfections at the level of the Hazrat al-Dhāt (the Divine Essence) are identical with the Hazrat al-Dhāt itself. For example, the attribute of knowledge at this level is identical with the Hazrat al-Dhāt. The same is true for will, qudra (power), and the other attributes. Again, at this level, the Hazrat al-Dhāt is entirely knowledge and entirely power. That is, a part of the Hazrat al-Dhāt is not knowledge and another part power, etc. At that level, division and partition are impossible. The perfections derived from the Hazrat al-Dhāt, at the level of knowledge (ʿilm), have become detailed (these perfections have been set forth in detail by His knowledge), and thus, along with the subsistence (baqāʾ) of the exalted and transcendent Hazrat al-Dhāt (without any increase or decrease in His Essence), a distinction has arisen between these two levels. In comparison to the summary, undifferentiated simplicity of the first level, which is that of oneness (wahdāniyya), in this (second) level, there is nothing that is not included in this detail and distinguished (set apart, made different from one another). Rather, all the perfections, each of which is identical with the Essence, have entered the level of knowledge, have acquired a shadow existence (zillī wujūd) at this second level, and have been named attributes. The existence of this shadow wujūd is possible only through its original, the Hazrat al-Dhāt.
According to the author of the Fuṣūṣ (Ibn ʿArabī), the aʿyān al-thābita (fixed entities) are precisely those detailed perfections that have acquired an intellectual existence at this level of knowledge. In this poor one's view, however...