Maʿlūmāt (things that can be known) are divided into two categories in terms of their being perceived (idrāk): the outward (ẓāhir) and the inward (bāṭin). It is also a self-evident perception of the nafs (the lower self). That which arises and comes into being from this, if it is meaning, is the intellect (ʿaql); if it is form, it is khayāl (imagination). Khayāl only comes into being in a particular way. The intellect understands and comprehends what khayāl brings forth. The power of khayāl does not have the capacity to depict some of the things produced by the intellect. Divine power, apart from all these, possesses yet another secret with itself. (Futūḥāt, I, 85)
Maʿlūmāt are three; there is no fourth. That is the absolute being (muṭlaq), which cannot be delimited. This is the very existence of the Necessary Existent (Wājib al-Wujūd) itself.
Another maʿlūm (known thing) is the pure non-existence (ʿadam-i maḥḍ), which is non-existent by its very essence (absolute non-existence). It can never be encompassed; this is muḥāl (the impossible). It corresponds to the Absolute Existence. If they are described in terms of measure, they become equal to each other. There are no two opposing things that do not have a distinguishing difference between them. If the mīzān (balance) were to govern the difference between absolute existence and absolute non-existence, they would be equal in quantity without any excess. This is the highest barzakh (isthmus, intermediary realm). It is the barzakh of barzakhs.
It has one aspect facing existence and one facing non-existence. It corresponds to each of the maʿlūmāt in itself. This is the third maʿlūm. All possibilities reside in it. Just as each of the maʿlūmāt is infinite, so is it infinite. In this barzakh, there are specific entities upon which the Absolute Existence gazes. For this reason, it is called "thing" (shayʾ). When the Real (al-Ḥaqq) wills to bring it into being, He says to it "Kun (Be!)" and it comes into being. From the side of absolute non-existence, there are no existent entities upon which it gazes. For this reason, it is called "Kun". (Futūḥāt, III, 47)