Ḥaqīqa (inner reality), despite the perfections (kamālāt) reflected upon them, are in essence the foundations of all evil and deficiency, namely the ademat (plural of ʿadam, nonexistences). This view requires detailed explanations that must be listened to with the ear of the intellect.
May Allah guide you! ʿAdam (nonexistence) is the counterpart (muqābil) of wujūd (existence), and stands in contradiction to it. Just as, in this ḥāl (spiritual state), wujūd, at the level of ijmāl (undifferentiated state), is the very essence of all good and perfections, so too ʿadam (nonexistence) is itself the source of every kind of evil and deficiency, and indeed is the very essence of all evil and corruption. Furthermore, just as this ʿadam, which is the counterpart of wujūd, is not ascribed to the nature of ʿadam by way of derivation (ishtiqāq), neither can wujūd, at the level of the very root of the root, be ascribed to the Divine Essence (Dhāt) by way of derivation. Just as it cannot be claimed that ʿadam is derived from any essence, so too it cannot be said that wujūd is derived from the Dhāt. It is not possible to say that the nature at that level is nonexistent, for that is pure nonexistence (ʿadam-i maḥḍ). At the level of detailed knowledge (tafsīl) concerning the nature of this ʿadam, the parts (ajzāʾ) of that nature are also described by ʿadam, and in this case, the ʿadam at this level can be affirmed by way of derivation. (Maktūbāt, I, 210)
The concept (mafhūm) of ʿadam is derived from the nature of undifferentiated ʿadamiyya (collective, as yet undetailed, fundamental nonexistence), and is like its shadow. As will be explained later, this ʿadam can be ascribed by derivation to all its detailed individual instances (that is, all particular types of nonexistence are said to be derived from it). Just as, on the side of wujūd, at the level of ijmāl, the Hazrat of Wujūd (Hazrat-i Wujūd) is the very essence of every good and perfection (kamāl), and at the level of detailed knowledge, each individual instance of good and perfection is distinguished from the others, so too, at the level of ijmāl, this ʿadam is the source of all evil and corruption, and each individual instance of evil and corruption is distinguished in the Divine Knowledge (ʿilm) of Allah.
Each individual instance of these existential perfections, at the level of knowledge, is reflected upon the corresponding individual instance of deficiency related to ʿadam. Thus, the intellectual forms of each are blended with those of the other. These ʿadams, which consist of nothing but evil and deficiencies, are present together with the perfections reflected upon them. However, upon them, these deficiencies and evils become manifest. These are the natures of possible existents (maḥiyyāt al-mumkināt) at the level of knowledge, for which detailed knowledge is necessary.
The aim in this chapter is to show that these ʿadams are the originals and substances of the aforementioned natures, and that these perfections are like the forms of the states within them. In the view of this humble one, the aʿyān-i thābita (fixed entities) are nothing but these intermingling ʿadams and perfections.
Thus, Allah, the Absolutely Powerful, at a time He wills, in the level of knowledge called the essence of the possible existents (māhiyyat al-mumkināt), has colored this nature of ʿadamiyya, which has been reflected by those ʿadams, with the hue of shadowy existence (wujūd-i ẓillī), along with the perfections of shadowy existence and the necessary things. In this way, He has created them as external existents, and also the external effects...