The radiance of the sun exists
the darkness of the night
It is counted among the most beautiful of forms
the union of the sun and the night
The phrase 'the radiance of the sun exists, the darkness of the night' refers to the sciences in which there is consciousness, that is, phenomena such as metaphor (tashbīh) and those sciences in which concealment (ikhfāʾ) is present. The phrase 'it is counted among the most beautiful of forms, the union of the sun and the night' refers to the coming together of two opposites that cannot be conceived by reason. Thus, two opposites have come together, which is astonishing (ḥayra). As when Abū Saʿīd Ḥarrāz was asked, 'By what did you come to know your Lord?' he replied: 'He is the First (al-Awwal), the Last (al-Ākhir), the Manifest (al-Ẓāhir), the Hidden (al-Bāṭin).' That is, not by two aspects, but by uniting two opposites from a single aspect, as in the verse.
The possessor (ṣāḥib) of the science of contemplation (naẓar), who has attained by his intellect and has made the Real (al-Ḥaqq) the arbiter of his proof, has said: Alas, where is divinity (ulūhiyyat), and where is the universe? Where is that which is created later, and where is the essence of the Real? How can that which has a likeness comprehend that which has no likeness? Intellect resembles intellect. But the Real has no likeness. That which resembles nothing and is not limited by anything—rather, only by his intellect, outside the sun, is it possible and restricted, and only to the extent of need can a judgment be made by attributing it to something. The existence of two essences and two gods is impossible. He did not know Him, so how could he follow the command of the sharʿ / sharīʿa (the sacred law)? Allah created him weak, poor, and in need of help. Allah, Exalted is He, is far above the comprehension of those who comprehend. 'Your Lord, the Possessor of Might, is exalted above what they attribute to Him. Nothing is like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.' (Qur'an, al-Shūrā 42:11) (Tercümān, 153)
(See also: ulūhiyyat)
sharʿ / sharīʿa (see sharīʿa-ḥaqīqa)