It is the first of the talismans. The forms of engravings subsist by means of the quṭb talisman. If this were not so, there would be no means for the occurrence and establishment of their properties. If the realization of the quṭb talisman did not exist, the manifestation of the engraved configuration would not be possible. That talisman is a mirror such that, unless you conceive of an image (form, shape) corresponding to its circle, the mirror could not reflect it. If there were no form before it, how could the appearance of a reflection in the mirror be possible? Just as it is impossible for a form to exist in the mirror without a counterpart, so too is it impossible for such a form to appear anywhere other than in the mirror. Even when there is an existent before the mirror, it is not possible for what exists additionally in the mirror to be anything other than the mirror itself. For the mirror is not facing anything other than it, so that something else could be found in it. Given this, how could it be possible for you to say, 'I saw something else in that mirror'? (Insān, I, 10)
ṣim-i quṭbī (Sufi Terminology)
It is the first of the talismans. The forms of engravings subsist by means of the quṭb talisman. If this were not so, there would be no means for the occurrence and establishment of their properties. If the realization …