of bodies, and to the external substances1 of spi-
rits, and between all beings there arises an inter-
position dependent on the degree of excellence
which it has with respect to God. All the reality
of accidental beings lies in the external existence ;
the reality of individuals is dependent upon fixed
times, and every one emerges into existence at his

time. 2

The Sufis maintain that ail attributes of perfection
are necessarily inherent in the supreme holy essence;
that is, are fixed by the purity of his essence. What
in the accidental substance is fixed by properties,
for instance, thy substance, is not sufficient for
the revelation of thyself ; as long as the attribute of
God's essence, which is the principle of that revela-
tion, has not taken firm hold of thee, this revelation

1 <Lwc^»ls* .i^t » adyan kharji'ah. The scholastics have distin-

guished fixed and external substances; the Sufis distinguish substances in
and without God.

2 The word O-^j., wakt, " time," has a technical signification.—

According to Jorjani, it means: " Your state, that is, that which is re-
" quired by your actual disposition, and is not produced by design."
Shehab eddin Omar Sohrawerdi (who died A. D. 1234) says: " Time is
" what dominates man; man is not dominated by any thing more than by
*' his time; for time is like a sword, it executes its decrees and cuts. By
" time is therefore meant what comes forcibly upon a man without being
" the fruit of his action; so that, subject to its power, he is constrained
" to conform to it. It is said : ' Such a one is under the dominion of time,'
" that is, he is retired from things which are his own, and transported to
" things which belong to God."