The Dabistan

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annihilation, has also four divisions. The first de-
gree is eternal existence with God, when the pious
person from the absorption in. God returns, and
sees himself dyin vajud, " a real being," endowed
with all qualities—

" Who has seen himself, saw God."

If in absorption he keeps consciousness, there
remains duality behind.

In the abridged commentary upon Gulshen raz, it
is stated, that there are four kinds of manifestations.
The first is dsdri," impression," by which the abso-
lute being appears under the form of some corporeal
beings, among which the human form is the most
perfect. The second kind isAfdali, " belonging to
" action/' when the contemplative person sees the
absolute being endowed with several attributes of

action, such as creator, or nourisher, and the like,

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or sees himself a being endowed with one of the
attributes. The manifestations are frequently co-
lored with lights, and exhibit all sorts of tints. The
third kind is sifdti, " belonging to attributes," when
the contemplative person sees the absolute being
endowed with the attributes of his own essence, such
as science and life, or sees himself a real being, en-
dowed with these attributes. The fourth kind is
zati, " essence," in which, on account of manifesta-
tion, annihilation takes place, so that the possessor
of this manifestation participates in a condition in