Al-Dhâhir: The Manifest

"...the Manifest (Al-Zhâhir) and the Hidden (Al-Bâtin) and He has full knowledge of all things" (57:3).

The Manifest, the Hidden are two divine qualities among those that are relative. A thing is manifest to some and hidden from others depending upon their ability to see and to realize. For those who seek Allah by means of their senses or imagination, Allah is the Hidden. Those who seek to know Allah through inference with their powers of reason find the Manifest. Someone may question this and say, "As for Allah being hidden in relation to the perception of the senses, that is quite obvious; but as for Allah being manifest in relation to that which is perceived by reason, that is difficult to accept." The term manifest is used for things about which there is no dispute, things in the perception of which people do not differ. But being 'manifest' to reason is a point on which people have had great doubt. How, then, is it possible for Allah to be manifested through reason?

At the same time, however, you must realize that Allah is hidden in His manifestness because of the degree of the intensity of Allah's manifestation. In other words, Allah's very intensity of manifestation is the cause of Allah's hiddenness. Allah's very light is the veil of Allah's light, for everything which goes beyond its own limits must eventually turn to its opposite. Praise be to the One who is concealed from humanity by His light, the One who is hidden from them by the degree of His manifestness! Allah the Manifest, known by decisive proof which manifestly dominates all things. Allah is the Hidden, veiled by the senses, who knows hidden things.