First gleam: The affirmation of Divine Unity is of two sorts. For example, if an important, rich man’s goods arrive in a market or a town, their ownership can be known in two ways. One is to look at them and conclude that only he could own so many items. If a regular person estimated or supervised them, much might be stolen or others might claim partial ownership. The second way is to read every packet’s label and recognize every roll’s stamp and every bill’s seal. This allows one to conclude that everything belongs to that person, for everything points to him.

In exactly the same way, there are two kinds of affirmation of Divine Unity. One is the believer’s superficial and common affirmation: “God Almighty is One, without partner or like. This universe is His.” The other is the true affirmation. By seeing His Power’s stamp, His Lordship’s seal, and Hispen’s inscription on everything, one opens a window directly onto His light from everything. The person then confirms and believes, with almost the certainty coming from direct observation, that everything comes into existence by His Power’s hand, that He has no partner or helper in His Divinity and Lordship or His absolute Sovereignty. Through this, one attains a degree of permanent awareness of the Divine Presence. I will now mention some “rays” to prove that everything shows God’s Unity.

Note: Divine Dignity and Greatness require material or natural causes to veil Divine Power’s operations. The real agent acting in the universe is the Eternally‑Besought‑of‑All’s Power. Divine Unity and Majesty, as well as God’s absolute independence and transcendence, require this. The Eternal Sovereign’s officials, all that conveys His commands (e.g., air, angels, or natural causes), are not executives through whom He exercises His Sovereignty, but heralds of His Sovereignty and, as with angels, observers and superintendents of His acts as Lord—Sustainer, Administrator, Upbringer, and Trainer—of the Worlds. They exist because they make known Power’s dignity and Lordship’s majesty, so that base and lowly things should not be attributed directly to Power.

Unlike a human king, who is essentially weak and destitute, God Almighty does not use officials to exercise His authority. Although everything seemingly occurs according to the principle of cause and effect, this is to preserve Power’s dignity in the mind’s superficial view.

Like a mirror, everything has two faces. One looks to the visible, material world, resembles the mirror’s colored face, and may be a way to account for various “colors” and states. The other face is like the mirror’s shinning face and looks to and consists of the inner dimension of things, where Divine Power operates directly. In the apparent, material face of things, there may be states that are seemingly incompatible with the dignity and perfection of the Eternally‑Besought‑of‑All’s Power. In this face, Divine Power veils His operations behind cause and effect so that those states may be ascribed to causes. But in reality and with respect to the inner dimension of things, everything is beautiful and transparent. It is fitting that Power should be associated with that dimension of things, which is not incompatible with Its dignity. Thus the function of causes is purely apparent, for they have no effect in respect to this dimension.

Another reason for apparent causes is that people tend to judge superficially. They raise unjust complaints and baseless objections about things or happenings that they find disagreeable. Almighty God, Who is totally just, has put causes in this material dimension of existence as a veil between such things or happenings and Himself so that such comments should not be aimed at Him. The faults and mistakes that make things and events disagreeable essentially originate in people themselves.

Here is a meaningful illustration of this subtle point: Azrail, the Angel of Death, once said to God Almighty: “Your servants will complain about and resent me, for I take their souls.” God Almighty told him: “I shall put the veil of disasters and illnesses between you and my servants so that they will complain of them and not resent ·you.” Thus illness is a veil to which people can attribute that which is disagreeable about death. However disagreeable in appearance, death is in reality good and beautiful, and the essential beauty lying in it is attributable to Azrail’s duty. But Azrail is also an observer, a veil to Divine Power, so that people should attribute to him those aspects of death that their superficial reasoning cannot reconcile with Divine Mercy’s perfection. Divine Dignity and Grandeur require that causes veil Divine Power’s hand, while Divine Unity and Majesty demand that causes withdraw their hands from the true effect.