" Allah manifests Himself in a special way in every creature. He is the Outwardly Manifest in
every graspable sense, and He is the Inwardly Hidden from every understanding except the
understanding of the one who says that the universe is His form (4) and His He-ness
(huwiyya), and it is the name, the Outwardly Manifest. Since He is, by meaning, the spirit of
whatever is outwardly manifest, He is also the Inwardly Hidden. His relation to whatever is
manifested of the forms of the world is the relation of the governing spirit to the form. The
definition of man, for example, includes both his inward and outward; and it is the same with
every definable thing. Allah is defined in every definition, yet the forms of the universe are
not held back and He is not contained by them. One only knows the limits of each of their
forms according to what is attained by each knower of his form. For that reason, one cannot
know the definition of Allah, for one would only know His definition by knowing the
definition of every form. This is impossible to attain, so the definition of Allah is impossible.
Similarly, whoever connects without disconnection has given limits to Allah and does not
know Him. Whoever combines connection and disconnection in his gnosis, and describes
Allah with both aspects in general - because it is impossible to conceive in detail because we
lack the ability to encompass all the forms which the universe contains - has known Him in
general and not in particular, as he knows himself generally and not in particular. For that
reason, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, linked knowledge (ma'rifa) of
Allah to knowledge of oneself and said, "Whoever knows himself knows his Lord." Allah
says, "We will show them Our signs on the horizons (what is outside of you) and in
themselves (what is your source) until it is clear to them (the contemplators) that it is the
Truth," (41:53) inasmuch as you are His form and He is your spirit. You are to Him as your
body-form is to you, and He is to you as the spirit which governs the body. "

― Ibn Arabi , The Bezels of Wisdom