The World of al-Qandūsī (d. 1278/1861)

Abstract

Each degree of existence is the mirror of the degrees beneath it ... [this refraction continues] until it reaches the Master of Existence (sayyid al-wujūd), Peace and Blessings upon him! For he is the Universal Mirror. All those who are your superiors are, for you, so many mirrors; their gaze sees into you according to how wellpolished the mirror is. And this is what the [Prophet] is alluding to when he says “The believer is the mirror of the believer”. Qandūsī, Ta’sīs