Allah created man and made him a comprehensive summary of the universe and an index of the book of the world, which comprises eighteen thousand worlds, and lodged in his essence a sample from each, in which is manifested one of His names. If man spends all of what is bestowed on him in the way of that for which he was created, for the purpose of offering thanks, a sort of praise, and obeying the Shari’a, which removes the rust of nature, each of those samples becomes a map [illuminating] his world, and a mirror reflecting it and the attribute manifested in it and the name it displays. In this way, with both spirit and body, man becomes a summary of the worlds of the seen and unseen, and manifests what is manifested in them. Through offering praise he becomes both a place of demonstration and a demonstrator of the attributes of perfection. This is implied by what Muhyi al-Din al-’Arabi said in explanation of the Hadith: “I was a hidden treasure, so I created creation that they might know Me.” That is, I created creation to be a mirror in which I might observe My beauty.