unseen and seen realms and the meeting point between existence and nonexistence. However, paradoxically, Allah is also the ground of polarity, both fully the manifestation of the inner (Al-Batin) and fully the manifestation of the outer (Az-Zahir).
“God is outside of things, but not in the sense of being alien to them; and He is inside of things, but not in the sense of being identical with them.”
IMAM ALI
It is as a result of these seemingly contradicting statements that Allah is, by definition, that which breaks the mind. As the mystics say, “Only God can know God” because “there is none comparable to Him” (112:4). Therefore, by definition, Allah has no opposites, and since the human mind understands the world through association and comparison, it is rendered incapable of understanding