ABSTRACT
God manifests Himself in ontological degrees or planes of manifestation. The exclusive Singularity is the degree of Being in which all multiplicity is effaced and is the first individuation which includes all the potential modes of Being. The First Intellect and the Universal Soul are the forms of the Mother of the Book and the Permanent Archetypes. The Permanent Archetypes are considered the first degree of multiplicity since the divine names are conceptually distinct realities on the plane of Unity. The contingent is divided into the possible and the impossible. The contingent can also be divided into substance and accident. Substance is united with its particulars through manifestation, just as the divine attributes are manifestations of the Essence, or in the way that the Permanent Archetypes are manifestations of the Essence on the plane of divine knowledge. The Breath of the Merciful also refers to the Holy Emanation, which emanates from the Holiest Emanation.
