“Nothing have I perceived except that I perceived God before it, God after it, or God with it.”

"The Imám Ṣádiq: “Servitude is a substance, the essence of which is Divinity.”

Imám ‘Alí: “The third is the soul which is divine and celestial. It is a divine energy, a substance, simple, and self-subsistent.” “Therefore it is the Most Sublime Essence of God, the Tree of Blessedness, the Lote-Tree beyond which there is no passing, the Garden of Repose.”

The Imám Ṣádiq: “When our Qá’im will arise, the earth will shine with the light of her Lord.”

Ábí-‘Abdi’lláh “Thereupon will He Who is the All-Compelling—exalted and glorified be He—descend from the clouds with the angels.”

Qur’án: “What can such expect but that God should come down to them overshadowed with clouds?”

Mufaddál: “The Qá’im will lean His back against the Sanctuary, and will stretch forth His hand, and lo, it shall be snow-white but unhurt. And He shall say: ‘This is the hand of God, the right hand of God, that cometh from God, at the command of God!’”

In whichever manner these traditions are interpreted, in that same manner let them also interpret that which the Most Sublime Pen hath set down.

Imám ‘Alí: “I am He Who can neither be named, nor described.” “Outwardly I am an Imám; inwardly I am the Unseen, the Unknowable.”

Abú-Ja’far-i-Túsí: “I said to Ábí ‘Abdi’lláh: ‘You are the Way mentioned in the Book of God, and you are the Impost, and you are the Pilgrimage.’ He replied: ‘O man! We are the Way mentioned in the Book of God,—exalted and glorified be He—and We are the Impost, and We are the Fast, and We are the Pilgrimage, and We are the Sacred Month, and We are the Sacred City, and We are the Kaaba of God, and We are the Qiblih of God, and We are the Face of God.’”

Abú-Ja’far: “O Jabír! Give heed unto the Bayán (Exposition) and the Má’ání (Significances).” “As to the Bayán, it consisteth in thy recognition of God—glorified be He—as the One Who hath no equal, and in thy adoration of Him, and in thy refusal to join partners with Him. As to the Má’ání, We are its meaning, and its side, and its hand, and its tongue, and its cause, and its command, and its knowledge, and its right. If We wish for something, it is God Who wisheth it, and He desireth that which We desire.”

Imám ‘Alí: “How can I worship a Lord Whom I have not seen?” “Nothing have I perceived except that I perceived God before it, God after it, or God with it.”

-Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf,pp. 112-113 (quotes extracted from text)