The word shāhid (witness) has two meanings. The first is a witness beyond reproach (shāhid ʿadl) who informs you that his Maker stands apart from all other artisans by his workmanship. For such a witness is the work of a wise artisan who is distinguished from all other wise artisans by his wisdom. The second meaning of shāhid is an eye witness ([shaāhid] ḥāḍir) who informs you that he has recently been at the scene of the universal beauty and that he has been distinguished by his Maker by (the beauty of) his workmanship from all his other works.

Let us consider first the meaning of the words “a witness beyond reproach who informs you that his Maker stands apart from all other artisans by his workmanship.” The meaning of this is that works that are out of [231] the ordinary point to the uniqueness of their maker in his craft. This is because when one looks at a work that is distinguished from other works, the power of the wisely executed workmanship leads one to recognize the maker of the object. For the beauty that a work acquires through the skill of its maker is something from the artisan himself. It is something he has given it, not something the work possesses on its own. If it came from the work itself, then it would have been in it before its maker made it. Thus a beautifully patterned silk, were it not for the beauty acquired from its maker, would be merely the spittle of a repugnant worm. But when its maker imparts beauty to it, that beauty is in effect the maker himself.

Understand that when an artisan stands apart from other artisans by his workmanship and is distinguished from any rivals by his skill, then his work is a witness that identifies him to whoever sees it, and a guide to him [232] for whoever seeks him. For if someone sees his work, he recognizes it as his without anyone telling him. But if the artisan is not skillful and matchless and does not stand apart from his rivals, then his work is not recognizable as his, because it is ordinary work, and ordinary pieces of work do not reveal their maker, since they could be the work of any artisan.