Man is to the Real as the pupil is to the eye, through which the act of seeing takes place. Thus he is called insan, meaning both Man and pupil, for it is through Man that the Real contemplates His creation and bestows mercy. Thus is Man transient and eternal, perpetual everlasting, the discriminating and unifying Word. Through his existence the Cosmos subsists. He is, in relation to the Cosmos, as the seal is to the ring.
— Ibn Al-‘Arabi