Imam Ali (as) on Divine Transcendance

Imam Ali (as) praises God in the following words in one of his supplications:
”يَا هُوَ يَا مَنْ لاَ يَعْلَمُ مَا هُوَ وَلاَ كَيْفَ هُوَ وَلاَ ايْنَ هُوَ وَلاَ حَيْثُ هُوَ إِلاَّ هُوَ“
translation: “ O He Whom none knows what He is, nor how He is, nor where He is, nor in what respect He is, but He!” [Dua-e-Mashlul]

When the intellect [عقل] considers an object [شئى] existing in the external reality [خارج] and is able to abstract its essence [ماهية/ذات], which is the answer to the question "what is it? [ما هو]" from its existence [وجود], so this proves the fact that existence is not integral to [عين ذات] and inseparable from the essence of that object because had existence been integral to and inseparable from the essence of that thing, so it would never have been possible for the intellect to abstract [انتزاء] or separate the essence of that thing from its existence, but that would only have been the case if its essence would have been identical to its existence ; for instance if the intellect is able to abstract the essence of man which is humanity from his existence so that proves that existence is not integral to and inseparable from or necessary for man's essence, and since existence is not necessary [واجب] for man's essence therefore man cannot be a necessary being [واجب بالذات] ; now he would either be impossible in essence [ممتنع بالذات] or contingent [ممكن بالذات] , but he cannot be impossible since he exists, this therefore proves that man is essentially-contingent, because contingency is nothing but the negation of two necessities, namely the necessity of existence [وجوب وجود] and the necessity of non-existence [وجوب عدم]; similarly if God were to possess an essence,which is the answer to the question "what is it?", distinct and separate from existence, capable of intellectual-abstraction and perception [ادراك], so He too would have been essentially-contingent and not a being Necessary in Itself; and every contingent is an effect [معلول] in need of a cause [علت].

Moreover if God were to have an essence distinct and separate from existence, and capable of intellectual-abstraction and perception, so He would be an essence-existence composite [مركب], and every composite is rendered necessary through another [واجب بغيره], meaning its parts [اجزاء] that constitute the composite, and that which is necessary through another cannot simultaneously be necessary in itself as that would lead to a conjunction of contraries [اجتماع نقيضين], which is impossible, and therefore everything which is necessitated through another is essentially-contingent. Since God is Pure-Existence and His essence is identical to His existence,as has been demonstrated, and existence cannot be imported into the mind by any process of intellectual-abstraction, therefore it is impossible for anyone to know God’s Essence and that is why Imam Ali (as) states “O He Whom none knows what He is, nor how He is, nor where He is, nor in what respect He is, but He!”.