‘Abdu’l-Baha explains the “four stations” embedded in the Islamic Tradition: "I was a Hidden Treasure and loved to be known. Therefore I created the Creation that I might be known."

Know, O bird of the flower-garden of Divine Unity and nightingale of the garden of detachment! that in order to comprehend this Tradition: "I was a Hidden Treasure and loved to be known Therefore I created the Creation that I might be known", it is necessary to understand four stations. This Tradition is upon the tongues of all people, be they of the generality or of special rank, and is written in all the books and treatises. As for understanding these four stations, the first is "the Hidden Treasure"; the second is the stages and stations of "Love"; the third is the station of "Creation" and similar matters; and the fourth is the station of "Knowledge". 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (‘Tafsír-i-Hadith-i-Kuntu Kanzan Makhfíyyan’ – provisional translation)