- Because it goes by the path of privation of all sensual desire. The extinguishing of sensual desire is experienced as a type of night to the body, which is always caught up in the completion of some sensual desire.
- By virtue of it being a path of faith: “for we live by faith, not by sight.”
- By virtue of the reality of God, which is infinite and incomprehensible.
St. John of the Cross, Ascent of Mount Carmel, Stanza 1.1