and union in certain shaykhs, in some members of the Prophet’s household, and in others among the people of falsehood and depravity.

With this the answer becomes plain to the objection raised by some scholars of speculative theology—such as al-Razi—concerning this ḥadith. They say: “The proofs that the Antichrist is not God are obvious, so why would the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, argue the point by saying, ‘He is one-eyed, whereas your Lord is not one-eyed’?”

Such a question only reveals the asker’s ignorance of the kinds of misguidance into which the children of Adam fall, and of the clear evidences that expose the falsity of mistaken claims. For if the Children of Israel in Moses’ time thought the calf to be the god of Moses—saying, “This is your god and the god of Moses,” and imagining that Moses had forgotten Him—and if the Christians, despite their large numbers, say that the Messiah is God, then there are also many who face the qiblah who say the same about various shaykhs and members of the Ahl al-Bayt. Indeed, many leading masters of gnosis and Sufism regard this as the summit of realization and of pure monotheism: that the one affirming divine unity is himself the very One whose unity is affirmed. They even recite:

No creature has declared the One to be One,
for everyone who declares His oneness is a denier.
The oneness proclaimed by him who describes His attributes
is a borrowed cloak the One Himself discards.
His affirmation of Himself—that alone is true affirmation;
whoever describes Him is a heretic astray.

So how can it be considered far-fetched that, when the Antichrist unveils such tremendous supernatural feats and openly says, “I am God,” people will believe him to be God—when the same belief has already been entertained regarding liars whose wonders were nowhere near as great as his, and regarding others who never claimed, “I am God,” such as the Messiah and the rest of the prophets and the righteous?