tahajjum, was reproached by some of his companions for refraining from defending the views of those who deny the divine attributes. This was after the doctrine affirming the attributes had gained prominence in their town, having previously been obscure, and people had responded to it, although anyone voicing it had formerly been regarded as saying something monstrous. He replied: “When people hear this, they accept it and welcome it, and recognize it as the truth brought by the Messenger. Yet we may take someone, raise him and nourish him for thirty years, and then, when we try to make him swallow our doctrine, it goes down only with difficulty.”

It is just as he said. For Allah Most High has established proofs and distinguishing signs of the truth, separating truth and light from falsehood and darkness. He has made His servants’ natural dispositions receptive to perceiving and recognizing realities. Were it not for the hearts’ readiness to recognize realities, neither reflection and inference nor discourse and speech would be possible. Likewise, He, glorified be He, has made bodies capable of receiving nourishment from food and drink; without this, they could neither be nourished nor grow. Just as bodies possess a faculty that distinguishes suitable nourishment from what is harmful, hearts possess an even greater faculty for distinguishing truth from falsehood.

The same is true of those who practise sorcery, magical tricks, and alchemy, and others who delve into subtle, hidden falsehood: they need to undertake labours