As for the deficiencies and flaws above which the Lord Most High is exalted, these are not entailed by what is peculiar to Him, nor are they in any way entailed by the universal, abstract common aspect. Rather, they are peculiar to deficient created beings. Allah Most High is free of every deficiency and defect. These are profound matters that have been discussed at length elsewhere.

What these people say about the greatness of esoteric knowledge, the need to conceal it from the general public, and the public’s inability to grasp realities is ambiguous language used by the truthful believer and the heretic alike.

Those who oppose us among the philosophers—whether by denying the divine attributes conveyed in revelation or by rejecting the commands of the religious law—and the Sufis and others who have joined them in such denials all point to this. They interpret the transmitted reports, both sound and unsound, accordingly. One such report states:

“Some knowledge is like a hidden treasure: none knows it except those who have knowledge of Allah. When they speak of it, none rejects it except those who are heedless of Allah Most High.”

Although this hadith has no sound chain of transmission, it was cited by Shaykh al-Islām Abū Ismāʿīl al-Harawī, Abū Hāmid al-Ghazālī, and others.