For this reason, the writings of the author of al-Madnūn bihā ‘alā ghayr ahlihā (Books Withheld from Those Unqualified to Receive Them), the author of Nihāyat al-Iqdām (The Ultimate Advance), and others like them—who equate the distinction between the unseen and the seen with the distinction between the sensible and the intelligible—contain various kinds of discourse characteristic of heretical esotericists. These are either Shiite heretics, as is found in the writings of the author of al-Milal wa-l-Nihal (Religions and Sects) and Nihāyat al-Iqdām—it has been said that he composed his commentary on Surah Joseph according to the doctrine of the Ismā‘īlīs, the Shiite heretics—or heretical esotericists associated with the Sufis.

Through this opening came the proponents of the unity of existence and similar heretical ascetics who affiliate themselves with Sufism. All of these—each and every one—ultimately contradict clear reason and revelation.

The one, however, appeals to the knowledge of the infallible imam, while the other appeals to the knowledge of the protected shaykh. Each goes so far as to claim for the person to whom he appeals a station higher than that of the prophets. Yet that person inevitably harbours falsehood, ignorance, and injustice to an extent known only to Allah. The best that can be said for him is that much of his falsehood arises from ignorance and misguidance, without his intentionally opposing what he knows to be true—as with the misguidance of many Christians who follow their desires.

The point is that this reveals their error concerning reason, what they call intelligibles, and their claim that there exist intelligible things external to the thinker which cannot