Their statements concerning the estimative faculty, what they mean by it, and estimative propositions have already been discussed. The aim is to consider these alongside what they have said about the stations of those who know God, which is the most elevated part of their teaching. Much—or most—of it is sound. Yet confining oneself to this alone, together with their other teachings, does not save souls from punishment, let alone bring them happiness. Nevertheless, whatever truth they or others have spoken is accepted; that truth, together with other truths, reveals the falsity of the contrary falsehoods they have also asserted.

[Return to Ibn Sīnā’s discussion of the stations of those who know God in al-Ishārāt (The Pointers)]

Ibn Sīnā said:

“The one who knows God seeks the First Truth for no other end, and prefers nothing to knowing Him.

He worships Him for His sake alone, because He deserves worship and because worship constitutes a noble relationship with Him—not out of desire or fear. Were either of these the motive, what is desired or shunned would be the incentive, and the object sought would lie therein. The Truth would then be not the end, but the means to something else; that other thing would be the end, sought instead of Him.”

[Ibn Taymiyya’s commentary]

The response is:

His statement that, for the one who knows God, the Truth, Most High, is sought and worshipped for His own sake, not for the sake of something else—for otherwise He would be the means to that other thing, and that other thing would be the end—is correct, and is among the elementary matters discussed