that exists, and he supposed that this would bring him the pleasure through which he would attain happiness in the Hereafter and escape punishment. This is a grave error.

Al-Rāzī refrained from discussing this, neither praising nor condemning it. Al-Tūsī, however, praised him for it, since he is a heretic of the same kind. These men are discussed at length elsewhere.

[Section: Continuation of Ibn Sīnā’s discussion of the stations of those who know Allah, with Ibn Taymiyyah’s commentary]

He then said:

“Indication:

The first stage in the progress of those who know Allah is what they call ‘aspiration’. This is the desire to cling to the firmest handhold that takes hold of someone who has gained insight through demonstrative certainty, or whose soul rests assured in the conviction of faith. His innermost being then turns toward the holy realm to partake of the solace of communion. As long as he remains at this stage, he is an aspirant.

Indication:

He then needs spiritual discipline, which is directed toward three aims:

First: excluding everything other than the Truth from the sphere of preference.

Second: making the soul that commands evil submit to the tranquil soul, so that the faculties of estimation and imagination may be drawn