that there is no example of it in the observable world. This is precisely why revelation does not explicitly deny that the Creator, glorified is He, is a body. For the general public accept a judgment concerning the unseen only when its grounds are known in the observable world. An example is knowledge in an agent: since it is a condition of the agent’s existence in the observable world, it is also a condition of the existence of the unseen Maker. But when an attribute of the unseen is not known by most people to exist in the observable world, and is known only to scholars firmly grounded in knowledge, revelation discourages seeking knowledge of it if the general public have no need to know it, as with knowledge of the soul; alternatively, it presents an example of it from the observable world.

For the general public need to know it to attain their happiness, even if that example is not the actual thing intended to be explained—as with much of what has been related concerning the states of the hereafter.

The general public do not perceive the difficulty encountered by those who deny direction, especially if they are not explicitly told that He is not a body. In all this, therefore, revelation’s approach must be followed, and no figurative interpretation should be given where revelation has not explicitly indicated such an interpretation.

People fall into three categories regarding these matters in revelation:

One group does not