they are addressed through a kind of imaginative representation and illustration from which they can benefit, as he stated in the remarks cited earlier.

This is the discourse of the heretical esotericists who deviated from the truth concerning Allah’s names and signs. Their ultimate position was to negate the Creator, declare His messengers liars, and invalidate His religion.

The esotericists among the Sufis, who profess divine indwelling and union, also embraced this, calling it realization, knowledge, and monotheism.

Their ultimate position is the heresy of the Shia esotericists: nothing exists but the celestial sphere and all it contains; beyond that there is nothing.

The writings of Ibn ʿArabī, author of Fusūs al-Hikam (The Bezels of Wisdom), and others like him who profess union and the oneness of existence revolve around this, as anyone who understands them will recognize. They call this world Allah. In reality, therefore, their doctrine is that of the negators, such as Pharaoh and his like, except that these people apply this name to the world, whereas the others do not.

Moreover, the ignorant among them and their ordinary followers may believe that they affirm a Creator distinct from creation, even while professing oneness and union. We have seen groups among them who, despite their involvement in learning and religion, do not understand the true nature of these people’s doctrine, because it outwardly professes belief in the Maker, His messengers, and His religion.

Only someone perceptive and thoroughly acquainted with the true nature of their doctrine recognizes this. Such a person is one of two kinds:

Either a believer opposed to them, who knows that this contradicts the truth and is incompatible with the religion of Islam, and therefore condemns them and opposes them;

or a heretic and hypocrite who knows the true nature of