the ignorant claim—they would have ceased to be accountable because of their beholding Him. Rather, after imposing necessary knowledge upon them, He made Himself known to them through intermediaries and signs. Whoever was sincere toward the One he worshipped, diligently observed what He had prescribed for him, sought to know Him through Him, relied upon Him for that knowledge, and entrusted all his affairs to Him—Allah reminded him of his former state and disclosed to him the ultimate consequences and final outcome. He then renounced what perishes and grew more desirous of what endures, affirming Allah’s oneness and fearing Him, believing in Him and hoping in Him.

But whoever fell short in observing his duties toward Him, mingled good and evil in his endeavours, followed the path of negligence, and failed to make sincere use of the necessary knowledge and intellect he had been given—his faults multiplied and his sins grew numerous. His passions mastered him, blinded him, and claimed him, while he failed to attain his wishes. This made him forget what had occurred when Allah first made Himself known to him, and he joined the ranks of those who betrayed their trust and stubbornly resisted. Yet he could not escape the reality of what he had been ignorant of, since knowledge of it had already been established. Thus he could neither escape the Fire nor divest himself of that necessary knowledge.”

He said:

“The speculative theologians have affirmed necessary forms of knowledge, such as a person’s knowledge of his own existence. Knowledge of lordship is even more deserving of this status.

Likewise, accidents, bodies, and substances belong to the speculative theologians, as do combination and separation, and what is known through reflection and conditioned by knowledge; knowledge of revealed law belongs to the jurists; and the knowledge that is