his discussion in Mishkāt al-anwār (The Niche of Lights), and similar discussions in which he agreed with the philosophers.

Muslims criticize the statements in which he agreed with the philosophers, while praising those in which he agreed with the Muslims and refuted the philosophers. Thus, this man and his like condemn him for the very things for which people of knowledge and faith praise him. As the verse goes:

One day you are a Yemeni, when you meet a man of Yemen;
And if you meet a Ma‘addite, you are an ‘Adnānite.

These people condemn him for what people of knowledge and faith praise him for. In Mishkāt al-anwār, he discusses matters resembling what this man has said about light.

This was the point of entry for the heretics among the proponents of union who professed the oneness of existence. They said:

“Created things are loci of disclosure and manifestation, because the existence of the Real appears and discloses itself in them.”

They thus identified His very existence with His appearance and self-disclosure.

It is well known that something exists in itself, then appears and discloses itself at one time and remains concealed at another. Its disclosure may result from the presence in the observer of what makes sight possible—as when a blind person gains sight—or from the removal of an impediment concealing the object, such as obstructing veils, or from both together.

These people, however, identified the existence of the Real in created things with His very appearance and self-disclosure in them. They called created things loci of disclosure and manifestation. The reality of their position is that He does not exist in external reality, yet they imagine that they believe He exists in external reality,