—because, they contend, Allah has said, “Vision cannot encompass Him.” We reply to them: you have misunderstood the verse, “Vision cannot encompass Him while He encompasses all vision.” Its meaning is that sight does not surround or comprehend Him; it does not mean that He cannot be seen. The Exalted never said, “Eyes will not see Him.”

They also argue that Moses (peace be upon him) said, “My Lord, show Yourself to me, that I may look at You,” and that Allah answered, “You shall not see Me” (Al-Aʿraf 7:143). They take this as evidence that the Vision is impossible. We answer: this took place in the life of this world, for Moses asked while still on earth, and in this world no one—prophet or otherwise—sees Allah. In the Hereafter, however, the believers will behold their Lord, for the state of the world to come is not like the state of this present life. Here, human beings are weak in both body and perception and therefore incapable of seeing Allah; in the Hereafter Allah will endow them with a strength by which they will be able to gaze upon their Lord—majestic and exalted—as an act of honor.

Thus, when Moses made his request, Allah said, “You shall not see Me. But look at the mountain: if it remains firm in its place, then you will see Me. But when his Lord manifested Himself to the mountain, He reduced it to dust” (Al-Aʿraf 7:143). The mountain crumbled and turned to dust, despite its solid, unyielding nature—so what of a creature made of flesh, blood, and bone? Such a being cannot bear to see Allah in this world. Yet Moses’ very request to behold Allah is itself proof that the Vision is both permissible and possible, because—