Those who imagine that all extraordinary phenomena are confined to celestial, physical, or merely human psychic forces are even more ignorant and further astray than the idolaters and the Sabians. What brings the matter into sharper focus is that, in truth, their view amounts to negating the Creator altogether. These deniers fall into two categories: the Naturalists and the so-called Theists.

As for the Naturalists, they acknowledge no being beyond the celestial sphere and all that lies within it. In essence they claim that the universe is necessary in and of itself, without maker or agent. This is precisely the form of denial adopted by Pharaoh when he rejected the Lord of the worlds and said to Moses, in a tone of scorn, “And what is the Lord of the worlds?” His question was one of repudiation, not a genuine request for information—as is wrongly supposed by those who fancy that he was asking Moses about the Divine essence. The One to whom the question referred has no delimited quiddity, and so Moses did not address such a notion, for it rests on a false premise. Pharaoh’s interrogation was nothing but denial and obstinacy, and therefore Moses replied in a way that established proof against him, showing that the Lord is manifest and known, leaving no room for rejection or disbelief.

Pharaoh inwardly acknowledged this truth even while outwardly denying it, as the Most High says: “They rejected them, even though their own souls were convinced of them” (Q 27:14). The Exalted also relates Moses’ words to Pharaoh: “He said, ‘You know full well that none has sent these down but the Lord of the heavens and the earth as clear proofs; and indeed, O Pharaoh, I think you are undone’” (Q 17:102).

The claim Pharaoh voiced is exactly the stance of the Naturalist deniers. As for the Eternalist Theists who assert that the universe is pre-eternal and that it emanated from an ancient cause—such as Ibn Sīnā and those like him—these, although