He said: Many refrained from saying that He can be seen in this world, and from making the other unqualified assertions those others had made. They said that He will be seen in the Hereafter.

He said: They also differed on another point. Some said, “We see a bounded body facing us, in one place rather than another.” Zuhayr al-Atharī said, “The essence of the Creator is in every place, and He is established over His Throne. We shall see Him in the Hereafter upon His Throne—exalted and holy is He—without specifying how.” He also used to say that Allah Most High will come on the Day of Resurrection to a place that had not been devoid of Him, and that He descends to the lowest heaven, which had not been devoid of Him.

He said: They differed over whether seeing Allah Most High with the eyes constitutes apprehending Him with the eyes. Some said, “It is apprehending Him with the eyes, and He apprehends all eyes.” Others said, “Allah Most High is seen with the eyes, but He is not apprehended by the eyes.”

They differed on another point. Some said, “We see Allah plainly and directly.”