for the Qarmatians, and as did the author of al-Fusūs (The Bezels) and his associates. Whoever neither openly professes allegiance to Pharaoh nor believes in such allegiance nevertheless agrees with him on the point over which he accused Moses of lying, when he said:

“O Haman, build me a lofty tower so that I may reach the ways {36}—the ways into the heavens—and look upon the God of Moses, though I certainly think him a liar.” [Ghāfir 36–37]

This has been stated by multitudes of scholars. Among them was Abū al-Hasan al-Ash‘arī, the leading authority of al-Rāzī’s school, who said: “Pharaoh accused Moses of lying for saying that Allah is above the heavens.”