we reply: If you claim this concerning seeing in general, we reject it, for the reasons already given. If you claim it concerning a particular kind of seeing, we concede it, and it does not undermine our position.

As for his statement, “Speakers of the language understood this verse to deny seeing, which shows that visual apprehension is seeing,” we reply: It has also been reported that many of the early generations understood seeing from the words of the Exalted:

“Faces on that Day will be radiant {22}, looking at their Lord {23}” [al-Qiyāmah 22-23],

although, in your view, looking is not seeing. The same applies here.

I say: He has thus stated that the Arabs could conceive only of seeing something bounded, and that seeing something not situated in a direction was neither known to them nor conceivable to them. If that is so, and it has been established through reports transmitted from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, by so many independent chains as to preclude collusion upon a lie, that he said, “You will surely see your Lord just as you see the moon, without any difficulty in seeing Him,” and also said, “You will surely see your Lord just as you see the sun in a clear sky with no clouds obscuring it, and just as you see the moon in a clear sky with no clouds obscuring it,” and the agreement of the early generations of the Muslim community that the believers will see Allah on the Day of Resurrection is established, and he has stated that the Arabs addressed by this