First, in their language, seeing is understood only as seeing something that lies in a direction relative to them. As for seeing something that is not in any direction, they had no conception or knowledge of it, let alone did the word denote it—as he himself acknowledged earlier. Moreover, you will not find anyone who can conceive of something existing without being in any direction, much less conceive of its being seen, still less understand the familiar word for seeing, in any language, to denote this particular kind of seeing.

Second, the Prophet said: “You will see your Lord just as you see the sun in a clear sky, and just as you see the moon in a clear sky.” Thus, he likened their seeing Him to their seeing the sun and moon. This does not liken what is seen in the one case to what is seen in the other. It is evident that if seeing Him is like seeing the sun and moon, He must be seen in a direction relative to the observer, just as the sun and moon are. For if that were not so, he would have told them of seeing without qualification, which we could interpret as those who maintain that He is seen without being in any direction interpret it.

But after asking them about seeing the sun in a clear sky and seeing the full moon in a clear sky, and saying, “You will see your Lord in the same way,” this cannot be interpreted as the kind of seeing they claim. This wording admits of no such meaning, either literally or figuratively.