He then said:

“The response to their second argument has three aspects. First, we have already explained that facing the observer is not a condition for our seeing these things, and we have refuted both their claim of self-evidence and their reasoning on this point.

“Second, even if we concede that facing the observer is a condition for our being able to see these things, why do you say that it is also a condition for our being able to see Allah, Exalted is He? Seeing Allah, Exalted is He—assuming it is possible—differs from seeing these things. Thus, the fact that one species within a genus requires a particular condition does not entail that another species within that genus requires the same condition.

“Third, even if we concede that it is impossible for us to see Allah, Exalted is He, this does not establish that He does not see Himself or that He is not, in Himself, visible.”

He thus referred back to the earlier discussion, although there he had presented only two lines of argument. The first was that we see a large body as small from a distance, and this