one above another. When he stretches out his hand, he can hardly see it. And whoever Allah grants no light has no light. {40}”

[al-Nūr 39-40]

The first parable thus depicts compound ignorance and compound disbelief, exemplified by corrupt beliefs such as theirs. The second depicts simple ignorance and simple disbelief, as in the case of someone who holds none of these beliefs, or whose conflicting beliefs leave him bewildered, unable to discern any truth.

Anyone of sound reason who examines what they say about the immaterial, separate intellects whose existence they affirm will recognize that they derived this notion from the abstract intelligible concepts we apprehend. These are accidents subsisting within us, yet they regard those separate entities as spiritual substances—indeed, as the noblest beings in existence.

Those who reconcile their teachings with what the messengers brought identify these abstractions—which are in reality mere imaginings—with the angels of Allah of whom the messengers spoke. We have explained elsewhere that anyone who interprets the angels in terms of the abstractions these people posit is among the most ignorant and unbelieving of people. For the kinds of angels and their attributes that have been described show that they are utterly unlike these abstractions. This is why they end up making the angels forces for good within the soul, just as they make