delights have been kept hidden for them.” [al-Sajdah: 17]

They cannot fully comprehend the true nature of created things in general, so how could they fully comprehend the true nature of the Creator, exalted is He?

He, the Exalted, has said:

“They ask you about the spirit. Say, ‘The spirit is of my Lord’s command, and you have been given only a little knowledge.’ (85)” [al-Isrā’: 85]

An authentic hadith narrated by Ibn ‘Abbās, from Ubayy ibn Ka‘b, from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, relates that al-Khidr—of whom Allah said:

“They found a servant of Ours whom We had granted mercy from Us and taught knowledge from Ourselves. (65)” [al-Kahf: 65]

—said to Moses, to whom Allah spoke directly:

“My knowledge and yours take no more away from Allah’s knowledge than this sparrow takes from this sea.”

He said this when he boarded the ship, on which a sparrow had alighted and dipped its beak once into the sea. And in Sahīh Muslim, ‘Ā’ishah narrated from