of great importance” as ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib, and “the accursed tree in the Quran” as the Umayyads, along with similar absurdities that constitute some of the ugliest lies and fabrications and the most outrageous speech.

Of the same kind are the interpretations that godless heretics and hypocrites among the polytheists, Sabians, would-be philosophers, and others give to what Allah has revealed concerning the Last Day. They recognize no reality behind this except a person’s death. Thus, concerning His words, “When the sun is wrapped up” (1) [al-Takwīr 1], they say that this means his sun, which is his heart; “When the sky breaks apart” (1) [al-Infitār 1] means his sky, which is / his head; “And when the stars fall, dispersing” (2) [al-Takwīr 2] refers to his senses; “And when full-term she-camels are neglected” (4) [al-Takwīr 4] refers to his legs; “When the earth is shaken with its earthquake” (1) [al-Zalzalah 1] refers to his hands; “And when the wild beasts are gathered” (5) [al-Takwīr 5] refers to his faculties, especially those associated with the nerves; and “the mountains are crushed” refers to his bones, and so forth.

Such interpretations abound in the writings of these godless heretics among the Bātiniyyah (esotericists), the Qarmatians, a faction of the Ittihādiyyah (advocates of divine union), and the proponents of the Epistles of the Brethren