“that he carried the towns of Lot’s people on a feather of his wing”

and other such extraordinary attributes ascribed to angels—the faculties of conception and imagination can accommodate this, even while one knows that their reality is unlike that of human beings, and that they are not flesh, blood, sinews, or other such bodies subject to coming into being and passing away. Admittedly, someone with a weak imagination may find it unable to encompass such things, just as his senses may be unable to bear bright light, loud sounds, and the like. For this reason, ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

“Tell people what they can understand, and leave aside what they would reject. Would you like Allah and His Messenger to be disbelieved?!”

And Ibn Masʿūd said:

“No man relates an account to a people