“As for your objection, O al-Marīsī, to the statement of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that Allah will appear to His believing servants on the Day of Resurrection in a form other than His own, whereupon they will say, ‘We seek refuge in Allah from you,’ and then appear in His form, which they recognize, so that they recognize Him and follow Him—you claimed, O al-Marīsī, that whoever affirms this is a polytheist, and that they should be asked: ‘Did you not know your Lord in this world? How, then, did you fail to recognize Him upon seeing Him directly, and doubt Him?’

‘Uthmān ibn Sa‘īd said: The reply to you, O al-Marīsī, is that this has been authentically reported from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, through the narration of al-Zuhrī: Nu‘aym ibn Hammād narrated to us, from Ibn al-Mubārak, from Ma‘mar, from al-Zuhrī, from ‘Atā’ ibn Yazīd al-Laythī, from Abū Hurayrah and Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī, may Allah be pleased with them both, from