Jābir, he said: “Then He will manifest Himself to us, laughing.” It is well known that, although He was described in this world as laughing, what that looks like cannot be known without direct observation.

The sixth point is that his illustrating this with the words, “And when He made them appear few in your eyes when you met” [al-Anfāl 44], and, “But it was made to appear so to them” [al-Nisā’ 157], does not accord with his comparison to Gabriel’s coming in the form of Dihyah and in human form. The Jews were mistaken about the person they saw: he was not the Messiah, but the Messiah’s likeness had been cast upon him. By contrast, the one whom Mary and Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saw was Gabriel himself, though in human form. How, then, can someone who was himself seen in a particular form be compared with someone who was not seen, but whose likeness was merely cast upon another?

As for making them appear fewer or more in their eyes with regard to quantity, this does not reside in the thing seen itself, but is an attribute of what is seen.