with the heart. However, he did not approve of denying the vision without qualification, since such a denial suggests denying both forms of vision, even though some who deny it deny only vision with the eyes.

Ahmad’s answer is drawn from the report of Ibn ʿAbbās, which Muslim narrated in his Sahīh from Ziyād ibn al-Husayn, from Abū al-ʿĀliyah al-Barrāʾ, from Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning the verses:

“The heart did not lie about what it saw” (11) — “And he certainly saw Him in another descent” (13) [al-Najm 11, 13].

He said: “He saw Him with his heart twice.” Muslim also narrated in his Sahīh from ʿAbd al-Malik, from Abū Sulaymān, from ʿAtāʾ ibn Abī Rabāh, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: “He saw Him