Ahmad parallel those of Ibn ʿAbbās, may Allah be pleased with them both: sometimes he specifies that the vision was with the heart, and sometimes he leaves it unqualified.

Then the judge said: “The first report is more sound: he saw Him that night with his own eyes. This question arose in the time of the Companions. Ibn ʿAbbās, Anas, and others affirmed that he saw Him on the night of the Ascension, while ʿĀʾisha denied that he saw Him with his own eyes that night.”

He said: “The evidence affirming that he saw Allah Most High is His saying:

‘It is not for any human being that Allah should speak to him except by revelation, or from behind a veil, or by sending a messenger who reveals, by His permission, whatever He wills.’ [al-Shūrā 51]

The verse provides evidence in that Allah Most High divided His speaking to His creation into three forms. The first is through sending messengers, which is how He speaks to the other prophets and those subject to religious obligations. The second is from behind a veil, as in His speaking to Moses. This speech is without an intermediary, for had there been an intermediary, it would have fallen under the first category we mentioned: sending messengers.

The third is without either a messenger or a veil, as in His speaking to our Prophet on the night of the Night Journey. Had it been from behind a veil or through a messenger, it would have fallen under the first two categories, and the division would have served no purpose. Thus, it is established that He spoke to him while the Prophet was seeing Him.”