benefit merely from the beauty of his form when no one sees it. What honour, then, is there in this?

Seventh, if the description in his statement, “I saw my Lord in the most beautiful form,” referred to the one seeing, he would necessarily have been in the most beautiful form at the time of the vision. Yet the hadith indicates that his complexion became radiant and his spirits lifted because of his joy and delight at the vision; this would therefore have occurred after the vision. Thus, this statement cannot serve as proof, and their claim is invalid.

Eighth, the wording is:

“The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came out to us one morning in good spirits, his complexion radiant. We said, ‘What has happened to him?’ He replied, ‘Why should I not be so, when my Lord came to me last night in the most beautiful form?’”

This explicitly shows that his Lord’s coming to him in the most beautiful form is not the same as his being in good spirits and having a radiant complexion.

Ninth, his statement under the second argument—that “form” means “attribute,” and that the intended meaning is to describe his favourable standing with Allah and the many great blessings Allah bestowed upon him—is false for several reasons: