As for his statement—“What indicates that complete knowledge is intended is the Prophet’s saying, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, at the end of the hadith: ‘Then I came to know all that lies between the east and the west.’ This was only because Allah Most High illuminated his heart and opened his breast with knowledge”—he may be told:

The hadith indicates that this knowledge was among the effects of the placing of the hand just mentioned. This is true, but it does not indicate that this placing means nothing more than imparting such knowledge. It is plainly self-evident that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, mentioned three things when he said: “He placed His hand between my shoulders until I felt its coolness”—in another narration, “the coolness of His fingertips”—“on my chest. Then I came to know all that lies between the east and the west.”

He mentioned His placing His hand between his shoulders, and stated that this culminated in his feeling the coolness of His fingertips between his breasts. This is a second meaning: experiencing this coolness from a particular thing in a particular place. He then followed this