behind seven layers.” Alī said, “Woe to you, butcher! Allah does not veil Himself from His creation.” In another wording: “Allah does not veil Himself from His creation by anything; rather, He has veiled His creation from Him.”

Another argument they advance is that if it is permissible to say, “He has veiled Himself,” it is permissible to say, “He is veiled”—meaning that He has veiled Himself, not that someone else has veiled Him. As for his statement that veiling implies incapacity and abasement, this applies only when one is veiled by another, as in the example he cited: “So-and-so was prevented from entering the ruler’s presence.” But if it were said that the ruler had veiled himself