the first is the servant’s drawing near to his Lord and approaching Him; the second is the Lord’s drawing near to His servant.

The Lord’s drawing near to His servant is of two kinds. The first necessarily follows from the servant’s drawing near to Him. It is well known that when one thing draws near to another, the other necessarily becomes near to it, since nearness is a mutual relation between the two. It is therefore impossible for one to draw near to the other without the other becoming near to it. This does not, however, entail that the one approached has itself performed an act by which it draws near. Rather, its nearness is that which results from the action of the one approaching. Consider something moving towards something stationary: the closer it draws, the nearer the stationary thing becomes to it, without itself moving.

This kind of nearness of the Lord to His servant follows from the servant’s nearness to Allah. Thus, if one affirms the nearness of Allah Himself to the servant, it is in this sense; otherwise, not.

The second kind of the Lord’s drawing near to the servant is His drawing near through an act subsisting in Himself, as conveyed by the reported terms of coming, arriving, descending, and the like. Discussion of this drawing near will be deferred until those matters are mentioned. The discussion here concerns the first kind of nearness.

Everyone who says that Allah is above the Throne says that it is possible to draw near to Him. As for whoever says that He is not above