[likewise rules out] nearness to His attributes from the outset, if he affirms any attribute for Him. If, however, he means that what the servant draws near to is a self-subsisting entity other than Allah, Mighty and Majestic, then that is one of Allah’s creations.

It is well known that the wording, “The believer draws near to his Lord until He places His covering over him, then makes him acknowledge his sins: ‘Do you acknowledge such-and-such a sin?’ He replies, ‘I acknowledge it, my Lord,’” and the wording, “Allah brings the believer near and places His covering over him,” are entirely explicit. Anyone who hears them necessarily knows that the One who brings the believer near to Himself, places His covering over him, makes him acknowledge his sins, and forgives them is Allah, Mighty and Majestic—not any of His creatures.

How, then, can it be permissible to say that the servant does not draw near to his Lord, but only draws near to one of His creatures? Is this not tantamount to saying that the one who makes him acknowledge his sins is one of His creatures? This is like the claim of those Jahmiyyah who say that speech does not subsist in Allah, Mighty and Majestic, but only in some of His creatures. The two claims are alike, and both are tantamount to saying that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, does not forgive him, but that one of His creatures forgives him instead.

This ultimately leads to what some philosophizing Sabians and others say: that the servants do not return to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, but that their ultimate destination is the Active Intellect and similar entities which they claim to be angels. They thus make that entity the Lord of the servants, to whom they return, just as they claim that it is their Lord who governs this world.