And if they disagree with them—as is their position—they are told: “If you say that no one draws near to Allah Himself, that no one is called to Allah Himself, that no path—straight or circular—connects the servant to Allah Himself, and that no one goes to Allah Himself; and if, according to you, all this refers instead to some of the effects of His power and His creations, such as what He creates as a means of showing mercy to His servants, so that it is to these that one goes and towards these that one journeys—then, if you say this, you have no way to refute the position of those unionists. Your position is of the same kind as theirs, except that they have extended its scope, holding that whoever calls people to anything, reaches it, or journeys towards it has in fact called people to Allah, reached Him, and journeyed towards Him. You, however, restrict this to some created things rather than others. Thus, the difference between you and them is one of universal versus restricted application, and you resemble them more closely than the Christians do.”

This is why the author of al-Fusūs used to say that the Christians fell into unbelief only because they restricted its scope, since, in his view, all