and whoever seeks out rare hadith reports resorts to lying.” And al-Shāfi'ī said:

“No one who embraced speculative theology ever prospered.”

Since referring matters back to what the messengers brought leads those who do so to guidance and righteousness, Allah Most High said:

“If you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is better and leads to the best outcome.” [al-Nisā’: 59]

Then this philosopher said:

“All this is so even though these views concerning the world do not accord with the apparent meaning of revelation. For when revelation’s apparent meaning is examined, the verses describing the world’s creation show that its form truly came into being, whereas existence itself and time extend continuously in both directions—by which I mean without interruption.

“For His words, Most High:

‘It is He who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and His Throne was upon the water’ [Hūd: 7]

indicate, in their apparent meaning, that there was an existence before this existence—namely, the Throne and the water—and a time before this time. By this time I mean that associated with the form of this existence, which is the measure of the celestial sphere’s motion. His words, Most High:

‘On the Day when the earth will be changed to another earth’ [Ibrāhīm: 48]

also indicate, in their apparent meaning, that there is a second existence