that he went on to refute. This is because he is one of them: he holds that the outward teachings of the revealed Law concerning Allah Most High and the Last Day have an inner meaning contrary to their apparent meaning; that ordinary people are obliged to believe their apparent meaning, and whoever interprets them figuratively has disbelieved; and that those he calls “the people of demonstrative proof” are obliged to believe their inner meaning and interpret them figuratively, and whoever fails to do so has disbelieved.

However, he did report that the Sufis claim that knowledge of Allah and of other existing things is something imparted to the soul when it frees itself from the influences of sensual desires. He did not accept this method, but instead stated that extinguishing desires is a prerequisite for sound rational inquiry, not that it produces knowledge in itself. Earlier, he had reported concerning a group of