If, then, sound reason establishes that He must have an existence peculiar to Him, or a reality by which He is distinguished, and that He must have attributes unique to Him in which no one shares, then the same must be said of His magnitude. For an existent cannot conceivably exist without this, and claiming that something exists without it contradicts self-evident truths and rational necessity. For this reason, they judged those who deny this to be negating the divine reality, since that is the necessary implication of their position, even if they do not recognize it. In fact, such a person combines an affirmation of what necessarily entails His existence with an affirmation of what necessarily entails His nonexistence. He thus affirms Him in one respect and denies Him in another, contradicting himself without realizing it.

This is why the shaykhs who know Allah say that the hearts of these deniers are neither illuminated nor opened to understanding, and that they do not attain the adornment of the perfected friends of Allah Most High. Their rejection and denial prevent them from truly knowing Allah Most High, loving Him, and drawing near to Him. For they have committed themselves to rejecting the truth, knowledge and pursuit of which would bring them closer to Allah Most High. They thus miss out on the knowledge of Allah, the pursuit of Him, and the drawing near to Him with their hearts through which they would attain His friendship—the friendship with which He has described His perfected, God-fearing friends—even though they have spoken of some of these matters in proportion to the faith and piety they possess.