entails denying His reality. The early generations and the speculative theologians who affirm the divine attributes have drawn attention to a truth known through reason: whoever says that He cannot be seen is necessarily led to deny His reality and regard Him as nonexistent, for if He exists, it is possible to see Him.

There are two approaches to this matter. The first, taken by Abū Muhammad Ibn Kullāb and others, such as Abū al-Hasan ibn al-Zāghūnī, holds that whatever subsists in itself can be seen. They did not require this to hold for all accidents and attributes. The second, taken by Abū al-Hasan al-Ash'arī and his followers, and also adopted by al-Qādī Abū Ya'lā and others, holds that everything that exists can be seen, whether it subsists in itself or in something else.

They have advanced various arguments to establish this. Some are unclear and open to objections, and have led them to accept consequences whose falsity is apparent. Elsewhere, we have explained how to formulate the rational argument on this matter in a way that establishes the intended conclusion. Here, however, we shall offer only a brief indication, saying: