and my daughter, such that one is lawful and another forbidden?” He replied: “To us, they are all alike. But those who are veiled said, ‘Forbidden,’ so we said, ‘Forbidden to you.’”

Among these adherents of divine indwelling and union are those who restrict indwelling and union to particular individuals: certain prophets, such as Christ; certain Companions, as the extremists claim concerning ʿAlī; certain spiritual masters, as the followers of al-Hallāj and others like them claim; certain kings; or certain bodily forms, such as those of beardless youths. One of them says: “I gaze upon my Creator’s attributes and behold them in this form.”

The disbelief in this statement is too plain to escape anyone who believes in Allah and His Messenger. If someone said such a thing about a noble prophet, he would be a disbeliever—so what if he says it about a beardless boy? May Allah disgrace a group whose object of worship is of the same kind as those with whom they have intercourse. The Most High has said:

“Nor would he order you to take the angels and prophets as lords. Would he order you to disbelieve after you had become Muslims?”

If those who take the angels and prophets as lords are disbelievers, even while acknowledging that they are Allah’s creatures, then what of those who take certain created beings as lords while claiming that Allah dwells within them or is united with them, that their existence is His existence, and other such assertions?

As for the second benefit of lowering the gaze, it brings illumination to the heart and grants discernment. The Most High said concerning Lot’s people:

“By your life, they were indeed wandering blindly in their intoxication.”