As for the Creator—majestic is His glory, glorified and exalted is He—He has neither likeness nor equal. Reflection based on analogy therefore cannot apply to Him. Rather, He is known through the innate disposition, and the servant remembers Him.

Through remembrance and what He has revealed about Himself, the servant gains profound knowledge of Him that cannot be attained through thought and assessment alone. I mean knowledge of Him Himself, for He Himself is not an object of reflection. As for understanding the meanings of what He has revealed and similar matters, thought and assessment do have a place, as taught by the Quran and the Sunnah.

For this reason, many of those devoted to worship and Sufism urge constant remembrance and regard it as the gateway to reaching the Truth. This is good if they combine it with contemplation of the Quran and the Sunnah and adherence to them. Many practitioners of rational inquiry and speculative theology urge reflection and inquiry, regarding this as the path to knowledge of the Truth. Inquiry is sound when directed toward truth and evidence, as explained earlier.

Each of these two paths contains truth, but each needs the truth found in the other. Each must also be cleared of the falsehood that has entered it. All this is accomplished by following what the Messengers brought.

We have discussed this at length elsewhere, explaining the paths of those devoted to worship, spiritual discipline, and remembrance, and the path of those devoted to speculative theology, rational inquiry, and inference, as well as what is acceptable and unacceptable in each. We have also explained the complete path brought by the prophetic message, which encompasses every truth. This is not the place to elaborate on that.