And Ibn ‘Abbās was asked, “How will He speak to them all at the same time on the Day of Resurrection?” He replied, “Just as He provides for them all at the same time.”

In this world, Allah, glory be to Him, hears those who supplicate and answers those who ask, despite their different languages and varied needs. One of us may have sufficiently acute hearing to hear many people speaking, just as some Quran teachers listen to several people reciting. Yet this is limited to a small number close to him. He also feels within himself closeness, nearness, and an inclination toward some people rather than others, whether present or absent, and experiences varying degrees of that nearness and closeness. “The Lord Most High,” however, is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing: His hearing encompasses all voices, and His giving meets all needs.

Some people have mistakenly imagined that His nearness is like the movement of a human body: when it inclines in one direction, it turns away from the other. Yet a person experiences his soul acting differently from his body: he finds his soul drawing near to the souls of many people, without its nearness to one diverting it from nearness to another.

“In short,” the Lord’s nearness to the hearts of the believers, and their hearts’ nearness to Him, is a well-known matter, not something obscure. Their hearts ascend to Him in proportion to the faith, knowledge, remembrance, reverent fear, and trust in Him that they contain. This is agreed upon by all people, unlike the nearness