I draw near to him by an armspan; and whoever comes to Me walking, I come to him running.”

When one thing is near another, this necessarily entails that the other is near it. Yet the nearness of the second may simply follow from the first drawing near, or the second may also draw near in its own right. The first is like someone approaching Mecca or the wall of the Kaaba: the nearer he comes to it, the nearer it is to him, without any action on its part. The second is like a person drawing near to someone who is also drawing near to him, as in the divine report quoted above.

Numerous texts speak of the servant drawing near to Allah and of Allah bringing him near, such as His sayings:

“Those whom they invoke seek a means of approach to their Lord, striving to be nearest to Him.”

“Then, if he is among those brought near.”

“A spring from which those brought near will drink.”

“Nor the angels brought near.”

“And among those brought near.”

“My servant has not drawn near to Me with anything like fulfilling what I have made obligatory upon him”—to the end of the hadith.

Another hadith states:

“The nearest a servant is to his Lord is during the last part of the night.”

We have discussed these hadiths and people’s views on this subject at length in Response to the Egyptian Questions on the Hamāh Fatwa. This, then, is the Lord Himself drawing near to His servant, and it is like His descent to the lowest heaven.

An authentic hadith states:

“Allah draws near on the afternoon of ʿArafah”—to the end of the hadith.

All this nearness is specific. Neither the Book nor the Sunnah ever speaks of His Essence being near to all created beings in every circumstance. This establishes the falsity of the position of those who advocate divine indwelling: they have taken what is specific and qualified and made it universal and unqualified. Their brethren, the advocates of divine union, have done the same with statements such as His saying:

“I become his hearing,”

and His saying:

“He then comes to them in a form other than His own,”

and with Allah’s saying through His Prophet:

“Allah hears whoever praises Him.”