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As for the Lord’s nearness to the hearts of believers and their hearts’ nearness to Him, this is a well-known matter, not something unknown. Hearts ascend to Him in proportion to the faith, knowledge, remembrance, reverent fear, and reliance upon Him that they contain. This is agreed upon by all people, unlike the nearness discussed earlier. For this is denied by the Jahmī who says, “Above the heavens there is no Lord to be worshipped, nor any God to whom prayer and prostration are offered.” This is disbelief and folly.

The former is denied by the Kullābiyyah and those who say, “Nothing dependent on His will subsists in Him.” Among the followers of al-Ashʿarī, from the adherents of Ahmad and others, are those who identify pleasure, anger, joy, and love with the will. At other times, they regard them as other eternal attributes distinct from the will.

This agreed-upon nearness within the heart is, in reality, the nearness of the mental representation, and it necessarily entails love for Him. For when someone loves a person, a representation of that person forms in his heart, and he finds him close to his heart. When he remembers him, he becomes present in his heart. A person’s love for a created being may even cause him to lose awareness of himself, as the poet said:

“Through you I lost awareness of myself,
And so I thought that you were I.”