heretics such as Ibn ʿArabī and his like, who rejected this statement of al-Junayd because it invalidates their corrupt doctrine. Al-Junayd and those like him are imams of guidance; whoever opposes him in this matter is misguided. Other shaykhs likewise discussed what spiritual wayfarers experience and the lights and other things they see within their hearts, warning them not to suppose that these are Allah’s very essence, exalted is He.

ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr once asked ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar for his daughter’s hand in marriage while the latter was circumambulating the Kaʿbah. He replied:

“Do you speak to me about women while we behold Allah in our circumambulation?”

By all such statements, they did not mean that every veil between the heart and Allah is lifted until Allah’s very essence directly encounters the soul, as He sees Himself. This is not possible for anyone in this world. Those who considered it possible allowed it only for the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, as in Ibn ʿAbbās’s statement:

“Muhammad saw his Lord with his heart twice.”

Rather, this manifestation occurs through intermediaries, according to the servant’s faith, knowledge, and love. People’s experiences therefore vary, just as their visions of Allah Most High in dreams vary: each person sees Him according to his faith, and He is seen in various forms.

Statements such as these made by Abū Tālib and these men would be approximately correct if understood as referring to what occurs within hearts, although some of them remain open to question. But to say that the Lord Most High is like this in Himself is not correct.

As for his statement:

“Closer to the spirit than its life, closer to the faculty of sight than its seeing, and to