and the moon, and then says, “The sun and moon have come to me.” This is the position of the “negators” among the philosophers, the Mu‘tazilah, and the Ash‘ariyyah. The Ash‘ariyyah, however, affirm concerning vision what the Mu‘tazilah do not, though some of them agree with the Mu‘tazilah in their intended meaning.

According to “Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamā‘ah”—the early generations, the scholars of hadith, those endowed with spiritual knowledge, and their followers among jurists, Sufis, ordinary people, and speculative theologians as well—His descent, arrival, and coming may involve movement on the servant’s part, his coming near to Him and drawing close to Him. This is something beyond the unveiling of the servant’s inner sight, for that is knowledge; in their view, this involves both knowledge and action on the servant’s part. Thus, it is both unveiling and action. The Ash‘ariyyah and similar speculative theologians do not deny that movement can occur on the servant’s part, since that is possible. What they may deny is his movement towards Allah, as discussed earlier.

Some of them have likened Allah’s coming to His words:

“And worship your Lord until certainty comes to you.”

That is, what is known with certainty: death and what follows it.

I say: This is like His words:

“But when the Greatest Calamity comes,”

and His words:

“But when the Deafening Blast comes,”

and His words:

“For its signs have already come.”

Coming in these instances was taken to mean appearing and becoming manifest.

I say: It is not merely His appearing and manifesting Himself, although it includes that. Rather, it also includes the servant’s movement towards Him. Then, if He is stationary, His coming necessarily follows from the servant’s coming to Him; and if there is movement on His part, then He Himself also comes, even though the servant is going towards Him. The same applies to