The Shaykh—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—also said:

Those who define philosophy as making oneself resemble God to the extent of one’s ability—an interpretation found in the writings of a number of people, such as Abū Hāmid al-Ghazālī and others like him—do not affirm any real nearness: nearness in its familiar, intelligible sense. Whoever holds that the nearness of His servants who are brought near is not nearness to Him, but only to His reward and bounty, is guilty of negation and falsehood.

For His reward and bounty reach them, and they attain them; each comes into direct contact with the other, as food enters their bodies and clothing envelops them. If they are within His very Paradise, bliss, and reward, how can nearness to His bounty be made the highest goal? Especially since those brought near rank above the righteous companions of the right, whose record is in ‘Illiyyīn:

“What will make you know what ‘Illiyyūn is? A register inscribed, witnessed by those brought near. Indeed, the righteous will be in bliss, reclining on adorned couches, looking on. You will recognize in their faces the radiance of bliss. They will be given pure, sealed wine to drink, whose seal is musk—so for this let those who compete compete. Its admixture is from Tasnīm, a spring from which those brought near drink.”

Ibn ‘Abbās said concerning “from which those brought near drink”: “They drink it pure, while for the companions of the right it is mixed.”