He has thus stated that the righteous are immersed in bliss, that they are given the drink Allah Most High has described, and that they sit upon adorned couches, looking on. How, then, can it be said that those brought near—who rank above them, drinking it pure while it is mixed for the others—are brought near merely by receiving the bliss the others already enjoy? The falsity of this becomes apparent with the slightest reflection.

The second issue concerns “His nearness” that is inseparable from His Essence, like knowledge and power. There is no doubt that He is near to all His creation through His knowledge, power, and governance. He has always known them and has always had power over them. This is the position of all Ahl al-Sunnah and most other groups, except those among the Qadariyyah, Rāfidah, and their like who deny His eternal knowledge, or those among the Rāfidah, Mu‘tazilah, and others who deny His power over a thing before it exists.

As for His own nearness to His creatures—a nearness that necessarily obtains at one time rather than another and is not exclusive to any particular thing—people hold two views concerning this. Those who say that He is present in His Essence in every place affirm this nearness. Those who do not hold that view also have two positions concerning it.

The first is to affirm this nearness. This is the position of a group of speculative theologians, Sufis, and others who say that He is above the Throne while also affirming this nearness. Others affirm this nearness without affirming His being upon the Throne.

Since the servants’ nearness to Him Himself, and His nearness to them, are not considered impossible by the great majority of the early generations and their followers among hadith scholars, jurists, Sufis, and speculative theologians, it is not necessary to interpret figuratively every text in which