refuge!”

“On that Day, the final destination is to your Lord.”

And His saying:

“Indeed, to your Lord is the return.”

And His saying:

“Indeed, we belong to Allah, and indeed, to Him we will return.”

And His saying:

“To Him is the final return.”

And His saying:

“Indeed, to Us is their return. Then, indeed, it is for Us to call them to account.”

However, those who hold this view must address a “question” that people have discussed: the Quran states that both disbelievers and believers will meet Him, as He says:

“O mankind, you are indeed labouring towards your Lord with great exertion, and you will meet Him. As for the one who is given his record in his right hand, he will receive an easy reckoning and return to his family rejoicing. But as for the one who is given his record behind his back, he will cry out for destruction and burn in a blazing Fire.”

People have differed over whether the disbelievers will see their Lord once, after which He will veil Himself from them, or whether they will never see Him at all. The latter view rests on the apparent meaning of His saying:

“No! Indeed, on that Day they will be veiled from their Lord,”

and on the grounds that seeing Him is the greatest honour and bliss, in which the disbelievers have no share.

Some groups among the scholars of hadith and Sufism have said that, rather, they will see Him, after which He will veil Himself from them. This is indicated by the authentic hadiths reported in al-Sahīh and elsewhere, narrated by Abū Saʿīd, Abū Hurayrah and others, and accords with the apparent meaning of the Quran. They said that His words, “will be veiled,” suggest that they first saw Him directly and were then veiled from Him. The evidence for this is His saying:

“Indeed, on that Day they will be veiled from their Lord.”

Thus, it is understood that the veiling takes place on that Day. This suggests that it is particular to that Day, which can only apply to veiling after having seen Him. As for being perpetually prevented from seeing Him, that would continue throughout this world and the Hereafter.