Thus, this hadith shows that his words,

“You will look upon Him, and He will look upon you,”

apply generally to all creation, as the context indicates.

Ibn Khuzaymah also narrated from ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mas‘ūd, may Allah be pleased with him, a report traced back to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who said:

“By Allah, there is not one of you with whom Allah will not be alone, just as one of you is alone with the moon on the night of the full moon—or he said, ‘on a night.’ He will say: ‘Son of Adam, what deluded you concerning Me? Son of Adam, what did you do with what you knew? Son of Adam, how did you respond to the messengers?’”

These are among the hadiths upon which those holding this view rely. Some of them have also appealed to His words, glorified and exalted is He:

“But when they see it close at hand,”

believing that the pronoun refers to Allah. This is mistaken, for Allah, glorified and exalted is He, says:

“They say, ‘When will this promise be fulfilled, if you are truthful?’ Say, ‘Knowledge of it is with Allah alone, and I am only a clear warner.’ But when they see it close at hand, the faces of those who disbelieve will be distressed, and it will be said, ‘This is what you used to call for.’”

This makes clear that what they see is the promise—that is, the punishment promised to them. Do you not see that He says:

“And it will be said, ‘This is what you used to call for’”?

They have also seized upon flimsy interpretations of the Quran that provide no evidence whatsoever.

As for those who restrict the vision to those who outwardly profess Allah’s oneness—both believers and hypocrites—they cite the previously mentioned hadiths of Abū Hurayrah and Abū Sa‘īd, as we have related them. Those who affirm that a disbeliever or hypocrite will see Him affirm this only once, or twice for hypocrites, as a “vision of recognition.” Thereafter, He will veil Himself from them on the plain of the gathering.