“If someone were to lower a rope, it would descend”

indicates that He is not within the person lowering it, nor within the rope, the bucket, or anything else, and implies that He is in that direction. Likewise, interpreting it as referring to His knowledge is a manifestly unsound interpretation, akin to the interpretations of the Jahmiyyah. Rather, assuming its authenticity, it would indicate His encompassment. It is known that Allah has power to encompass all things, and it is known from the Quran and Sunnah that this will occur on the Day of Resurrection. Affirming this in general contradicts neither reason nor revelation. However, we speak only of what we know, and refrain from speaking of what we do not know. If someone doubts a premise upon which a proof rests, he ought to remain uncertain about its conclusion until the truth becomes clear to him; otherwise, let him remain silent about what he does not know.

Once this is clear, the same applies to someone seeking Him: he seeks Him in that direction. If we were hypothetically to do so, we would, on this supposition, be seeking Him. Yet seeking Him by directing ourselves that way is impossible for us, because a complete, resolute intention necessarily entails pursuing what is intended as far as one is able.

For this reason, elsewhere—when discussing the disagreement over whether a person is punished for an intention unaccompanied by action—we explained that a “resolute intention” necessarily entails doing whatever one can to accomplish what one intends. Whenever a person fails to do what is within his power, his intention is not resolute; rather, it is an inclination. Whoever inclines towards an evil deed but does not commit it has no sin recorded against him. If he abandons it for Allah’s sake, a good deed is recorded for him. This is why there is a distinction between Joseph’s inclination—peace be upon him—and that of the minister’s wife, as stated by