known those names, but has only believed in them in general or known some of them. The more a person knows of Allah’s names, attributes, and signs, the more complete his faith in Him becomes.
Third: knowledge and affirmation themselves vary in strength, firmness, and freedom from doubt and uncertainty. This is something everyone can observe within himself. Even when people perceive the same thing through their outward senses—for example, when they sight the crescent moon—some see it more clearly than others. The same applies to hearing the same sound, smelling the same scent, and tasting the same kind of food. Likewise, the heart’s knowledge and affirmation vary to an even greater extent, in numerous respects. People differ in their knowledge of the meanings they believe in—the meanings of the Lord’s names and His speech—far more than they differ in their knowledge of other things.
Fourth: affirmation that entails action of the heart is more complete than affirmation that does not. Thus, knowledge upon which a person acts is more complete than knowledge upon which he does not act. Suppose two people know that Allah is true, His Messenger is true, Paradise is real, and Hell is real. If this knowledge produces in one of them love and fear of Allah, longing for Paradise, and flight from Hell, while in the other it does not, then the first person’s knowledge is more complete. The strength of an effect indicates the strength of its cause, and these responses arise from knowledge. Knowing what is loved entails seeking it, and knowing what is feared entails fleeing from it. If the necessary consequence does not occur, this indicates weakness in that which entails it. This is why the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
“Being told is not like seeing for oneself.”
For when Moses was told