and their devout worshippers. Most of their speculative theologians, however—among the Jahmiyyah, Muʿtazilah, Dirāriyyah and others—say only: “He is neither within the world nor outside it, nor is He above the world.”

The same applies to their statements concerning the Qadariyyah: they report that they deny foreknowledge and the prior recording of events. These are the Qadariyyah about whom Ibn ʿUmar said: “When you meet those people, tell them that I disavow them and that they disavow me.” They used to say that Allah commanded and forbade His servants without knowing who would obey Him and who would disobey Him, or who would enter Paradise and who would enter the Fire, until they acted; only after they had acted did He know it. Hence their statement, “Events arise anew”—meaning that they begin afresh. A meadow is described as unuf (“fresh, untouched”) when its growth is abundant and it has not previously been grazed. They mean that His knowledge of the blessed and the wretched arises anew: He begins to know this without any prior knowledge or written record. Thus, deeds do not follow what has already been decreed, conforming precisely to that decree; rather, they are new occurrences, beginning afresh.

When a person intends to do something, he first determines in his mind what he wishes to do, then carries it out as he mentally determined it. He may also give outward expression to his plan in a visible representation. This mental determination is called “fashioning,” as in the poet’s words:

“You carry out what you design,
While some men design, but never carry through.”

He means: when you plan something, you carry it through and accomplish it, unlike others who are incapable of carrying out what they plan. Allah Most High says:

“Indeed, We have created all things according to a decree.”

He, glorified be He, knows everything that will happen before He creates things, and He creates by His will. Thus, He knows it and wills it, and His knowledge and will subsist in Him. He may also speak of it and announce it, as in His words: “I will surely fill