ibn Hamawayh that he said:

“Muhyī al-Dīn Ibn ‘Arabī is an ocean that buckets cannot muddy. Yet the light of following the Prophet upon the face of Shaykh Shihāb al-Dīn al-Suhrawardī is another matter.”

I said to him: “This is like saying: ‘These men were granted immense dominion of the kind possessed by unbelievers. Yet the light of Islam upon Shihāb Ghāzī, the ruler of Mayyāfāriqīn, is another matter.’”

They held Ibn ‘Arabī in such esteem because Shaykh Shihāb al-Dīn was not as accomplished in knowing and following the Sunnah, and ascertaining the truth brought by the messengers, as Ibn ‘Arabī was in the path he pursued, in which he combined philosophy and Sufism.

These people can only be cut off at the root by affirming the distinction between the Creator and creation, and affirming His distinct identity, separate from creation: hands are raised to Him in supplication, and to Him the Seal of the Prophets ascended. Al-Suhrawardī stated in his well-known creed:

“Without pointing to Him or identifying Him distinctly.”

This was precisely what these people used to gain the upper hand over him. For once pointing to Him and identifying Him distinctly are denied, nothing remains but sheer nonexistence and negation of the divine, or heresy, the oneness of all existence, and divine indwelling.

Ibn Sab‘īn and other heretics like him say:

“No pointing, no distinct identification;
The very thing you see is an essence unseen,
And an essence unseen is the very thing you see.”

In their formulas of remembrance, they say, “There is nothing but Allah,” instead of the Muslims’ declaration, “There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah,” because they believe that He is the existence of everything that exists, and thus nothing exists but Him.

Muslims, however, know that Allah is the Creator, Lord, and Sovereign of everything; that He is neither created things, nor a part of them, nor an attribute of them, but is separate from them. They affirm that He is the God who deserves worship to the exclusion of all other