And these people pursued the path of will and love in an undifferentiated manner, without holding fast to the Quran and Sunnah, just as the adherents of speculative theology and rational opinion pursued the path of reflection and inquiry without holding fast to the Quran and Sunnah. Thus, both groups fell into various errors.
As Allah Most High says:
“If guidance comes to you from Me, whoever follows My guidance will neither go astray nor fall into misery.”
“But whoever turns away from My remembrance will have a life of hardship, and We will raise him blind on the Day of Resurrection.”
“He will say, ‘My Lord, why have You raised me blind when I could see?’”
“He will say, ‘Thus did Our signs come to you, but you forgot them; and thus will you be forgotten today.’”
He also says:
“This is My straight path, so follow it, and do not follow other paths, for they will lead you away from His path.”
And He says:
“Indeed, this Quran guides to that which is most upright.”
And He says:
“The truth has come to you from your Lord. Whoever is guided is guided only for his own good, and whoever goes astray does so only to his own detriment.”
There are many similar passages in the Quran. This principle has been discussed at length elsewhere.
It may be objected:
The one wholly absorbed in contemplating Allah’s sole lordship has witnessed that the Lord created everything. He may also be among those who affirm divine wisdom, saying: “He created all things only for a wise purpose, which He loves and approves of. He created what He hates only for the sake of what He loves.”
Those who distinguish between love and will say: A sick person wants medicine but does not love it; rather, he loves what it brings about—recovery and the removal of illness. The Lord Most High created everything by His will. He therefore wills everything He has created, as well as the wise purpose He loves. Although He does not love some of the entities and actions He has created, He loves the wise purpose for which they were created. Thus, when the one who knows Allah witnesses