Yūsuf, a righteous man and one of our companions, that he had seen me in a dream addressing them (1).

The knowledge attained through this is the knowledge that sets the servant’s condition aright and is obligatory upon him. Yet sincere seeking—through syllogistic reasoning or spiritual experience—may lead him to the prophetic message. He then receives from that message what sets his condition aright and imparts to him the complete understanding and beneficial knowledge that are obligatory upon him. This is the divinely prescribed prophetic path that we mentioned earlier.

This may not happen, however, and many of them come to regard prophethood as dispensable, whether in belief or in practice, by turning away from what it brought. They thus miss out on the faith, knowledge, and understanding brought by the Messenger, the loss of which causes them to stray from guidance in this world and suffer the greatest misery. Such is the condition of those Jews, Christians, and Sabians who disbelieve in the Messenger, even if they believe in the Lord’s existence. Indeed, among Muslims there are those who conceal their disbelief in the Messenger, just as those others openly disbelieve in him. This hypocrisy has been exceedingly widespread, both in earlier times and today.

Corrupt syllogisms and corrupt spiritual experiences may also take root in a person’s heart, leading him to make corrupt judgments concerning divine lordship. These resemble the judgments of those philosophers, speculative theologians, and Sufis who have strayed into Sabian, Jewish, or Christian doctrines. They have deviated either into negating the divine attributes and denying their truth; into equating and likening them to the attributes of created beings; or into believing that the Lord is absolute, undifferentiated existence, and that the very reality of