theoretical reasoning alone, nor attained through spiritual tasting through the will alone. They then conveyed what they knew. In describing Him and conveying knowledge of Him, they necessarily referred to the One named and described using names and descriptions with shared meanings, while distinguishing Him from created beings in ways that exclude any sharing in His distinctive reality. For the purpose of conveying and describing is to impart knowledge to those addressed, who do not know the realities peculiar to Allah’s essence and attributes. Had the prophets conveyed only those distinctive realities, without anything else, their hearers would have understood nothing; indeed, they might even have denied them.

When people are addressed using shared meanings, and the harmful implications of this sharing are removed by statements excluding any likeness, such as His words:

“There is nothing like unto Him,”

and:

“And there is none comparable to Him,”

and similar statements, they fall into one of two categories.

The first is a believer who believes in the meanings of those attributes in general, considered without qualification, and affirms them for Allah in a manner befitting Him and peculiar to Him, in which no created being shares. This is the utmost attainable by people in this condition.

The second is someone into whose heart Allah has cast such light and special guidance that He enables him to witness something of the distinctive realities actually denoted by those names and attributes. He knows this neither through reasoning alone nor through spiritual experience alone, but through direct witnessing corresponding to what the messengers conveyed. The agreement of his witnessing with what the messengers announced shows him that his witnessing is sound. He thereby receives a share of prophethood: prophethood in its entirety has ceased, but the existence of some of its constituent parts has not ceased.

In some matters, he must nevertheless remain veiled from witnessing what the prophet witnessed. He therefore believes the prophet concerning them, because he has witnessed some of what the prophet conveyed. What he has witnessed remains firmly established for him as a basis for affirming what he has not witnessed. This is the condition of those foremost in truthfulness in relation to the prophets.