and dislikes what he dislikes. His servant dislikes death, so He dislikes it, as He said, “I dislike causing him distress.” Yet He, glorified is He, has decreed death and therefore wills that His servant should die. He called this hesitation, then explained that it must nevertheless occur.

This is agreement and unity regarding what is loved, approved and commanded, and what is hated, disliked and forbidden. It may be called unity in kind and attribute, but it is not a union of the two essences. Such a union is utterly impossible, and whoever professes it is an unbeliever. This is the doctrine of the Christians and the extremists among the Rāfidah and the ascetics, such as the followers of al-Hallāj and their like. It is “restricted union,” concerning one particular entity.

As for “unrestricted union,” the doctrine of those who profess the unity of existence and claim that the existence of creation is the very existence of the Creator, this amounts to negating and denying the Maker and encompasses every form of polytheism.

Just as union is of two kinds, so too is indwelling. Some profess restricted indwelling in certain individuals; others profess His indwelling in everything. The latter are the Jahmiyyah, who say that Allah’s essence is everywhere.

Some of those overwhelmed by self-effacement in love may become so absorbed in their beloved that they lose awareness of themselves and their love; in the one they remember, of their remembrance; in the one they know, of their knowledge; and in the one they find, of their own existence. They perceive only their beloved and, in their loss of discernment, impaired reason and intoxication, imagine that they are their beloved.

It is related that a beloved fell into the sea, and his lover threw himself in after him. The beloved said: