—such as his companion al-Qūnawī, al-Tilimsānī, Ibn Sab'īn, al-Shushtarī, Ibn al-Fārid, and their followers—hold the doctrine that existence is one. They are called proponents of the unity of existence and claim spiritual realization and gnosis. They identify the Creator’s existence with the very existence of created beings. Thus, whatever qualities created beings possess, good or bad, praiseworthy or blameworthy, are, in their view, qualities of the Creator Himself. According to them, the Creator has no existence whatsoever that is distinct from the existence of created beings and separate from them. Rather, they hold that there is absolutely nothing other than the Creator, nor anything besides Him.

Among their sayings is: “There is nothing but Allah.” Thus, in their view, idol worshippers have worshipped none other than Him, since they believe there is nothing other than Him. For this reason, they interpret His words, exalted is He:

“Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him,”

as meaning: “Your Lord has ordained that you will worship none but Him.” For, according to them, there is no other being whose worship could even be conceived; hence, every idol worshipper has worshipped only Allah.

For this reason, the author of this book held that those who worshipped the calf were right, and stated that Moses rebuked Aaron for condemning their worship of the calf. He said:

“Moses knew more about the matter than Aaron, because he knew what the worshippers of the calf had worshipped. He knew that Allah had decreed that they worship none but Him, and whatever Allah decrees necessarily comes to pass. Thus, when the incident occurred, Moses’ rebuke of his brother Aaron concerned his denunciation and his failure to follow. For the gnostic is one who sees the Real in everything—indeed, who sees Him as identical with everything.”

For this reason, they regard Pharaoh as one of the foremost gnostics who attained realization, and hold that he was right in claiming lordship. As he said in this book:

“Since Pharaoh held the position of command as master of his time, and was a tyrant according to the conventions of religious law, he therefore said:

‘I am your most exalted lord.’