Shaykh al-Islām Abū al-‘Abbās Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked about the words of Allah Most High, “true certainty,” “certainty of sight,” and “knowledge of certainty”: What does each of these stations mean, and which station is highest?

He replied:

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of all worlds. People have expressed various well-known views concerning these terms.

(One explanation is that “knowledge of certainty” is what one knows through hearing, reports, analogy, and reasoning; “certainty of sight” is what one witnesses and sees with one’s own eyes; and “true certainty” is what one directly encounters, experiences, tastes, and comes to know through examination.

The first is like someone who is told that there is honey somewhere and believes the person reporting it, or who sees traces of honey and infers its existence.

The second is like someone who sees the honey itself, witnessing it with his own eyes. This is higher, as the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“One who is told is not like one who sees for himself.”