the first kind of power is divided into effects upon oneself—such as walking on water, flying through the air, and sitting on fire—and effects upon others, such as causing illness, restoring health, bringing about destruction, enriching, and impoverishing, so too the second kind is divided into effects upon oneself, through obeying Allah and His Messenger and adhering inwardly and outwardly to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger, and effects upon others, through enjoining obedience to Allah and His Messenger. One is then obeyed in a manner sanctioned by divine law, so that people accept one’s commands to obey Allah and His Messenger through the words concerning religion, just as, in the first case, they accepted what one wished to bring about in them through the words governing creation.

With this established, know that the absence of extraordinary knowledge and power does not harm a Muslim’s religion. If nothing of the unseen is disclosed to him and nothing in creation is subjected to his control, this does not diminish his rank with Allah. Indeed, their absence may be more beneficial to his religion, provided that possessing them is neither obligatory nor recommended in his particular case. By contrast, the absence of religion and of acting upon it leaves a person deficient and blameworthy, either making him deserving of punishment or depriving him of reward. This is because, through knowing religion, teaching it, and enjoining it, the servant attains the pleasure, blessings, and reward of Allah alone. Knowledge of creation and the ability to affect it, however, bring none of this unless they fall within religion. Rather, he may be obliged to give thanks for them, and he may incur sin through them.

Once this is understood, there are three categories:

It pertains either to knowledge and power, or to religion