and on this view, His existence cannot be conceived of in the absence of created beings. This amounts to outright denial of the Creator. It is the position of al-Qūnawī and al-Tilimsānī, and the position expressed by the author of al-Fusūs in much of his writing. At other times, they attribute to Him a self-subsisting existence, then maintain that this very existence is also the existence of created beings, in the sense that it flowed forth to them. This is less unbelieving than the first position, although both are among the gravest and most repugnant forms of unbelief. Some passages in the writings of the author of al-Fusūs and others accord with this position. The statements of this man likewise sometimes suggest this meaning.

Even so, do they make His existence conditional upon the existence of the world, thereby making Him dependent upon the world, or do they not? Sometimes they say one thing, and sometimes the other.

Seventh:

They praise misguidance, bewilderment, injustice, error, and the punishment with which Allah punished the nations. They invert the words of Allah and His Messenger in ways whose invalidity is evident from the most basic truths of reason. An example is the statement of the author of al-Fusūs:

“Had Noah not combined the two calls for his people, they would have answered him. He called them publicly, then called them privately.”

He goes on to say:

“He related that his people turned a deaf ear to his call because they knew what answering his call would require of them. Those who know Allah thus understood what Noah was indicating concerning his people: praise expressed in the language of blame. And he knew that they did not answer his call only because of the furqān (distinction) it contained, whereas the matter is Quran, not furqān. Whoever is established in the Quran does not heed furqān, even though it is contained within it.”

Thus they praise and commend what Allah has condemned, cursed, and forbidden, and perpetrate falsehood