and they will never attain the rank of a prophet or messenger in what they receive from Allah. How, then, can they receive from Allah without an intermediary, and how can this manner of receiving be superior, when they cannot attain the station of Moses, to whom Allah spoke, nor have angels descend upon them as they descended upon the prophets? This is the belief of Muslims, Jews, and Christians.

As for these Jahmīs who profess the unity of existence, they built upon their corrupt premise that Allah is the absolute existence shared by all that exists. Thus, whatever thoughts occur in their hearts—even if they are Satan’s whisperings—they claim to have received from Allah without an intermediary, and they claim that they are spoken to just as Moses son of ʿImrān was spoken to. Some of them even claim that their state is superior to that of Moses son of ʿImrān, because Moses heard the address from the tree, whereas they—as they claim—hear it from a living, speaking being. Thus, the author of al-Fusūs is reported to have said:

“All speech in existence is His speech;
To us, its prose and verse are alike.”

What helped them reach this conclusion was their adherence to the doctrines of the Jahmīs and their followers, who claim that Allah’s speaking to Moses was merely a form of inspiration, and that a servant may see Allah in this world once the impediment is removed from his sight. According to them, no veil obstructing vision exists separately from the servant; rather, the veil is attached to him. Once it is lifted, he beholds the Truth. Yet they behold only their mental representation of absolute existence, which has no reality except in their minds, or of created existence. Thus the Lord whom they behold, in their view—who