draws knowledge of Allah—which amounts to denial of the Lord and the oneness of existence—from his lamp-niche; and they claim to equal him in receiving knowledge of the religious law from Allah.

As for belief in the Last Day, he said:

“Only He who keeps His promise remains,
and an eye beholds the true threat.
Even if they enter the abode of misery,
they enjoy pleasure there—a distinct kind of bliss.”

A similar statement is reported from one of the misguided people who preceded him: “The Fire becomes a fiery nature for its inhabitants, which they enjoy.” There would then be no fear, nothing to dread, and no punishment, for it would be something pleasurable.

Moreover, regarding commands and prohibitions, he holds that the one who commands and prohibits and the one who is commanded and prohibited are one. Thus, among his opening words in al-Futūhāt al-Makkiyya (The Meccan Revelations), his largest work, were:

“The Lord is real, and the servant is real;
if only I knew: who is bound by obligation?
If you say, ‘The servant,’ that is the Lord;
if you say, ‘The Lord,’ how can He be bound?”

Elsewhere, the wording is “that one is dead”; I saw it in his own handwriting. This rests upon his fundamental premise: in his view, there is no servant and no existence except the existence of the Lord. Who, then, is bound by obligation? According to his premise, He is both the one imposing the obligation and the one bound by it, as they say: “He sent a messenger from Himself to Himself.”