which those among them recognized, but which the denier, who has no knowledge of what manifests itself, did not know, and which the perfected knower—whether a prophet, a messenger, or an heir to them—concealed.

He therefore instructed them to withdraw from those forms when the Messenger of the time withdrew from them, following the Messenger and hoping that Allah would love them, in accordance with His words:

“Say, ‘If you love Allah, follow me, and Allah will love you.’”

Thus, he called them to a God to whom one turns, who is known in general terms but is not witnessed. Eyes cannot perceive Him, but He perceives the eyes, owing to His subtlety and His permeation of the individual realities of things. Eyes cannot perceive Him, just as they cannot perceive the spirits that govern their bodies and outward forms. He is the Subtle, the All-Aware. Experiential knowledge is tasting; tasting is self-manifestation; and self-manifestation occurs in forms. Hence, forms are indispensable, as is self-manifestation. Thus, whoever sees Him through his own desire must worship Him—if you have understood this.” End of quotation.

Reflect, then, on the true nature of what these people uphold:

They have all endorsed every form of polytheism in the world, set every created thing on an equal footing with Allah, and allowed anything whatsoever to be worshipped. Yet, while worshipping everything, they say: “We have worshipped none but Allah.”

Their teaching thus combines two things: every form of polytheism, and every form of denial and negation—all while they imagine that they have worshipped none but Allah. It is well known that this contradicts the religion of all the messengers, the religion of all the People of the Book and all religious communities, and even the religion of the polytheists. It also contradicts the innate disposition upon which Allah created His servants: what they understand in their hearts and find within themselves. It represents the utmost corruption, contradiction, sophistry, and denial of the Lord of all worlds.

For it is self-evidently known that the messengers regarded what the polytheists worshipped as