the Quran and Sunnah in numerous places that He singles out certain creatures for His looking and listening, as in the saying:

“There are three to whom Allah will not speak, at whom He will not look on the Day of Resurrection, and whom He will not purify, and they will have a painful punishment: a lying king, an elderly adulterer, and an arrogant pauper.”

The same applies to “listening.” He Most High says:

“And has listened to its Lord, as it must.”

That is, it listened. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Allah does not listen to anything as He listens to a prophet with a beautiful voice reciting the Quran melodiously and aloud.”

He also said:

“Allah listens more intently to a reciter of the Quran than the owner of a singing girl listens to her.”

This singles out certain voices, rather than others, for His listening. Likewise, (hearing) in the sense of responding—as in the saying, “Allah hears whoever praises Him,” the words of His close friend Abraham, “Indeed, You hear supplication,” and His words, “Indeed, He is All-Hearing, Near”—implies that this hearing is accorded to some in particular.

This singling out is thus established in the Book and Sunnah. It occurs through a quality subsisting in His essence by His will and power, as explained above. According to those who deny the attributes, however, it occurs through something created and separate from Him, not through a quality subsisting in His essence. His singling out those He loves for the looking and listening mentioned above entails that this particular kind is absent with respect to others.

Yet, despite this, should it be said that seeing and hearing themselves, understood simply as perception, are inseparable from His essence, so that nothing audible or visible can exist unless