my reason and speculative inquiry, whereas that is dictated by my spiritual experience and knowledge.” Yet it is clear that if spiritual experience and inward feeling do not accord with reason and speculative inquiry, then either both are unsound or one of them is.

(The fourth position)

This is the position of those who say that Allah, in His very Essence, is above the world and, in His very Essence, is everywhere. This is the position of certain groups among speculative theologians and Sufis, such as Abū Mu‘ādh and others like him. Al-Ash‘arī attributed this position to various groups in al-Maqālāt (The Doctrinal Positions). The writings of the Sālimiyya, such as Abū Tālib al-Makkī and his followers—including Abū al-Hakam ibn Barrajān and others like him—contain statements suggesting something along these lines, though their writings also contain statements contradicting it.

In general, many later Sufis have fallen into belief in divine indwelling or something akin to it. For this reason, the leading figures among the Sufis warned against it. Thus, when al-Junayd was asked about monotheism, he said:

“Monotheism is to distinguish what originates in time from what is eternal.”

He thus made clear that monotheism means distinguishing the eternal from that which is brought into existence. Ibn ‘Arabī, the author of al-Fusūs (The Bezels), objected to this statement, claiming that al-Junayd and others like him died without understanding monotheism because they affirmed a distinction between the Lord and the servant. This was based on his claim that monotheism admits no distinction between the Lord and the servant. He further alleged that only someone who is neither eternal nor brought into existence can distinguish between the eternal and that which is brought into existence.

This is ignorance. Knowing that one thing is not another, and distinguishing between the two, does not require the person who knows and distinguishes them to be neither of them. Rather, a person knows that he is not that other person, even though he is one of the two. How, then, could he fail to know that he is distinct from his Lord, even though he is one of the two?