Paradise being theirs,” to the end of the verse. For this reason, He said at the end of the verse:

“And whoever fulfils what he has pledged to Allah, He will grant him a great reward.”

Thus it becomes clear that what that faqīr said is correct, and that if Allah has said to His Prophet:

“Not for you is the decision,”

then what are we?

It is authentically reported from him, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in the Sahīh that he said:

“Do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians exaggerated in praising the Messiah, son of Mary. I am only a servant, so say: ‘Allah’s servant and Messenger.’”

As for the words:

“You have never been absent from my heart or my sight …
Between you and us there is no separation,”

this statement rests on the doctrine of these people and is false and self-contradictory, for it assumes that the speaker sees Allah with his own eyes. Yet it is authentically reported in the Sahīh from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that he said:

“Know that none of you will see his Lord until he dies.”

The leading scholars of the Muslims have agreed that no believer sees Allah with his own eyes in this world. Their disagreement concerned only the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, although the overwhelming majority of these scholars held that he did not see Him with his own eyes in this world. This is what the authentic, established reports from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, the Companions, and the leading scholars of the Muslims indicate.

It has not been authentically established that Ibn ʿAbbās, Imam Ahmad, or others like them said that Muhammad saw his Lord with his own eyes. Rather, what is established from them either mentions seeing Him without qualification or specifies that it was with the heart.