and falls ill, urinates, and engages in sexual intercourse as both the active and the passive partner, and that He is characterized by every deficiency and fault, because that, in their view, is perfection. As he said in al-Fusūs (The Bezels):

“The One who is exalted in Himself is He whose perfection encompasses all matters of existence and all relations of nonexistence, whether praiseworthy according to custom, reason, and religious law, or blameworthy according to custom, reason, and religious law. This belongs exclusively to the one designated by the name Allah.”

He also said:

“Do you not see that the Real manifests Himself with the attributes of originated beings—and has said this about Himself—and with attributes of deficiency and blame? Do you not see that the creature manifests the attributes of the Creator? All of them, from first to last, are attributes of the servant, just as all the servant’s attributes, from first to last, are attributes of Allah, Most High.”

One who speaks in such terms contradicts himself, for he may be told:

“You, who are perfect in yourself and see neither a worshipper nor an object of worship—we shall treat you as your doctrine requires: you will be beaten, hurt, humiliated, and slapped.”

If he protests against whoever does this to him, complains, cries out, and weeps, he is told:

“There is no other, no worshipper, and no object of worship. No one other than yourself has done this to you. Rather, the one who strikes is the one who is struck; the one who insults is the one who is insulted; and the worshipper is the object of worship.”

If he says, “He protested against himself and complained about himself,” he is also told, “Then say: ‘He worshipped himself.’” If he affirms a wrongdoer and one who is wronged, while holding that they are one, he is told, “Then affirm a worshipper and an object of worship, while holding that they are one.”

Then he is asked:

“Is the one who laughs and strikes the very same as the one who weeps and cries out? Is the one whose hunger and thirst have been satisfied the very same as the one who is hungry and thirsty?”

If he acknowledges that he is