Those who affirm only the former hold two views concerning the Lord’s nearness. The first is that it consists in His manifesting Himself and becoming apparent to the servant. The second is that, in addition to this, it includes the servant’s approaching Him and drawing near through his deeds and movement. Nearness also has another meaning: similarity or correspondence, as when one says, “This closely resembles that.” This, however, is not the place to discuss it.

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As for what resembles union, two distinct entities cannot become one and the same entity, nor can their respective attributes become one and the same attribute, unless, after uniting, they are transformed into a third entity. This is like the union of water and milk: after uniting, they constitute a third thing, neither pure water nor pure milk.

For them to unite while each remains as it was before is impossible. From this, it is clear that Allah cannot unite with His creation, since His undergoing transformation is impossible. It is only causes and effects that are united in their particular object, while names and attributes are united in kind—as with two people at war with one another who are also intimate friends, one of whom comes to love exactly what the other loves, hate what he hates, take pleasure in what gives him pleasure, and suffer from what causes him suffering. This has innumerable levels and degrees; thus, their names and attributes have come to be of the same kind.