And the ordinary course of nature may be suspended for him, so that he sees those behind him. Thus the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“I can indeed see you behind me.”

Another narration says, “Behind my back,” while a wording recorded by al-Bukhārī reads, “I can indeed see you behind me.” A wording in the two Sahīh collections reads:

“By Allah, I can indeed see behind me just as I see in front of me.”

Yet they are still in a direction relative to him: behind him. How, then, can someone’s seeing another be compared to his seeing himself? Moreover, comparing His seeing to our seeing is a false comparison, for His sight encompasses whatever He sees, unlike our sight.

These people affirmed the existence of something that cannot be seen, yet wished to defend the position of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamā'ah and the people of hadith. They thus combined two contradictory positions. Something that is neither within the world nor outside it, and cannot be pointed to, could not be seen with the eye even if its existence in external reality were possible. How, then, could it be seen when its existence is impossible? It is merely conceived in the mind, without any existence in external reality, and thus belongs to the realm of illusion and false imagination.

For this reason, they interpreted “encompassing” as seeing in His words:

“Vision does not encompass Him,”

just as the Mu'tazilah did. According to the Mu'tazilah, however, this is expressed in praise of Him, so He cannot be seen under any circumstances. These others said that He cannot be seen in this world, but can be seen in the Hereafter. Yet the verse unconditionally negates encompassing Him, not seeing Him, as Ibn Kullāb stated.