the worlds, all the more so. From this it becomes clear that most of what the philosophers and these speculative theologians say about human souls and the angels is false. What, then, of what they say about the Lord of the worlds?

Thus, the books that set out the positions of these two groups on these great questions—concerning the Lord of the worlds, His angels, human souls, the Hereafter, and prophethood—contain no position that accords with reason and revelation. They know neither what the early generations and the leading scholars said on these matters nor what the Quran and Sunnah indicate. Bewilderment therefore prevails even among their most accomplished thinkers: when they reach the end of their inquiry, they have attained no knowledge, because the statements of both groups that they have examined contain falsehood on both sides.

For this reason, Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Rāzī said near the end of his life:

“I have reflected on the methods of speculative theology and the approaches of philosophy, and I have not found them to heal the ailing or quench thirst. I have found the most direct path to be the way of the Quran. Read, concerning affirmation:

‘To Him ascends good speech, and righteous work raises it.’

‘The Most Merciful rose over the Throne.’

And read, concerning negation:

‘There is nothing like Him.’

‘They do not encompass Him in knowledge.’

Whoever undergoes what I have undergone will come to know what I know.”

As for someone who believes that what occupies space is whatever is distinct from something else and stands apart from it, and that it is not