Discussion of the divine Attributes is one matter, and discussion of the divine decree another. In his view, this annihilation cannot coexist with subsistence, for it negates everything other than the Lord’s decree through His all-encompassing will, which selects one of two identical alternatives without any determining factor.

This is why he said in the “Chapter on Repentance,” under “Subtleties of the Mysteries of Repentance” (1):

“The third subtle point (2) is that (3) the servant’s witnessing of the decree leaves him no room to regard a good deed as good or an evil deed as evil, for he has risen beyond all meanings to the meaning of the decree.”

That is, the decree of predestination—His creating everything by His power and will. For anyone who affirms no distinction among existent things in relation to the Lord, but instead says, “Everything other than Him is loved by Him, pleasing to Him, and intended by Him; all are equal in relation to Him, and He does not love one thing while hating another”—to witness matters in this way leaves no room to regard a good deed as good or an evil deed as evil in relation to the Lord. According to this doctrine, judging something good or evil applies only in relation to the servant: he regards as good whatever suits him, and as evil whatever conflicts with him.

In annihilation itself, he witnesses neither himself nor anyone else; rather, he witnesses only the act of his Lord. At such a point of witnessing, he does not regard one thing as good and another as evil, according to the view of these determinist Qadariyya who follow Jahm ibn Safwān and others like him.

These people agreed with the Qadariyya that the Lord’s volition, will, love, and pleasure are all the same. Then the Qadariyya who deny predestination said: “He does not love disbelief, wickedness, or disobedience, so He neither intends nor wills them; consequently, things He does not will occur in His dominion.”