the philosophers *) (1), whereas those philosophers themselves held that the teachings recurrently transmitted from the messengers contradicted those views. Consequently, they adopted their own esoteric method (2) and said:

“The messengers did not set forth the knowledge and truths grounded in demonstration in theoretical matters.”

Some of them said:

“The messengers knew these things but did not explain them.”

Others said:

“They did not know them, but were accomplished in practical wisdom rather than theoretical wisdom. They nevertheless addressed the masses through discourse designed to appeal to the imagination, thereby instilling in them, concerning belief in Allah and the Last Day, notions that it was beneficial for them to hold for the governance of their affairs—even though such belief was false and did not correspond to reality.”

These philosophizers (3) do not permit such discourse to be allegorically interpreted, because, in their view, its purpose is imaginative persuasion, and allegorical interpretation defeats that purpose. They acknowledge acts of worship, but maintain that their purpose is to refine the character of the soul. They may even claim:

“Such acts are no longer obligatory for the elite who know the realities.”

Thus, the innovation introduced by those speculative theologians was among the things that helped foster the unbelief of these heretics.

Elsewhere, the matter has been discussed at length (4), uncovering their secrets and showing how they oppose both plain reason and authentic transmitted revelation. It has also been stated that clear rational truths (5) accord with what the messengers reported and do not contradict it. In several places, we have drawn attention to the grounds that warrant dispensing with false [innovated] methods (6), and to the means by which one may know