blameworthy, because he acknowledged what he does not know or witness. You have heard His saying — Exalted Glory —: «Return to your father and say, "O our father, indeed your son has stolen, and we did not testify except to what we knew, and we were not guardians of the unseen"»¹. Thus, the acknowledger would acknowledge what he does not know, and the denier would deny what he does not know. You have heard the word of Allah — may His secret be hallowed —: «And when there came to them a Book from Allah confirming that which was with them - although before they used to pray for victory against those who disbelieved - but [then] when there came to them that which they recognized, they disbelieved in it; so the curse of Allah will be upon the disbelievers»². And Allah — Exalted Glory — said: «[Remember] when you were on the near side [of the valley] and they were on the farther side, and the caravan was lower [in position] than you. If you had made an appointment [to meet], you would have missed the appointment. But [it was] so that Allah might accomplish a matter already destined - that those who perished [through disbelief] would perish upon evidence and those who lived [in faith] would live upon evidence. And indeed, Allah is Hearing and Knowing»³. And the 'evidence' (al-bayyina) is the gnosis of Him. Allah — Exalted Glory — said: «And if you asked them, "Who created the heavens and the earth?" they would surely say, "Allah." Say, "[All] praise is [due] to Allah"; but most of them do not know»⁴. He means by that: they do not know the Creator. He — may His secret be hallowed — informed us that the worlds acknowledge that Allah created the heavens and the earth, saying: «He who created the heavens and the earth and what is between them in six days and then established Himself above the Throne - the Most Merciful, so ask about Him one well-informed»⁵.