"Thus my Sheikh and master Abu Abd Allah al-Husayn bin Hamdan al-Khasibi—may God brighten his face—informed me."

These two narrations indicate that he was [a contemporary] of his time and heard directly from him. May God keep us and the believers firm in their established word. Amen.

This meaning was confirmed, supported, and clarified by the masterful scholar and expert philosopher, Hamza bin Ali bin Shu'ba al-Harrani—may God sanctify his soul—in his book titled Hujjat al-Arif (The Gnostic's Proof), in the chapter: The Indication of Affirming the Esoteric (Batin), the Contradiction of the Exoteric (Zahir), and the Agreement of the Esoteric, which by its name indicates the rejection of the exoteric—not to mention his explicit statement where he says:

"God Almighty said, by way of definition, that the Quran has an exoteric and an esoteric aspect; He said: {And none knows its interpretation (Ta’wil) except God.} Then He resumed and said: {And those firm in knowledge say, 'We believe in it. All is from our Lord.'}" (Al-Imran: 7).

And He Almighty said: {And [for] their saying, "Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of God."

And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them.} (An-Nisā’: 157). And He said: {And We will turn away their hearts and their eyes just as they refused to believe in it the first time.} (Al-An‘ām: 110). And He Almighty said: