The Gnostic said: "He who is ignorant of it cannot grasp it, but he who knows it grasps it; the ignorant has no argument against the Gnostic."

The Questioner said: "Then what is this argument of 'neither compulsion nor choice'?"

The Gnostic said: "A testing (imtiḥān), a semblance (tashbīh), and a ruse (makr) from Him, by which He makes it appear (yuwarī) that He enables [the enemies] against Himself, so that He may see: will they obey or will they rebel?"

The Questioner said: "And the true, absolute Christ, the Possessor of Knowledge and Power—did He not know whether they would obey or rebel until He tested them?"

The Gnostic said: "Indeed, the Christ and the Absolute Truth—the All-Knowing, the All-Powerful—had He done that for Himself, He would have been beyond the need for it. He is beyond the need for reward and punishment for Himself, because He does not require it. Had He punished them for that before they chose and performed it, He would have been unjust to them, because they had not [yet] performed anything by choice. Rather, Allah seized them only when they performed that which established the Proof (al-Ḥujja) against them. The choice within the test is only so that they may know that they have performed that which necessitated the Divine Proof against them. Choice in creation is for the created, and choice in the Creator is not for the creation."

The Questioner said: "So who are these?"