And when fleeing is a metaphor for rejecting his words, he elaborated on it. He said, affirming that their turning away, along with this long supplication, is something that is hardly believable: "And indeed, every time" [I called them] at the repetition of the times and the succession of the hours, "I called them" [Nuh: 8], meaning to turn to You with faith and sincerity to You.

And when their turning away from what benefits them is the ugliest, He mentioned what results from responding with faith, saying: ﴿To forgive them﴾ meaning for them to believe so that what they have neglected in Your right may be erased. They have greatly exceeded in transgressing the limits, erasing it completely so that nothing remains of it, neither in essence nor in trace, so that You do not punish them for it nor blame them. ﴿They made﴾ meaning in every supplication, and it indicates their exaggeration in stubbornness by expressing the whole in place of the part, saying: ﴿Their fingers﴾ out of aversion to it and contempt for the supplicant. ﴿In their ears﴾ truly so that they do not hear the supplication, indicating that we do not want to hear that from you. If you insist on the supplication, then we do not hear it, for we have blocked our ears. They indicated their excessive aversion to the supplication by what is translated from his words: ﴿And they covered themselves with their garments﴾ meaning they found a covering for their heads with their garments, as one who is eager for that, having a strong desire for it, until they combine between what prevents hearing his words and looking at him, showing their aversion to him and to his words. This is the state of the advisers with whom they always advise. ﴿And they persisted﴾ meaning they remained upon their evil deeds, continuously they are in utmost inclination towards it. The persistence of a donkey on its burden - when it flattens its ears and inclines towards it, driving it away and pushing it - is borrowed for the inclination towards sins and clinging to them, for it is with utmost desire as if its doer were a wild donkey whose lust has been aroused. ﴿And they were arrogant﴾ meaning they established arrogance, seeking it and desiring it. He emphasized that with his saying: ﴿In arrogance﴾ indicating that their action is contrary to wisdom, and it was something that should not be done, for it is hardly believable for that reason. These verses have called out explicitly in many places that they disobeyed Noah, blessings and peace be upon him, and opposed him in a way that is not uglier than it, outwardly by blocking the ears and eyes, and inwardly by persistence and arrogance. They did not agree with him in word or action, so may the curse of Allah be upon them and upon whoever says that they agreed with him in action, for he called them to forgiveness while they covered their faces, and covering is forgiveness. And such is from the myths that if the most foolish of stone worshippers heard it, they would mock the one who said it. What this speaker said was nothing but a distortion of the Book of Allah, similar to the distortion of the Batiniyya, whom the ummah has unanimously declared as disbelievers for that distortion. And may the curse of Allah be upon whoever doubts the disbelief of one who distorts this distortion or hesitates in cursing him. They are the unionists who have strayed from the religion in the end of times, and among their leaders are Al-Hallaj, Ibn Arabi, and Ibn al-Farid, and the most foolish of people have followed them in similar nonsense.

﴿They are nothing but like cattle; rather, they are more astray in the way﴾ [Al-Furqan: 44]. And indeed, the Imam, the scholar Burhan al-Din [Ibrahim] ibn Abi Sharif al-Qudsi al-Shafi'i, the firm and steadfast, informed me about some of those who are biased towards them in this time. He is one of the prominent teachers in Cairo. He said to me: "What led me to criticize Ibn al-Farid is that I saw the words of the Taa'iyyah attributed to him as contradictory. At times, it implies the concept of union, and at other times, it implies the concept of incarnation. He avoids that in my view. So I realized that for these people, there is a terminology. Our relation to it is one of disparity. When they hear the grammarian say: 'The subject is raised,' they laugh at him. If we understood their terminology, we would not have objected. This is the meaning of what has been transmitted from him, and it is something that is not accepted by anyone with sound judgment. It is similar to what al-Mas'udi transmitted in the beginnings of Muruj al-Dhahab about some who were accused of having intellect and knowledge among the Christians in the time of Ahmad ibn Tulun. He tested him and found him in knowledge as he described. He asked him about the reason for his steadfastness in Christianity despite his knowledge. He said: 'The reason is its contradictions, while it has been followed by arrogant kings, profound scholars, and monks who turn away from the world and are contemplative.' So I realized that what gathered these types upon adherence to it, despite its contradictions, was a great matter that compelled them to that. So I adhered to it. He said to him: 'Go into the curse of Allah, for you have wasted all intellect and clarity.' And indeed, by Allah, he spoke the truth regarding the great matter that led them to that, which is the decree and power that compelled each one of them to throw himself into the fire of Hell by his own choice, rather, by his desire for that and fighting against anyone who would prevent him from that. And this is the clearest evidence of the completeness of Allah's knowledge and power, and that He is One, with no partner for Him, nor any one to reverse His judgment. In this is the confirmation of the saying of the Prophet ﷺ: 'You will certainly follow the ways of those who came before you, inch by inch and cubit by cubit.' And they are the people of the Book. I have elaborated on this in my book 'Al-Qarid in the Excommunication of Ibn al-Farid,' in which I clarified their flaws and exposed their disgrace. Likewise, my book 'The Correctness of the Response to the Questioner [the Doubter]' and 'The Destruction of the Opponents in the Excommunication of Ibn al-Farid.' I have left nothing of that without clarity - and all praise is due to Allah.