[32] Comp. Genesis I. 27.
[33] Exodus III. 14.
[34] Quran XX. 12. It is generally supposed that Moses was ordered to take off his “leather shoes” out of respect for the sacred place. But Razi in his Commentary calls it an idiom and says that the Arabs used the word Na’al (shoe) for wife and family. The command to put off the shoes is therefore a metaphorical expression for making the heart vacant from care of family. See Tafsir-i-Razi vol. VI. 19. Stamboul edition.
[35] Quran XXXIX. 97. The full text runs: And they have not honoured Allah with the honour due to him: and the whole earth shall be in his grip on the day of resurrection and the heavens rolled up in his right hand; glory be to him and may he be exalted above what they associate with him.
[36] Ghazzali has dealt with the question fully in his work entitled ‘Iljamal awam’. He says that every object has four stages of existence. To use a figure: “Fire” is (1) written on paper: (2) pronounced as Fire (3) burns; and (4) is perceived by the mind to be inflammable. The first two are purely conventional but have an educational value. Similarly the anthropomorphism of the passages of the Scriptures should be studied in the light of the above stages.
[37] Quran XXIX. 69.
[38] See [Section vi] of this book.
[39] Ihya III. 9.
[40] Quran IV. 172.
[41] Quran XXV. 7, 8; 21.