consequences, both of which are infidelity, viz., either that created things are eternal (_qadím_) or that the Creator is non-eternal (_muḥdath_). Accordingly, when Muḥammad b. Wási` said that he saw God in things, he meant, as I have explained above, that he saw in those things the signs and evidences and proofs of God. I shall discuss in the proper place some subtle points connected with this question. 6. ABÚ ḤANÍFA NU`MÁN B. THÁBIT AL-KHARRÁZ. He is the Imám of Imáms and the exemplar of the Sunnites. He was firmly grounded in works of mortification and devotion, and was a great authority on the principles of Ṣúfiism. At first he wished to go into seclusion and abandon the society of mankind, for he had made his heart free from every thought of human power and pomp. One night, however, he dreamed that he was collecting the bones of the Apostle from the tomb, and choosing some and discarding others. He awoke in terror and asked one of the pupils of Muḥammad b. Sírín[59] (to interpret the dream). This man said to him: “You will attain a high rank in knowledge of the Apostle and in preserving his ordinances (_sunnat_), so that you will sift what is genuine from what is spurious.” Another time Abú Ḥanífa dreamed that the Apostle said to him: “You have been created for the purpose of reviving my ordinances.” He was the master of many Shaykhs, e.g. Ibráhím b. Adham and Fuḍayl b. `Iyáḍ and Dáwud Ṭá´í and Bishr Ḥáfí. Footnote 59: A well-known divine, who died in 110 A.H. See Ibn Khallikán, No. 576. An extant work on the interpretation of dreams is attributed to him (Brockelmann, i, 66).