Kuomba dua kwa mtakatifu aliyefungiwa kaburini kwake umbali wa maelfu ya maili [Kimsingi, haijalishi kama umbali huo ni wa futi chache tu; jambo muhimu ni kitendo cha kumwelekezea dua mtu aliyekufa, anayeaminika kuwa na uwezo wa ajabu, hata katika hali hiyo, au labda kwa sababu ya hali hiyo, sio tu wa kusikia dua bali pia wa kuijibu akitaka. Pia inaaminika kwamba mtakatifu huyo, asipoweza kutimiza dua mwenyewe, anaweza kuipeleka kwa Mungu akiiombea] unaonyesha wazi kwamba ninaamini yeye – ingawa ameshakufa – ana uwezo wa kusikia dua kutoka umbali huo au kujua mambo yaliyo mbali, au, kwa kutumia maneno sahihi ya Kiarabu, kwamba ni samee’ na baseer’ [Kihalisi, maneno haya, ambayo kwa kweli ni sifa mbili binafsi za Allah, yanamaanisha, Mwenye Kusikia Yote na Mwenye Kuona Yote, mtawalia. Elimu ya Mungu inapita kila kitu, na anafahamu kila kinachotokea popote. Haiko hivyo kwa viumbe wake, ambao uwezo wao katika mambo haya ni mdogo sana. Kuamini kwamba mtu mwingine yeyote isipokuwa Mungu ana uwezo wa kusikia kimwili dua iliyotolewa nje ya uwezo wake wa kusikia, au kuona mambo yanayotokea nje ya uoni wake, ni kumpa sifa ambazo ni za Mungu pekee, na ambazo hajawahi kuwapa viumbe wake yeyote] Kitendo changu kingeashiria wazi imani kwamba wanaweza kutumia uwezo juu ya ulimwengu wa uumbaji kiasi cha kuniletea maji au kunifanya nipone ugonjwa wangu. Kama ingekuwa ni mungu, dua yangu ingemaanisha kwamba ninaamini yeye ana uwezo juu ya maji, juu ya afya na maradhi, na kwamba hivyo anapanga, kwa njia za kimiujiza, kutimiza mahitaji yangu.
Addressing a prayer to a saint confined to his grave hundreds or even thousands of miles away [In point of principle, it makes no difference if the distance were of a few feet only, the significant point being the act of addressing a prayer to someone who is dead and is believed to possess, even in, or perhaps because of that state, some extraordinary powers not only of hearing the prayer but also of granting it if he so chooses. It is also believed that the saint may, if he cannot himself grant the prayer, pass it up to God with a recommendation] clearly indicates that I believe him – though dead – to be possessed of the power to listen to a prayer at such a distance or to otherwise being aware of things so far off or, if one may use the appropriate Arabic words, to be both samee’ and baseer’ [Literally, these words, which are actually two of Allah’s personal attributes, mean, the All-Hearing the All-Seeing, respectively. God’s knowledge transcends everything, and He is aware of everything that is happening anywhere. This is not the case with His creatures, whose capacities in these respects are severely limited. To believe someone other than God to have power to physically hear prayer offered out of his hearing or to see things happening out of his sight amounts to attributing to him powers which are God’s only, and which He has never given to any of His creatures] My action would clearly imply belief in their exercising such a way over the realm of creation as to be able to have water reach me or to make me recover from my illness. In the case of a god, my prayer would mean that I believe him to possess power over water and over health and sickness, and to therefore arrange, by supernatural means, to fulfil my needs.