…But they could not thus harm anyone except by God’s permission…That is, save that it be in God’s prior knowledge, which precedes the occurrence of the act of the one doing it.Concerning His words, Exalted is He: …Fear God as He should be feared…[Sahl said]:That is, by the worship He has prescribed for you, and not by that which God merits in His essence (fī dhātihi).