God is absolutely other than His creation. The Creator cannot by any means be the same kind of being as that which He created. Although this is self evident to sense and reason some people still ask why we cannot directly see God.

But direct vision is very limited and could never be an appropriate way of seeking the Unlimited. Let us explain:

There are innumerable bacteria in the human body indeed innumerable bacteria in so small a space as a human tooth. These creatures are quite unaware of the tooth in which they live. To become aware of it they would have to somehow situate themselves out of the tooth and then through the use of artificial means (telescopes and microscopes and the like) they might conceivably obtain some very approximate notion of the dimensions of the tooth and then perhaps of the larger body to which the tooth is attached. Only through such an effort which is scarcely imaginable could the bacteria become aware of the human body which makes up the large ground or sustaining environment of their life. And this scarcely imaginable awareness is itself an immeasurable distance away from anything remotely resembling what we would call understanding.

Though on a very different scale the sense-awareness of human beings is similarly limited. It may indeed be that with the assistance of telescopes and other instruments we can 'see' across distances of millions of light years. But all that we 'see' in this way is insignificant compared to the dimensions of the whole of which it is a minute fragment. In fact allowing for the difference in scale what human beings can 'see' is as insignificant as the bacteria's awareness of the living tissue within which they exist and perish when compared to the dimensions of the body of which that tissue is a minute fragment.

Further if we consider the matter closely we soon realize that our 'seeing' (or hearing or any other mode of perception) is conditional upon our understanding. We need to have some general ideas about what we 'see' in order to distinguish it and recognize it. If we did not have some idea however vague at first of what for example a tree is we should be literally unable to 'make sense' of that object before our eyes which we know as a tree. If our 'seeing' is as limited as it is and if-even for the objects within creation and within the reach of our 'seeing' or our 'seeing' instruments-we need some general understanding so that we can 'make sense' of what we 'see' how improper a demand it is how absurd a demand to ask why we cannot directly 'see' or directly 'know the Creator of the whole.

We are created beings that is finite limited in our possibilities and our capacities. Only the Creator. God is Infinite. By His Mercy the Creation is available to us as the ground or environment within which we exist and perish strive for understanding and virtue and seek our salvation. The Messenger Muhammad said: Compared with the Seat of Honor the whole universe is as little as a ring thrown upon a desert. Similarly compared with the Throne the Seat of Honor is as little as a ring thrown upon the desert. From that comparison we gain some understanding of how far the Infinitude of the exceeds our power of apprehending it. How can we even begin to conceive of the reality of the Seat of Honor and the Throne from which the All Mighty in His Infinite Majesty sends out His Will and Command and sustains His Creation let alone begin to conceive of God Himself?