What is the opinion on the poet’s saying: “Allah is my Lord, I desire none other than Him ** And is there any reality in existence other than a deity?”

The questioner:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner asks: Is the saying of the one who says, “Allah is my Lord, I desire none other than Him, and is there any reality in existence other than He,” in agreement with the statement of the people of the Unity of Existence?

The Shaykh:
This is the known, sound statement. “Allah is my Lord, I desire nothing” is correct. But what does the other verse say?

The questioner:
“Is there any reality in existence other than He?”

The Shaykh:
No, that is the statement of the Unity of Existence. It is possible that he meant the Unity of Existence, and it is possible he meant another meaning, which is that there is no deity, meaning there is no deity and no worshipped entity other than He, just as they explain the meaning of “La ilaha illa Allah” as “there is no worshipped entity other than Allah.” This is false, because there are many worshipped entities in the universe. But there is no true deity, or no deity with truth, other than Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). So there is no worshipped entity with truth other than Allah, and everything besides Him is worshipped in falsehood. Yes.