What is the difference between sense perception and intellect?
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The questioner : What is the difference between sense perception and intellect?
The Shaykh : Sense perception is what you perceive through the senses, such as touch, smell, and taste. The intellect is what you perceive with the heart, with the intellect. This is the difference. For example, the hand, the intellect, and sense perception: the hand is added to the human being, and it is added to the donkey, and it is added to the... The difference lies in what is perceived, which is? Sense perception. Everyone knows this: his hand is like this, and this one’s hand is like this, and this one’s hand is like this. As for the intellect, consider what relates to the attributes of Allah: if the essence of the Creator does not resemble the creation, then His attributes are likewise. This is an intellectual proof, not a sensory proof.
The Shaykh : Sense perception is what you perceive through the senses, such as touch, smell, and taste. The intellect is what you perceive with the heart, with the intellect. This is the difference. For example, the hand, the intellect, and sense perception: the hand is added to the human being, and it is added to the donkey, and it is added to the... The difference lies in what is perceived, which is? Sense perception. Everyone knows this: his hand is like this, and this one’s hand is like this, and this one’s hand is like this. As for the intellect, consider what relates to the attributes of Allah: if the essence of the Creator does not resemble the creation, then His attributes are likewise. This is an intellectual proof, not a sensory proof.