In another instance it counters the essential knowledge...

In another instance it counters the essential knowledge, like the factual will and the essential will. Our intended Factual Knowledge is that which is not essential, which is ascribed to Allah in respect to the happening of any part of an act. Taking this into consideration, many of the allagorical ayahs of the Qur'an concerning knowledge can be solved.

On one side, we know that Allah is never ignorant of anything, but, on the other side, we encounter ayahs which say that Allah knew that at a certain time or will know. The way of coordinating these ayahs is to know that Allah's knowledge, which is His very Essence, is unchangeable, is not temporal, never transposeable and is unlimited, while the knowledge, which is in practice, is a concept abstracted by the mind through observing the act and the one who performs it.

It had already been said that the abstract concepts follow the abstracting side and the origin of abstraction. As the origin of abstraction, here, is two things: one is essential and divine, the other is created, and, being ascribed to the created, it can be temporal. But as the Essence of Allah is not temporal and outside time, the latter, being ascribed to Allah, is void of time. For example, the concept of creation, is taken from its relation to the created, it is temporal.

So, when we say that Allah had created this creature at so-and-so time, this time is not referred to Allah, but to the world. But this concept of creation, being an annexed concept, and since one side of the annexation is a temporal being, it is possible to regard it temporal. Similarly, the knowledge which is abstracted from the position of action, can also be temporal, with a view to its annexation, not with the view of the Divine Essence.

By the way of throwing light on this subject, we may better change it from the concept of knowledge to the concept of seeing, hearing, or the like. . It happens that somebody is unable to see, but in a time he is, or sometimes he is able to see, but there is nothing to be seen before him. So, despite the fact that his eyes are open and there is light, but because there is nothing to reflect the light, he sees nothing.

At night you can see nothing in the lighted sky, but you can see the bird flying in it, in which case you realize the sky is lighted. You could see only because of certain conditions, that is, the seen object appeared in the required time. Concerning the Factual Knowledge, the same thing is applicable.