Facsimile · p. 82
And from the verification of the Al-Nadiyin Ibn Tordert and Al-Qur'an, it is possible that the historical and spatial context was considered, which makes the first argument of the opponents seem weak. And with the possibility of this meeting, we find several indications and probabilities that suggest the meeting actually took place. Ibn Tumart, that émigré from the Maghreb for the sake of knowledge and eager for knowledge, it is not acceptable that he stayed in the East for more than ten years without seeking to meet Al-Ghazali, whose fame had spread far and wide, and who had a great reputation in the Maghreb due to the opposition he stirred up against the Almoravids. Those against whom the seed of opposition may have been planted early in Ibn Tumart's mind. This was a motive for seeking to meet Al-Ghazali and to look to him for scientific and intellectual horizons that would be of use to him if he ever wanted to confront the Almoravids and their followers. Considering this expected benefit, traveling to Nishapur and Tus to meet this scholar becomes certain. And if the book "Sirr al-'Alamayn" is doubtful in its attribution to Al-Ghazali, then in that there is an indication of the statement found in it on the tongue of Al-Ghazali that Ibn Tumart read it to him. This means that this meeting was known to those interested in Al-Ghazali in particular. So, whoever attributed the book to himself investigated it. And this attribution, if it were true, did not happen late, but rather before the middle of the seventh century, as Abu al-Muzaffar Sibṭ Ibn al-Jawzi, who died in the year 654 AH, mentioned this book in his book "Riyadh al-Afham" and quoted from it that Al-Ghazali said at the beginning: "Muhammad ibn Tumart al-Maghribi read it to me secretly at the Nizamiyya. He said: I saw in him kingship." So, the issue of the meeting between the two men was known from an early time, and this book remains an indication of the reality of this meeting, even if it is itself attributed. - See: Bourouiba, Ibn Tumart, p. 73. - See: p. 75 of this research. Al-Dhahabi, Siyar A'lam al-Nubala', vol. 19, p. 121 (Egyptian National Library manuscript, No. 7682).