Absolute unseen (al-ghayb al-mutlaq)

Sha'rawi holds that the unseen has two kinds: the relative, known to one party and not another, and the absolute, which has no precursors and which God alone knows ². See also al-ghayb for the creedal entry.

He gives the example of a stolen wallet: the thief and the one who helped him know what the owner does not, so it is relative unseen ². He also gives the example of a promotion or dismissal that its maker knows before the person concerned is told ².

For him the absolute unseen is what surprises a person and those around him without any sign beforehand, and only God knows it ².

He distinguishes the secret, which you confide to another, from what you keep in your breast and tell no one. The latter is more hidden than the secret, and only God knows it ³.

This is Sha'rawi's reading of the unseen. No academic or other-tradition view is set out here and none is checked.