Zoheir Ali Esmail, Shaykh Zoheir Ali Esmail has a Bsc in Accounting and Finance from the LSE in London, and an MA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University. He studied Arabic at Damascus University and holds a PhD... Answered 3 years ago

Thank you for your question. While the scriptural sources refer to the possibility of seeing Allah, they also establish that God is above physical sight, as that would limit Him. Hence, the references in the scriptural sources can be understood metaphorically, meaning that seeing God refers to seeing the bounties of God for example.

The other way to understand these references is to say that God cannot be seen with the physical eyes and nothing of His Essence can be known, but His manifestations can be comprehended with the eyes of the heart. Therefore, these references to seeing Allah are to do with the sight of the heart. 

In the Nahj al-Balagha, Sayyid Radi narrates that when Imam Ali (as) was asked by Dha'lab al-Yamani if he had seen his Lord he replied by saying:

"Should I serve what I don't see?!"

Da'lab continues to ask the Imam (as) how he sees God and the Imam replies:

"Eyes do not perceive Him by the witnessing of things, but the hearts percieve Him by the realities of faith! [He is] close to things but not associated, far from them but not separated."

May you always be successful.