What is the ruling on one who says: "Time has taught me," or "Life has taught me," or "Circumstances have brought us together," while believing that these matters are merely a means?

These phrases are examples of permissible figurative language and rhetorical expansion, such as "destiny led me" (ساقني القدر). The phrase "circumstances brought us together" (جمعتنا الظروف) is similar. Sheikh Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Al ash-Sheikh indicated that attributing permission, coming, or going to time ( الدهر ) is common and found in the Qur'an and Sunnah. The speaker of such phrases does not intend that time acts on its own, but rather that it is subservient to the will of Allah. This is a form of figurative expression, like Allah's saying: "a wall that intended to collapse" (جِدَارًا يُرِيدُ أَنْ يَنقَضَّ). However, it is more proper to avoid such expressions. As for one who intends that time genuinely acts, this is an act of polytheism (shirk).