Ibn al-Murraḥḥil said, “Love is a non-entity, because love is a relation, and relations(1) are non-entities.”

Shaykh Taqi al-Din replied, “To claim that love, hate, will, and aversion are non-existent is patently false and contradicts what is necessarily known as well as the consensus of rational people. Moreover, it was the view of some of the Muʿtazila with respect to God’s will: they alleged(2) that it is merely a negative attribute, meaning only that He is neither overpowered nor coerced. All people have deemed this view untenable. As for the created being’s will, love, and hate, we do not know of any rational person who has ever said that they are(3) non-entities.”

Ibn al-Murraḥḥil nevertheless persisted, insisting that the love defined as the heart’s inclination toward the beloved is a non-entity, while maḥabba (affection) is a real, positive attribute.

Shaykh Taqi al-Din responded, “Maḥabba is identical to ḥubb (love). One says, ‘aḥabbahu, ḥabbahu ḥubban wa maḥabbatan’; there is no difference—both are verbal nouns.”

Ibn al-Murraḥḥil rejoined, “I maintain that since both are verbal nouns, they are non-entities.”

Shaykh Taqi al-Din said to him, “Once a discussion reaches self-evident premises, it is finished and complete. That love and hate are real, positive attributes is known by sheer necessity, for everyone realizes that if a living being(4) is devoid of love, that very absence(5) is itself an attribute …"