of human beings and of forming mental images of them—this is sheer ignorance and deviation. An attribute follows the One to whom it belongs; and since the One described—glorified be He—we have never seen, nor has anyone told us that he has beheld Him, while He Himself has said in His Revelation, “There is nothing like unto Him” (42:11), how can our minds have any scope for determining the modality of the Creator—exalted is Allah far above that? The same holds for His sanctified attributes: we affirm them, believe they are real, and never liken them to anything or attempt to picture them.

Muhammad ibn Makhlad al-ʿAttar said: al-Ramadi narrated to us: I asked Nuʿaym ibn Ḥammād about the Almighty’s words, “and He is with you” (57:4). He answered, “It means that nothing is hidden from Him by virtue of His knowledge. Do you not hear His words, ‘No secret counsel is held among three but that He is their fourth…’—to the end of the verse (58:7)?”

Muhammad ibn Saʿd said: Nuʿaym pursued hadith extensively in Iraq and the Hijaz, then he settled in Egypt and remained there until he was brought out during the caliphate of Abu Ishaq—meaning al-Muʿtaṣim. He was asked about the Qur’an, but he refused to respond as they wished, so he was imprisoned in Samarra and stayed there until he died in jail, in the year 228 AH (1).

The same date was recorded by Muṭayyin, Abu Saʿid ibn Yunus, and Ibn Ḥibbān.

Al-ʿAbbās ibn Muṣʿab, however, said it was the year 229.

Ibn Yunus said: He was taken to Baghdad; when he refused to comply with them, he was jailed and died in Baghdad on Sunday morning, the thirteenth of Jumada al-Ula. He had insight into hadith, yet he transmitted unusual reports from trustworthy narrators (2).