—first, every attribute that denotes a defect, such as blindness, deafness, muteness, sleep, death, and the like;

—second, every shortcoming that compromises His perfection, such as any diminution of His life, knowledge, power, might, or wisdom, and so forth;

—third, any resemblance to created beings—for example, to claim that His knowledge is like the creature’s knowledge, that His face is like the creature’s face, or that His sitting over the Throne resembles a creature’s sitting, and the like.

Evidence for the first negation is His statement, “To Allah belongs the highest attribute” (Quran 16:60). The fact that He possesses the highest and most exalted description necessarily entails the absence of every attribute of defect.

Evidence for the second negation is His statement, “We certainly created the heavens and the earth and everything between them in six days, and no weariness touched Us” (Qaf 50:38).

Evidence for the third negation is His statement, “There is nothing like unto Him” (Shura 42:11).

From this it is clear that the criterion for negation cannot be restricted to the mere denial of resemblance, for two reasons:

1. If what is meant is the denial of absolute sameness—that is, equality in every respect between Creator and creature—then this is an empty assertion, for no one has ever claimed such complete equality, where everything possible, impossible, and necessary for one would apply to the other. No rational person who understands what he is saying could make such a claim; reason and immediate sensory awareness alike know it to be false. Therefore, denying it is pointless.

2. If what is meant by negation is the denial of any resemblance whatsoever—that is, denying similarity in any respect