benefits him and in warding off what harms him, and likewise whatever his being above entails—that he must rely on what is higher than he is, be borne by it, stand in need of it, and be encompassed by it. All of this must be denied of the Most Holy, the Source of Peace (﵎).

3 – Whatever necessarily follows from an attribute by virtue of its being exclusive to Him—exalted is He—can on no account be affirmed of a creature: His knowledge, for example, which entails pre-eternity, necessary existence, and an all-embracing grasp of everything knowable; and likewise His power, His will, and all His other attributes. Whatever is unique to Him in these respects can never be ascribed to any created being.

Once you have thoroughly grasped this principle and understood it as it should be understood, you will be saved from the two calamities that lie at the root of the theologians’ affliction: the calamity of negation and the calamity of anthropomorphism. Give this matter its due in conception, and you will affirm for Allah, in truth, the Most Beautiful Names and the Most Exalted Attributes—thereby escaping negation; and you will strip those attributes of the peculiarities and likenesses of created things—thereby escaping anthropomorphism. Reflect well on this point and make it the handle¹ to which you continually return in this field. Allah is the One who grants success to what is right.