…so that they may grasp what the speaker intends: if the meaning is sound they accept it, and if it is false they reject it. Ibn Abi al-Izz, in his Commentary on al-Tahawiyya (pp. 189-190), writes: “With respect to words that the Revelation neither affirms nor denies, they should not be used until one first considers what the speaker means. If his meaning is correct it is accepted, but it should be expressed with the vocabulary of the revealed texts rather than with vague terminology, except when necessity requires it and clear contextual clues indicate what is meant.” See Majmuʿ al-Fatawa 3/41. Al-Dhahabi reports: Abu al-Qasim al-Taymi—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked, “Is it permissible to say that Allah has a ḥadd (limit), or not? And did the salaf differ on this?” He replied, “I excuse myself from answering this question because of its subtlety and because I do not know the questioner’s purpose. Yet I shall mention what has reached me. The people of spiritual insight have defined ḥadd in various ways, the gist of which is that the ḥadd of anything is the point that distinguishes it from something else. If someone who says ‘Allah has no ḥadd’ means that created beings cannot encompass the reality of His essence, he is correct. But if he means that Allah Himself does not comprehend His own essence, he is misguided; and if he means that Allah, in His very essence, is present in every place, he is likewise misguided.” Siyar Aʿlam al-Nubalaʾ 20/56. Accordingly, affirming the ḥadd with the intention that Allah is distinct and separate from His creation is correct; denying the ḥadd with the intention that only Allah can know His own ḥadd is also correct; but denying it on the grounds that Allah is in every place is false and must be rejected. It is in this sense that the salaf affirmed the ḥadd. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya—may Allah have mercy on him—said: “What is reliably reported from the salaf and the leading scholars is that they affirmed a ḥadd for Allah in Himself, while also making clear that the servants neither set nor comprehend that ḥadd. Hence their statements do not contradict each other, as some imagine, for they were denying that anyone could delimit Allah.” Bayan Talbis al-Jahmiyya 2/160, ed. ʿAbd al-Rahman b. Qasim. ʿUthman b. Saʿid al-Darimi said: “Allah, exalted be He, has a ḥadd that no one but He knows. It is impermissible for anyone to imagine an ultimate boundary for His ḥadd in His essence; rather one affirms the ḥadd and consigns its knowledge to Allah. Likewise, His place has a ḥadd…”