5 – This hadith establishes the attribute of love for Allah Most High in a true sense that befits His majesty and greatness, without asking how, without likening, matching, or negating. It is simply one of His exalted attributes, consonant with His perfection and beauty. The “interpreters” (al-muʾawwilah) among the Ashʿarites and Māturīdites, however, explain love as merely the will to bestow bounty and reward, and therefore they do not affirm for Allah a real attribute of love. They define love as an inclination to secure benefit or avert harm, and Allah is far above such need. This definition only describes what accompanies love in created beings; as for Allah, He loves a thing because of the perfection of its existence, not in order to gain from it. By reinterpreting the divine attributes, these groups combine anthropomorphism and negation: they first conceive the attributes in terms of created qualities—this is tashbīh—then they flee from that resemblance by denying the attributes altogether, which is taʿṭīl.

The people of the Sunnah, by Allah’s grace, affirm the reality of the attribute and entrust knowledge of its manner to Him alone, thereby remaining free of both tashbīh and taʿṭīl. All praise is due to Allah.

6 – An ʿazīmah is a ruling established by a Sharʿī proof that is untouched by any counter-evidence. These constitute the commands by which Allah has charged His servants so that they may worship Him through fulfilling them and draw near to Him with sincerity. ʿAzāʾim comprise both obligations and prohibitions: the obligatory acts are ʿazāʾim from Allah that require performance, while the prohibitions are ʿazāʾim from Allah that require abstention.

7 – Carrying out Allah’s rulings—whether they are concessions (rukhaṣ) or firm commands (ʿazāʾim)—brings equal reward and merit; both are acts of obedience to Allah and compliance with His law. Because the favor embodied in a concession is so great, it equals the ʿazīmah in the love that Allah has for it.