Moreover, if the Holy Spirit is not in fact the life of Allah, then your explanation that identifies the Holy Spirit with the life of Allah is nullified.

It has also been said to you: The Holy Spirit need not be an attribute of Allah, nor a hypostasis. Yet in the very Creed you recite you affirm, “We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life,” thereby establishing a third Lord. You further declare that He “proceeds from the Father.” Now procession—al-inbithāq (bursting forth)—in Arabic denotes an eruption, a gushing or pouring out. One says: “The flood bathaqa (burst through) such-and-such a place, tearing it open so that it inbathaqa (gushed forth).” Your wording therefore entails that this life-giving Lord burst out of the Father and poured forth from Him.

Next you state that He is “worshipped and glorified together with the Father, and that He speaks through the prophets.” Thus you have made Him an object of worship alongside the Father, affirming a third deity to whom worship is rendered.

It is obvious, however, that the life of Allah—an essential divine attribute—does not proceed from Him; rather, it abides in Him and never leaves Him. It is an inherent attribute that does not relate to anything outside His essence. Knowledge relates to the things known, power to the things within its scope, and speech (taklīm) to those addressed, whereas utterance (takallum) is itself an intrinsic attribute. Hence one may say: “Allah knew such-and-such,” “Allah is capable of all things,” and “Allah spoke to Moses.”

As for life, the word that signifies it is intransitive and does not pertain to anything other than the living being; one says