one person, whereas the Nestorians maintain that the two have a single will.

Consequently, everything they affirm of multiplicity—which necessarily entails real separation so that neither possesses the attributes of the other, nor does what befalls one befall the other—flatly contradicts that claim.

The best that can be said for them is that they contradict themselves over the question of union just as they contradict themselves over the Trinity. In truth, even the most sophisticated among them end up uttering sheer disbelief together with what negates it, and affirming monotheism together with what nullifies it.

Clearly, what they allege He did to Himself—regret, tears, and sorrow—is far less degrading than what His enemies supposedly did to Him: beating and slapping Him, setting a crown of thorns upon His head, and crucifying Him between two thieves. Moreover, His alleged plea for someone to deliver Him from that ordeal marks an even greater deficiency than the remorse and sorrow they ascribe to Him.

If they say, “He did this only to teach His servants to emulate Him,” then those anthropomorphist unbelievers could just as well reply, “He wept, felt remorse, and bit His own hand until it bled so that He might teach His servants to repent of their sins.”

In short, no community has ever uttered a doctrine about God without the Christians’ doctrine being uglier still. That is why Muʿādh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say, “Show them no mercy, for they have reviled Allah with an insult no human has ever leveled against Him.” For this reason Allah magnifies their slander