subsisting in itself, and they said: “Allah is existent, living, and speaking. Then they went on to claim that His life is an independent substance subsisting in itself, and that His speech—which is the Word—is likewise an independent substance. On this basis they declared: ‘This is a god from God, and that is a god from God.’ Thus they affirmed attributes for Allah but turned them into self-subsistent substances, after which they announced: ‘All of them together are a single substance.’ Their discourse is therefore filled with many false and mutually contradictory notions: some of them treat the attributes as a substance, while others merge multiple substances into one.

As for those among the deniers of the attributes—the Muʿtazilites and the Jahmites—who say, ‘Whoever affirms the attributes has adopted the Christians’ position,’ their objection applies only to the one who turns the attributes into separate substances. Such are the Christians, for they maintain that the attributes are divine substances. These deniers then add: ‘There is no deity but Allah; therefore He has no attribute.’

The Christians, however, assert: ‘The Father is a divine substance, the Son is a divine substance, and the Holy Spirit is a divine substance; yet all together they are one God.’ Simply grasping these statements in full is enough to recognise their invalidity.

By contrast, the messengers and their followers affirmed that Allah possesses knowledge, power, and other attributes, while at the same time maintaining that the Godhead is one. Hence, when someone says, ‘I worshipped Allah and called upon Allah,’ he has worshipped and invoked a single God—an Essence qualified with the attributes of perfection. He has not worshipped an essence devoid of life, knowledge, or power, nor has he worshipped three gods or three substances; rather, the very name ‘Allah’ encompasses His sacred Essence, endowed with