of His creation (1); He then commands whatever He wishes and forbids whatever He wishes (2), while He is a spirit hidden (3) from human sight.

Jahm therefore seized upon an argument of the same sort and said to the Samanite:

“Do you not claim that there is a spirit within you?”
He (4) answered, “Yes.”
He (5) asked, “Have you seen your spirit?”
He replied, “No.”
He said, “Have you ever listened to its speech?”
He responded, “No.”
He asked, “So have you (6) found any sensory perception of it?”
He said, “No.”
He concluded, “Likewise (7) with Allah: no aspect of His face is seen, no sound of His is heard, and no fragrance of His is smelled. He is hidden from all eyes and is not confined to one place rather than another.”

He (8) then singled out three verses (9) from the Quran (10) that belong to the ambiguous passages:
“There is nothing whatsoever like unto Him,” (11)
“He is Allah in the heavens and on the earth,” (12) and
“Vision cannot encompass Him, but He encompasses all vision.” (13)

On these verses he built the whole foundation of his doctrine (14) and interpreted the Quran accordingly