— you would have perished. (1)
He went on: When Moses returned to his people they said to him, “Describe for us the speech of your Lord.” He replied, “Glorified is Allah! How could I possibly describe it to you?” (2) They said, “Then give us a likeness.” (3) He said, “Have you ever heard the roar of thunderbolts as they draw near, in the sweetest tone your ears have ever known? (4) It is something like that.” (5)
He continued: We said to the Jahmites, “Who will say to Jesus on the Day of Resurrection, ‘O Jesus, son of Mary, did you say to the people, “Take me and my mother as two deities apart from Allah”?’ (7) Is it not Allah who will speak these words?” They said, “Allah brings into being (8) something that expresses on behalf of Allah, just as He brought into being [something that expressed] (9) for Moses.”
So we said, “Then who is the speaker of: ‘So We shall surely question those to whom messengers were sent, and We shall surely question…’ (10)"
(1) In the refutation of the Jahmiyya: “lammat.”
(2) In the refutation of the Jahmiyya: “qal.”
(3) In S and T: “qal tashabbahahu.”
(4) In the refutation of the Jahmiyya: “hal sami’tum.”
(5) Narrated by al-Bayhaqi in al-Asma’ wa al-Sifat, p. 275. It is also recorded by Ibn Kathir in his Tafsir, vol. 1, p. 588 (commentary on Surah an-Nisa, v. 163), both on the authority of Jabir b. ‘Abd Allah with wording close to that cited by the Shaykh from Imam Ahmad, although they note that their isnad includes al-Fadl b. ‘Isa al-Raqqash, who is weak.
(6) In the original reading: “fa qulna”; perhaps the correct reading is that which he attested in S and T and in the refutation of the Jahmiyya.
(7) Surah al-Ma’ida, v. 116.
(8) In the refutation of the Jahmiyya: “fayakun.”
(9) The text enclosed in quotation marks is an addition from the refutation of the Jahmiyya. In S it reads “kama kawn li-Musa fa’bara”; in T: “kawn fa’bara li-Musa.” Perhaps the passage coheres with this addition.
(10) In the refutation of the Jahmiyya: “qulna.”