And with regard to heat (1) they said that it is the ʿayn (very essence) (2) of the hot object (3); they expressed the same view about moisture, coldness, and dryness. Likewise, concerning life they asserted that life is identical with the living being. Among them are those who allow that the body’s motion and action are other than the body itself, while others refuse, in any way whatsoever, to acknowledge an accident distinct from the body.

I say: This position on the attributes of created things parallels the doctrine of the Muʿtazilite shaykh Abū al-Hudhayl regarding the attributes of Allah.

Al-Ashʿarī (4) said: “Their shaykh, Abū al-Hudhayl al-ʿAllāf, maintained that the knowledge of the Creator—exalted is He—is identical with Him; the same, he said, applies to His power, His hearing, His sight, and His wisdom, and this was likewise (5) his statement concerning all of His essential attributes.

He claimed (6) that whenever one affirms that the Creator is knowing, one thereby establishes (7) knowledge that is Allah Himself, negates ignorance from Him, and points to something known, whether it already exists or will exist. And whenever one says that the Creator is powerful, one thereby establishes (8) a power that is Allah the Exalted, negates incapacity from Him (9), and points to something subject to His power, whether present or future (10). Such (11) was his view regarding all the essential attributes in this very manner of affirmation (12). And whenever he