Adam did not speak until He created speech for them. (1) Thus you have combined disbelief and anthropomorphic likening. (2) Exalted is Allah—majestic is His praise—above such a description, (3) yet we affirm that Allah—glorified be He—has never ceased to speak whenever He wills. Nor do we say that there was (4) [a time when He did not speak until He created speech, (5) or that there was a time when He did not know until He created knowledge and thereby knew; nor do we say that He once existed] (6) without power until He created power for Himself, (7) or that He existed without light until He created light for Himself, or that He existed without majesty (8) until He created majesty for Himself.

When we attributed these qualities to Allah, the Jahmiyyah retorted, (9) “If you claim ‘Allah and His light,’ ‘Allah and His power,’ and ‘Allah and His majesty,’ you have spoken like the Christians, (10) for you allege that Allah is eternal and so are His light and His power.”

We replied, (11) “We do not say, ‘Allah has always existed and His power,’ or ‘He has always existed and His light.’ Rather [we say] (12) that He has always existed with His light and with His power; (13) neither ‘when’ nor ‘how’ applies to His power.”