and he was (1) this very man whom (2) He called (3) waḥīd (solitary), even though he possessed two eyes, two ears, a tongue, two lips, two hands, two feet, and many other limbs. Thus He dubbed him (4) waḥīd together with all his attributes. [Likewise, Allah—His is the loftiest analogy—is, with all His attributes, (5) one God.]

Abu al-Hasan al-Ashʿarī said in his Kitāb al-Maqālāt, (6) “Here is a presentation of the various opinions people hold regarding the Divine Names and Attributes:

Praise be to Allah, who has shown us (7) the error of the erring, the blindness of the blind, and the bewilderment of the confused—those who deny the attributes of the Lord of the worlds. They assert that (8) Allah—majestic is His praise and exalted are His names—has no attributes: that He has no knowledge, no power, (9) no life, no hearing, no sight, no might, no majesty, no greatness, and no grandeur. They say the same concerning every other attribute with which Allah describes Himself. (10)

He continued, (11) ‘This view they inherited from their brethren among the philosophers, who claim that the universe has a maker (12) who has always existed yet is neither knowing, nor powerful, nor living.’