His very Self. Just as the words “essence,” “existence,” and “reality” are predicated of Allah and of His servants alike—and their outward sense is affirmed in both usages, while we are certain that their apparent sense with respect to Allah Most High is not identical to their apparent sense with respect to us, nor do they involve for Him anything that would imply deficiency or origination, whether one judges these terms to be univocal, homonymous, or analogical—so too His statements:

“He sent it down with His knowledge” (1),

“Indeed, Allah is the Provider, the Possessor of strength, the Firm” (2),

“for that which I created with My two hands” (3),

and, “The All-Merciful rose over the Throne” (4).

The same principle governs them all.

The early Jahmiyyah rejected every attribute that, in us, is an accident, such as knowledge and power, as well as every attribute that, in us, is a bodily member, such as face and hand. Their later adherents accepted many of the attributes that, in us, are accidents—like knowledge and power—while denying some others; and the attributes that, in us, are bodily members are, with respect to us, still accidents. Some among them even conceded certain attributes that, in our case, are bodily parts, such as the hand.

As for the Salaf, their position is exactly as related by al-Khaṭṭābī (6) and by Abū Bakr