yields the same benefit as the seven different attributes. He said (1):

“Know that, on the view which denies the ḥāl (2), the unsoundness of this position is self-evident, in light of what we have already established [that is, in the discussion of Divine Speech where we showed that a demand cannot be identical to a report] (3).”

He further said:

(4) “As for the view that affirms the ḥāl, Qāḍī Abū Bakr (5) based his refutation of this combination (6) on the consensus. There are only two parties: some affirm it and others deny it. Everyone who affirms it holds that it consists of multiple attributes; therefore, claiming that it is a single attribute amounts to a breach (7) of the consensus.”

I reply: Although this argument is valid, it cannot be applied consistently to the Divine Speech, for there is no consensus that it is a single meaning.

Thirty-fourth argument: These people regard the very reality of the meaning of what Allah has reported about Himself as identical to the reality of the meaning of what He has reported about the jinn and Hellfire. Yet it is well known that the meanings of speech correspond to, and reflect, the external realities. Thus, the meaning of the report concerning the angels and the jinn… (9)