Others, however, held that the sole means of establishing those attributes is pure textual revelation; reason has no share in the matter at all.

If they are told: “Were it admissible for the Law to affirm attributes that reason does not indicate, nothing would prevent Allah from possessing further attributes that the Law has not mentioned and that therefore remain unknown. On that basis one would also have to allow that revelation might attribute every human quality to Allah Most High—provided that not a single one of those qualities resembled (1) His.”

their reply is: “When Allah informed the believers of His attributes and judged them to have perfect faith once they knew them, it became impossible for Him to possess another attribute for which no avenue of knowledge exists. For it is inconceivable that a believer deserve praise while remaining ignorant of Allah—that is, of all His attributes. Accordingly, when Allah (2) described them as believers upon their knowledge of what revelation had brought, it was established that there is no attribute beyond what can be known through intellect (3) and text.”

The Teacher said, “Reliance is to be placed on the first answer, for in it the matter is laid bare.”

I say: Both answers rest on the obligation to know all of Allah’s attributes; yet do we say (4) that every one of them is knowable by reason, or that some are known only by revelation? The two views remain (5), and the leading Ashʿarīs and others are not satisfied to claim, “We affirm categorically that we have come to know Allah by all His attributes,” nor to say, “He has no attribute beyond what we have come to know.”