is not upon the Throne, he likewise has no need to add, “without asking how.” Had it truly been the position of the Salaf to deny the attributes in reality, they would never have said, “without asking how.”

[The meaning of the Imams’ statement: “Pass them on as they have come”]
Furthermore, their instruction, “Pass them on exactly as they have come,” demands that the texts’ signification be left intact; they were revealed as words that point to meanings. If that signification were nullified, one would have to say instead: “Transmit their wording while believing that the meaning they suggest is not intended,” or, “Transmit their wording while holding that Allah is not described by what they literally indicate.” In that case they would not have been “passed on as they have come,” nor would it be proper then to say, “without asking how,” for negating the ‘how’ of something that is not affirmed to exist is an exercise in futility.

[The statement of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn al-Mājishūn]
Al-Athram in As-Sunnah, Abū ʿAbdullāh ibn Battah in Al-Ibānah, Abū ʿUmar at-Talamankī, and others have all related—with a sound chain of transmission—from ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz