Know, then, that I have set forth the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah in accordance with the plain wording that has reached us from the Companions and their Followers, presenting it in concise form without exhaustive detail; for the statements of our well-known shaykhs—people of recognized leadership and devotion—have already been cited. I nevertheless wished to record the “Articles of our Sufi brethren” concerning the novelties introduced by a group who lay claim to them, fabrications of speech from which Allah has kept the school and its adherents pure.

[Statements of certain Sufis and the reply to them]:

He continues, saying: “I came across a work by Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari that he entitled …”