the angels’ swooning and their collapse in prostration a response to Gabriel’s words—even though he himself swooned along with them at that very speech.

Another instance of such distortive taʾwīl is the Magian-leaning Qadariyyah’s interpretation of the passages on divine decree: they wrench the texts from their true purport and signification. The Jahmiyyah do the same with the verses and reports that speak of the divine attributes, stripping them of their genuine meaning and thereby declaring the Lord—glorious and exalted is He—devoid of His perfect attributes,