—then it is said to you: We, too, affirm the attributes that Allah has affirmed for Himself and which you have rejected for Him (1), in a way that entails neither parts nor limbs, and the One described by them is not called composite, a body, or divisible.

If you object, “These attributes cannot be conceived except as parts and pieces,” we reply, “And those attributes you affirm cannot be conceived except as accidents.”

If you say, “An accident cannot endure for two consecutive moments, whereas the Lord’s attributes are abiding, pre-eternal, and everlasting; therefore they are not accidents,” we answer: “Likewise, what is called a ‘part’ is only something whose detachment, separation, or removal is possible, and that is impossible with respect to the Lord, Exalted is He. Hence they are neither parts nor limbs. In both categories of divine attributes, separation from the One described by them is absolutely impossible, whereas a created being may indeed be separated from its accidents and its parts.”

If you say, “If the face were identical with the hand, the shin, and the finger, that would be impossible; and if it were other than them, differentiation (2) and therefore composition would follow,” we respond: “Similarly, if hearing were identical with sight, and both were the very same as knowledge, which in turn were identical with life and power, that would be impossible; but if they are distinct, composition follows. Whatever answer suffices for you suffices for us as well.”

And if you say, “We can conceive of attributes that are not accidents subsisting without a spatially delimited body (3)…”—