Nor should it be said that these are merely words whose meanings cannot be understood and whose intent is unknowable, for that would place one alongside those who "know nothing of the Scripture except wishful notions." Rather, they are clear, self-evident verses that point to the most noble and exalted meanings. Their realities are firmly rooted in the hearts of those endowed with knowledge and faith—affirmation without likening, and exaltation without denial—just as the realities of every other attribute of perfection are established in their hearts.

Thus the whole question formed for them a single, coherent path that put their hearts at rest and calmed their souls. In His perfect attributes and majestic qualities they found a familiarity from which the ignorant negators felt estranged, and their hearts were tranquil regarding that which the obstinate rejecters shunned. They knew that the ruling for the attributes is the same as the ruling for the Essence: just as His Essence—glorified be He—resembles no essences, so His attributes resemble no attributes. Whatever attribute reached them from the infallible Messenger, they received with acceptance and met with knowledge, faith, and acknowledgment, aware that it is an attribute of the One whose Essence and attributes have no equal (1).

Imam Ahmad said, “Resemblance would only be if I were to say (2): a hand like a hand, or a face like a face.” (3)

To affirm a hand unlike all hands and a face unlike all faces is simply to affirm an Essence unlike all essences, a life unlike any other life, and hearing and sight unlike any hearing or sight.