and the outrageous fabrications, the lies, and the invented assertions (1). Can you break free from the circle of the muʿaṭṭilah who say, “If the universe had a Maker who is self-subsistent (2), He would have to be either inside it or outside it, either connected to it or detached from it, either contiguous with it or separated from it, either above it or beneath it, to its right or to its left, behind it or in front of it. Since none of these alternatives can be established for Him, it is impossible that there exist a Being distinct from the universe and subsisting by Himself”?

They insist, “Our intellects and innate dispositions are present; when this proposition is set before them they judge it to be a union of two contraries.” So spare us the practice of wrenching the revelatory texts from (3) their plain meanings and claiming they are merely figurative, devoid of reality, imparting no certainty and yielding no knowledge of what is obligatory for Allah or impossible for Him whatsoever—for, as you allege, they are merely verbal indicators, outward forms that do not convey certainty (4). Give, then, a reply (5) to these deniers and to those whom, in your view, are anthropomorphists; otherwise, let anyone whose roof is made of glass have the courtesy (6) not to hurl stones at the people.