the unseen.

These are attributes with which Allah has described Himself; they are neither dismissed nor rejected. He is upon the Throne without limit, as He, Exalted, says:

‘Then He rose over the Throne’ (al-A'rāf: 45),

in whatever manner He wills. The will belongs to Him, Mighty and Majestic, and istitāla belongs to Him. There is nothing like Him, and He is the Creator of all things. He is as He has described Himself: All-Hearing, All-Seeing, without limit or measure. Consider Abraham’s words to his father:

‘O my father, why do you worship that which neither hears nor sees?’ (Maryam: 42).

We therefore affirm that Allah is All-Hearing, All-Seeing. His attributes belong to Him. We do not go beyond the Quran and hadith, and we affirm the report that Allah laughs. We do not know how this is; we can only affirm the truth of the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and uphold the Quran. Those who describe Him cannot encompass Him in their descriptions, and no one can delimit Him. Exalted is Allah above what the Jahmiyyah and those who liken Him to His creation say.”

I asked him, “What do those who liken Him to His creation say?”

He replied, “Whoever says, ‘His sight is like my sight, His hand is like my hand, and His foot is like my foot,’ has likened Allah to His creation. This delimits Him. This is evil speech, and this is muhamdūd. I do not like discussing such things.”

Muhammad ibn Makhlad said:

Ahmad said, “We describe Allah as He has described Himself and as His Messenger has described Him.”