He said:

“The opponent took these attributes and verses, arranged them and linked them together, setting them out one after another. He then divided them into chapters in his book and subtly sought to reject them through interpretation, just as the Jahmiyyah do. In this, he relied exclusively on the explanations of the deviant Jahmī, Bishr ibn Ghiyāth al-Marīsī. He concealed his position from the ignorant by using these attributes to vilify people who believe in them and affirm what Allah and His Messenger have said concerning them, without specifying their modality or likening them to anything. He alleged that those who believe in them specify their modality and liken them to their own selves. He further claimed that the scholars said:

‘There is no scope in any of these for personal reasoning to ascertain their modality or to liken any of them to anything that exists in creation.’”

He said:

“This is an error, for just as nothing is like Allah, nothing is like His modality.”

Abū Saʿīd said: We therefore said to this opponent, who disguises his position through vilification: “As for your statement that specifying the modality of these attributes and likening them to what exists in creation is an error, we do not merely call it an error, as you do. Rather, we regard it as disbelief. And we, concerning their modality and likening them to what