Third: it comes through al-Kalbī. The scholars of hadith have unanimously agreed not to rely on al-Kalbī in even the slightest matter concerning what is lawful or unlawful. How, then, could he be relied upon in explaining Allah’s oneness and interpreting His Book? The same applies to Abū Sālih.

Even if your report from Ibn ‘Abbās were authentic—that he said, “The Sustainer is He who does not pass away”—we would not find it objectionable. Its meaning would be clear and readily understood by scholars and those versed in Arabic: “does not pass away” means that He neither perishes nor ceases to exist, not that He does not move or shift from one place to another when He wills. Similarly, something perishable is said to “pass away,” as Labīd said:

Indeed, all things save Allah are vain,
And every pleasure must surely pass away.

He means that it perishes, not that it moves. For movement is the distinguishing sign between the living and the dead. Whatever does not move is dead and cannot be described as living, just as lifeless idols cannot be so described. Allah Most High said:

“And those they invoke other than Allah create nothing, and they are themselves created.”

“They are dead, not alive, and they do not perceive when they will be resurrected.”

(al-Nahl: 20–21)

Thus Allah, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer, the Withholder and the Expander, moves when He wills,