Thus, the avenues by which we come to know what must be negated of the Lord are broad; there is no need to restrict them to the mere denial of tashbīh (likening Him to the creation) and tajsīm (attributing corporeality), as is the habit of those whose understanding is limited and deficient. Such people contradict themselves and draw arbitrary distinctions between things that are essentially the same, so that whenever anyone affirms an attribute, someone who denies it objects that the affirmation necessarily entails tashbīh.

The Qarmatians used the same line of argument to reject every predicate whatsoever—until they even rejected rejection itself. They said, “It must not be said that He is existent, nor that He is non-existent; neither that He is living, nor that He is not living—because any such description would assimilate Him either to what exists or to what does not exist.” This stance, however, leads to the negation of both contradictories, something whose impossibility is self-evident. Moreover, those who take this path end up likening Him to non-entities, impossibilities, and lifeless objects to a far greater degree than the likeness they sought to escape—namely, resemblance to living beings endowed with perfection. The routes for declaring His transcendence and sanctity above all that does not befit Him are many and do not require such extremes.

It has already been established that whatever is to be negated of Him—Exalted is He—is