existence, knowledge, and power must be identical, their identity in their entire essential nature does not necessarily follow. Thus the distinction becomes clear.

I say: He has presented some of the arguments of those whom he described as affirming that Allah is a body, though his account falls short, for their arguments are very numerous. Even so, he could not deny their affirmation of likeness in certain respects, as he himself established. Nor could he deny that this is established by the Quran, the Sunnah, and Muslim consensus. Yet he claimed that affirming that Allah is a body entails affirming an equal to Allah in His entire essential nature. This is not merely likeness in certain matters, but identity in the entirety of His reality and essential nature.

I say: There is no doubt that whoever affirms an equal to Allah in the entirety of His reality likens Him to creation. Indeed, this goes beyond merely likening Him to creation: it means assigning Allah Most High an equal, a likeness, and a rival.

He said: Things that share existence, knowledge, and power need not be identical in their entire essential nature.

I say: This is true, for two things sharing the quality of being existent or knowing