in some respect; otherwise, they could not have served as evidence of Him. He also reported a contrary view from him: that He was a body with parts, yet He did not resemble those bodies, nor did they resemble Him. However, in some of his books, Hishām ibn al-Hakam claimed that Allah Most High knew what lay beneath the earth only through a ray extending from Him into the earth’s depths. Were it not for His contact with what lay beyond that place, He would not know what was there. He claimed that part of Him was visible—namely, His ray—and that the earth lay over part of Him.

Had Hishām maintained that Allah knew what lay beneath the earth without contact, information conveyed to Him, or analogical reasoning, he would have abandoned his reliance on observable things and affirmed the truth.

He also related that Hishām expressed five views concerning his Lord within a single year. On one occasion, he claimed that He was like a crystal; on another, like an ingot; on another, that He was not a form; and on another, that He measured seven handspans by His own handspan. He then retracted this and said: “He is a body unlike other bodies.”