to falsehood.’”

The affirmationists among the speculative theologians disagreed with them about what the term “one” denotes, as did those who affirmed the divine attributes. Abū Muhammad ibn Kullāb’s discussion of the meaning of “one” has already been cited. In his Book of Divine Oneness, he discussed what someone means by saying “Allah is one,” and what we mean when we describe something, without qualification, as “one.” He said: “What we mean by saying ‘Allah is one’ is that He stands alone in Himself, and nothing else enters into Him.”

Regarding our unqualified description of something as “one,” he said: “This may be said of many things joined together, consisting of similar bodies, as when we say ‘one human being.’ But when we call the Creator ‘one,’ we do not mean it in this way, for He stands alone in Himself, and nothing else enters into Him.”

He said: “Allah was one before He created. Things did not enter into Him when He created them, nor did He enter into them. Had that been so, He would not have been one.”

He said: “If He were within them, He would have the same status as they do; and if they were within Him, the same would apply. Whoever claims that they are in Him or that He is in them