and the same applies to their claim that He has no hearing, sight, power, life, or the like.

Once this is understood, the disputant’s point becomes clear, for he turned their proposition against them, saying: “If you insist that our position makes Him like an indivisible atom, then your position makes Him like something nonexistent.” For when he said, “He cannot be indivisible and exceedingly small, because that would be contemptible, and such a thing is impossible for Allah,” the disputant replied: “You have said that He cannot be perceived by the senses or pointed to under any circumstances. Yet whatever can neither be perceived by the senses nor pointed to is like something nonexistent, and is therefore even more contemptible. If your description is admissible, why should the former description not be admissible?”

This is a very strong argument. The disputant and his followers know that this argument is sound, since, on the question of seeing Allah, they acknowledge that everything that exists can be perceived by the five senses. Accordingly, they commit themselves to the position that Allah can be perceived