[أ]
Him any parts or measure.”

By denying accidents, they mean to deny attributes. In their view, neither life, knowledge, power, speech, hearing, sight, pleasure, anger, love, hatred, nor any other attribute subsists in Him. Whatever of these is attributed to the Lord, if it exists, is created. His speech, according to them, means that He created speech in certain bodies; His pleasure and anger are nothing other than the bliss and torment He creates, and so forth.

They also said:

“He does not descend, come, or arrive, nor do such things, for these are temporal occurrences, and He is not a locus for temporal occurrences.”

Thus they came to argue:

“If He is said to be a body or to possess attributes, it necessarily follows that He came into being.”

Opposing them were groups of speculative theologians among the Shī‘ah, the Murji’ah, and others, who said:

“Rather, He is a body, occupies space, and has attributes and acts that subsist in Him, such as motion and rest.”

Further excessive affirmations were reported of them, just as the others had gone to extremes.

These groups came to argue:

“If He is said not to be a body or not to possess attributes, it necessarily follows that He does not exist. A body means nothing other than something that exists and subsists in itself.”

Abū al-Hasan al-Ash‘arī mentioned the doctrines of both groups in his book al-Maqālāt (Doctrines), although he recounts them as he found them in the books of the Mu‘tazilah. He was better acquainted with their doctrines and with the views of their opponents as they reported them, since he had been one of them and remained upon their doctrine for forty years, then moved to something akin to