is affirmed of Allah Most High and of others can only be true and entail praise, commendation, and perfection. Allah has the greater right to it, without resembling anyone else in it. Likewise, any negation applying to Allah and to others can only be the denial of a fault or deficiency. Allah, glorified be He, has a greater claim than any creature to be declared free of faults and deficiencies. These, then, are sound forms of analogical reasoning, constituting the complete rational method of the early generations, grounded in revelation.
As for what certain groups of speculative theologians do—bringing the Creator and the creature under a categorical syllogism or an analogy in which they are treated as equals—this constitutes associating partners with Allah and setting others on a par with Him. It is wrongdoing and setting up likenesses for Allah. It belongs to the forms of analogical reasoning and speculative discourse that the early generations condemned and censured.
Consequently, some among the general ranks of hadith scholars, jurists, and Sufis came to suppose that one should not discuss the fundamentals of religion—or should not discuss the divine attributes—by means of analogy