of gold, silver, or copper, however small, is of the same kind as a large quantity. This is precisely what Allah declared Himself free of in this surah, and what some of the polytheists asked about when they said, “Is He made of gold? Is He made of silver?” and similar questions.

Whoever affirms a likeness involving this corporealism makes Him of the same kind as other bodies, only greater in magnitude. This is plainly false according to both revelation and reason. These are the “likeners” whom the early generations condemned, saying, “The likener is one who says: ‘His sight is like my sight, His hand is like my hand, and His foot is like my foot.’” Such a likeness concerns sameness of kind, even if the One being likened is greater in magnitude than that to which He is likened, for none of them says anything other than that He is greater.

Despite the manifest falsity of their position, it has not been reported that they considered division and separation possible for Him. Yet this necessarily follows from their position: whenever they make Him of the same kind as something else, whatever is possible for that other thing becomes possible for Him, since this is the rule governing two cohesive entities of the same kind. If they consider division and separation possible for Him as they are possible for His like, they must affirm the possibility of His division and separation—indeed, the possibility of His extinction and nonexistence. If they do not consider this possible, they contradict themselves and assert something that has no reality, for they are saying, “He is of the same kind as it, and He is not of the same kind as it.”