of them is a body; rather, the two particles together constitute the body. They hold that composition cannot inhere in a single particle, whereas a single particle can bear colour, taste, odour, and all other accidents except composition. I believe this is the view of al-Iskāfī.

They maintained that the claim, “A third particle may be joined to the two,” is erroneous and impossible, because each of the two occupies its companion, and when it does so, there is no room for another. For if two particles occupied the same place, a thing would be in contact with more than its own extent. Were that possible, the world could fit into a fist. Hence he said: “A thing cannot be in contact with more than its own extent.”

He said: This is the view of Abū Bishr Sālih ibn Abī Sālih and those who agree with him.

I say: This view is held by a group of the later Ashʿarī speculative theologians who affirm the divine attributes, and by those jurists among the followers of al-Shāfiʿī and Ahmad who agree with them.

He said: Abū al-Hudhayl held that a body is something with a right side and a left side