one says: “Suppose He has stated that He will lay bare one shin. Where in the wording does it say that He has only one shin?” When someone says, “I uncovered my hand, my eye, my shin, or my foot,” the apparent meaning is not that he has only one such part. Rather, one might say that he uncovered only one. Thus, his claim that such exclusion is part of the Quran’s apparent meaning is false. Yet he is among those who reject the restrictive implication of a qualifying description. How, then, can he appeal to something that does not constitute such an implication at all? And how can he do so when nothing in the Quran entails that there is only one?

For the word janb (side) in His words, “Alas for my neglect of my duty to Allah!” [al-Zumar 56], is a generic noun in a genitive construction. Such a construction either has a general sense as its apparent meaning, according to the preferred view—just as most scholars hold regarding a noun made definite by the definite article—or frequently carries a general sense, as in His words:

“the night of the fast” [al-Baqarah 187]

And:

“And if you tried to reckon Allah’s favor, you could never count it all.” [Ibrāhīm 34]

Even if this were an attribute, it would be comparable to His words:

“In His hand is dominion.” [al-Mulk 1]

And:

“In Your hand is all good.” [Āl ‘Imrān 26]

And:

“And that you might be brought up under My eye.” (39) [Tā Hā 39]

Fourth, one may ask: Where in the Quran’s apparent meaning is a single side affirmed as an attribute of Allah? It is well known that not all those who affirm the scripturally reported attributes affirm this. Indeed, many of them deny it; they even deny its having been affirmed by anyone