Judge Abū Ya‘lā said: “Concerning His words, Most High, ‘Alas for my neglect of my duty to Allah!’ and the rest of the verse, our shaykh Abū ‘Abd Allāh reported in his book that a group of our fellow scholars adopted the verse’s apparent meaning, affirming janb (side) as an attribute of Allah Most High.”

He added: “I copied the following from the handwriting of Abū Hafs al-Barmakī: Ibn Battah said, ‘The expression bi-dhāt Allāh means Allah’s cause, just as one says fī janb Allāh, meaning in Allah’s cause.’”

The judge said: “This statement of his rules out its being an attribute of Allah’s essence. This is the correct view in my judgment: what is meant is falling short in obeying Allah Most High and neglecting His worship. For neglect does not occur within a side understood as an attribute; rather, it concerns obedience and worship. This usage is found in their speech: ‘So-and-so is at so-and-so’s side,’ meaning that he obeys him, serves him, and seeks nearness to him. The correctness of this interpretation is demonstrated by the surrounding wording of the passage: ‘among those who do good’ (58), and ‘I would have been among the righteous’ (57). All of this concerns acts of obedience.”