to his companion, “This is little compared with what I owe you.”

The third category of attributes is understood according to its apparent sense and expressed in the wording in which it has been transmitted, without this entailing knowledge of its modality or likening it to things of a comparable kind. Nor is it interpreted so as to depart from its apparent sense in favour of a possible figurative or extended meaning. Examples include the hand, hearing, sight, face, and the like. These are not limbs, organs, or parts; rather, they are attributes of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. They have no modality, nor are they interpreted figuratively by saying that the hand means favour and power, that hearing and sight mean knowledge, and that the face means the essence, as those who deny the attributes have maintained.

If it is asked, “What prevented you from treating this category of attributes like the first category, understanding them according to the literal implications of