on this supposition. Those among these thinkers who affirm and acknowledge that these beings have an afterlife say the same of them. Thus, according to them, Iblīs too is created in the image of Allah Most High, and reviling the jinn and devils should be forbidden, since they are created in the image of Allah Most High.

The fifteenth point: These words were spoken in praise and honour of Adam. Praise is expressed only through affirmative attributes, or through negative attributes that imply affirmative ones. Yet what they describe amounts merely to governing the body and not inhering in it. The latter is a negative attribute, while mere governance is common to all animals.

The sixteenth point: Likening the Lord to His servant is either admissible or inadmissible. If it is inadmissible, likening Allah to the soul that governs the body is invalid. If it is admissible, there is no need to distort the hadith. The point is that, through their interpretation, they affirm something analogous to what they sought to avoid: they sought to avoid drawing a likeness, yet their interpretation itself draws one. If they affirm likeness in one respect but not another, their opponents’ position regarding negation and affirmation is stronger than theirs, as explained earlier—especially on this view.