the one seen receives him with honor and esteem, or the opposite may be the case. The Messenger therefore informed us that his condition was of the first kind.”

He should be told: The granting of honor and esteem is an act of Allah Most High, so it is more properly an attribute of Him than of the noble, esteemed recipient. It is therefore an attribute either of both or of the one honored. But making it an attribute only of the one honored is false. For if the honoring is something that subsists in the very being of the one honored, this is the first interpretation. If, however, it is separate from him, it is clearly more properly an attribute of Allah, because Allah performed it. According to those who affirm the divine attributes generally, Allah is described by the act itself—namely, creation and bringing into being—although the Jahmiyyah among the Mu'tazilah and their followers among the speculative theologians who affirm the attributes, and others like them, disagree on this point.

Likewise, receiving someone with honor is an act of the one seen, who is therefore more properly described by it than the one seeing. It thus becomes clear that it is invalid to construe his words “in the most beautiful form”