—he said: “From Myself.”

What Muslim, having heard what Allah has said about Himself in His Book and what the Messenger has said about Him, would then heed their assertions, except one who is wretched and astray?

Further on, he said: “We are, praise be to Allah Most High, familiar with these figurative usages in Arabic, which you have made into devices of deception and sophistry against the ignorant. You use them to deny the reality of Allah’s attributes on the pretext of figurative language. Yet we say: we do not give uncommon Arabic usage precedence over predominant usage. Rather, their meanings must be understood according to predominant Arabic usage until they produce proof that the uncommon sense was intended. And this is