can only be affirmed of one who has a self, a face, a hand, hearing, and sight, may at first appear to suggest that the word “self” denotes an attribute of its possessor, since he ascribed it to Him and mentioned it alongside the face and the hand. But this is not so. Its ascription to Him is like that in His words:

“You know what is within myself, and I do not know what is within Yourself” [al-Mā’idah 116],

and in His words:

“Your Lord [has prescribed] mercy for Himself” [al-An‘ām 54].

He later said: “Allah’s Self is Allah’s Self, and the Self encompasses all the attributes. If you deny the Self, you deny the attributes.” This shows that he meant the Essence in which the attributes subsist, such as eternal knowledge, as he mentioned. It follows that Allah must have a Self and that there must be knowledge within it, as He, Most High, says:

“You know what is within myself” [al-Mā’idah 116].

Thus, his statement that speech can only be affirmed of one who has a self is like saying that it can only be affirmed of one who has a reality and a quiddity, and the like. But the term “self”—and Allah knows best—implies