that, He resembles nothing else, nor does anything else resemble Him.”

He said: “It is related that Dāwūd al-Jawāribī used to say of the Creator that He is hollow from His mouth to His chest, and solid everywhere else.”

Al-Ashʿarī said: “Many people say that He is solid and interpret Allah’s word ‘al-Samad’ as ‘the solid one, who is not hollow.’”

As for the imams, such as al-Fudayl ibn ʿIyād, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and others, whenever the term “body” or anything similar was mentioned, they would recite this verse. Thus, when Abū ʿĪsā Barghūth raised the question of corporeality with Imam Ahmad, Ahmad did not answer them by either affirming or denying it. He then said: “Know that He is One, al-Samad; He neither begets nor is born