As for the statement that al-Samad is that which is solid and constitutes a single entity, both those who affirm and those who deny say this. For the statement that He is indivisible is ambiguous: it may mean that nothing separates from Him—which is the interpretation transmitted from the early generations—or that no aspect of Him can be known apart from another, which is what those who deny that He is a body intend.

Likewise, the denial of composition is ambiguous and is expressed by both those who affirm and those who deny. “Composition” may mean composition in the ordinary linguistic sense: combining one thing with another, as Allah, exalted is He, says:

“In whatever form He willed, He assembled you.” (8) [al-Infitār 8]

Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is far above having been assembled by anyone, or His essence having once consisted of separate parts that then came together and were combined. By “composition,” it may also be meant that no aspect of Him can be known apart from another. Thus, those among the philosophers and Mu‘tazilites who deny the attributes say that affirming the face and the two hands entails composition, while these people say that affirming the face and the two hands entails composition and multiplicity. It is well known that this name does not rule out this meaning; rather, it rules out only