Zirr ibn Sālih al-Sadūsī, who said: “I asked Jahm ibn Safwān, ‘Has the Lord spoken?’ He replied, ‘No.’ I asked, ‘Will He speak?’ He replied, ‘No.’ I asked, ‘Then who says, “To whom belongs sovereignty this Day?” [Ghāfir 16], and who answers Him, “To Allah, the One, the All-Subduing” [Ghāfir 16]?’ He replied, ‘I do not know. They have added to the Quran and taken away from it.’”

Then he said, “Chapter: An Account of al-Sharī’s Statements,” and related what we have already quoted from him. Before this, he related: “I heard Adnān ibn Umda al-Numayrī say: ‘I heard Abū Bakr al-Bistāmī say: “Abū al-Hasan al-Asharī initially adhered to the Mutazilite doctrine, then abandoned it and spoke against its adherents. In reality,