For this reason, leading theologians among the Jahmiyyah, Mu‘tazilah, Najjāriyyah, and Dirāriyyah, together with those attribute-affirming theologians who adopted this from them—such as Abū al-Ma‘ālī, Imām al-Haramayn, and others like him—said when classifying existents: “An existent either has a beginning or has no beginning. Whatever has a beginning is temporally originated. This is a self-evident division based on the affirmation and negation of temporally originated beings in relation to a substrate.”

He said: “This division, too, rests on negation and affirmation.” He said: “If this division were called a classification of existents, that would not be far-fetched. However, the primordial existence has no beginning, and His existence has no end. Likewise, there is no limit to His essence or His attributes, whether in existence or in judgment. Thus, imaginings cannot reach the essence of the Eternal One or His attributes, nor can thoughts range over Him.”

I say: This does not preclude the classification, for describing Him as having or not having a limit involves matters explained in their proper place. By denying a limit, he does not mean that His essence is infinite. Rather, he means that it is such that one cannot say of it that it is finite or