on the grounds that they are solitary reports, and solitary reports do not yield certain knowledge, while the apparent meaning of the Quran contradicts them—namely, the Most High’s words:

“No vision can encompass Him.” [al-Anʿām 103]

As for the Ashʿarīs, they sought to reconcile the two beliefs: incorporeality and the possibility of seeing what is not a body through sensory perception. This proved difficult for them, and they resorted to specious, sophistical arguments—that is, arguments that seem sound but are false. For arguments seem to exhibit distinctions like those found among people: just as some people possess perfect virtue, others possess a lesser degree of virtue, and still others appear virtuous without being so, merely making a show of virtue, so too with arguments. Some attain the highest degree of certainty, others fall short of certainty, and still others are specious arguments that appear certain but are false. The arguments employed by the Ashʿarīs on this question include arguments concerning