“My mercy has preceded My wrath.”’ And his saying:
‘Hell will continue to have people cast into it, while saying, “Is there any more?” until the Lord of Might places His foot in it—in another narration, His leg. Then its parts will contract together, and it will say, “Qad, qad (Enough, enough!)”; in another narration, “Qatt, qatt (Enough, enough!), by Your might!”’
And sayings such as:
‘Then Allah will come to them in His form, which they recognize, and say, “I am your Lord.” They will say, “You are our Lord.”’
And his saying:
‘Allah will gather His servants and call to them in a voice heard by those far away just as it is heard by those nearby: “I am the King; I am the Judge.”’
And other such hadiths, whether they alarm us or not, and whether they have reached us or not. Our belief concerning them and the verses pertaining to the divine attributes is that we accept them without distorting them, specifying their manner, denying them, or reinterpreting them. We do not make them conform to reason or liken them to the attributes of created beings. We do not bring our own opinions and speculation to bear upon them, nor do we add to them or subtract from them. Rather, we believe in them and entrust knowledge of them to the One who knows them, as did the righteous predecessors, who are our example in every branch of knowledge.
It has been transmitted to us from Ishāq that he said:
‘We do not divert any attribute with which Allah has described Himself, or with which the Messenger has described Him, from what it is, either in speech or in intent. The Muslim is only required to convey these descriptions and to be certain in his heart that what Allah has described Himself with in the Quran are indeed His attributes. Neither a prophet sent by Allah nor an angel brought near to Him comprehends those attributes except through the names by which the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, has made them known to them. As for any descendant of Adam apprehending those attributes, no one can apprehend them—and so on to the end of the report.