its honey like the honey of the Hereafter,” one has explicitly denied that they are alike, even though the terms are used literally of both. There are many similar examples.
If someone were to say, “This created being is not like that created being,” “This animal endowed with speech is not like the animal without speech,” “This color, which is white, is not like black,” or “The existent being who is the Creator is not like the existent being who is created,” and so forth, these terms would be used literally of both things designated, despite the explicit denial that they are alike. Terms with a common meaning across their applications require only that the things designated share something in common, even if those things differ or are opposites.
Whoever supposes that taking Allah’s names and attributes literally necessarily means that He resembles created beings and that His attributes resemble theirs is among the most ignorant of people. His argument begins in sophistry and ends in heresy, because it entails denying all the names and attributes of Allah Most High. This is the utmost heresy and unbelief.
Whoever distinguishes between one attribute and another, although the grounds for literal and figurative usage apply equally to both, contradicts himself and holds an incoherent position, resembling someone who believes in part of the Scripture and disbelieves in another. When a discerning, learned person reflects on these matters, it becomes clear to him that the doctrine of the early generations and the imams