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As for the statement:

“If they were asked, ‘Which is more perfect: a being characterized by every kind of perception, including taste, smell, and touch, or a being not characterized by them?’ they would answer, ‘The former is more perfect,’ yet they do not ascribe these to Him.”

Those who affirm the divine attributes reply:

There are three well-known positions concerning these kinds of perception.

The first is to affirm these kinds of perception for Allah Most High, just as hearing and sight are ascribed to Him. This is the position of the judge Abū Bakr and Abū al-Maʿālī, and I believe it is also the position of al-Ashʿarī himself. Indeed, it is also the position of the Basran Muʿtazilites who ascribe these kinds of perception to Him.

These scholars and others also hold that He can be perceived through all five senses, just as He can be seen. The judge Abū Yaʿlā agreed with them on this in al-Muʿtamad and elsewhere.

The second position is to deny these three kinds of perception, as do many who affirm the divine attributes, both among the Sifātiyya and others. This is the position of groups of jurists among the followers of al-Shāfiʿī and Ahmad, and of many followers of al-Ashʿarī and others.

The third position is to affirm perception by touch but not by taste, because taste pertains only to what is eaten: only one who eats can possess the sense of taste, and only something eaten can be its object.