in the mind, not in external reality. Likewise, a surface, line, or point abstracted from the subject in which it subsists exists only in the mind.

They said: If this is the meaning of “body” in Arabic, then it is narrower than “that which can be pointed to.” For the Arabs do not call the spirit, which subsists in its own right, a body. Rather, they say, “His spirit has left his body,” and, “He is body and spirit.” They do not call the spirit a body, nor do they call the breath that leaves a person a body. The speculative theologians, however, adopted the convention of calling everything that can be pointed to a “body,” just as they adopted the convention of calling everything that subsists in its own right a “substance.” They then disagreed over whether everything that can be pointed to is composed of indivisible atoms, or of matter and form, or of neither. These three positions have been discussed at length elsewhere. Hence many of them would say: In our terminology, a body is that which subsists in its own right, or that which exists—not that which is composite.

The scholars who adhere to the Sunnah said: When the Jahmiyyah and other deniers of the attributes say that attributes can subsist only in a body, and that Allah Most High is not a body, they are answered: If by “body” you mean something composed of indivisible atoms, or something composed of matter and form, we do not concede your “first premise,” namely, your assertion that attributes can subsist only in something of that kind. You are told: The Lord Most High subsists in Himself. His servants raise their hands to Him in supplication and direct their hearts toward Him. He is the Most High, the Most Exalted—glory be to Him—and the believers will see Him directly with their own eyes on the Day of Resurrection, just as they see the moon on the night of