“The clan of ʿĀmir knows full well
that ours is the greatest summit.”
This, then, is what “body” means in the Arabic language. In this sense, neither air, nor the breath exhaled by a person, nor the spirit breathed into him is called a body. It is known that Allah, glorified be He, is unlike any of these—whether the human body or anything else. Thus, none of the characteristics peculiar to created beings may be ascribed to Allah Most High, nor may He be given names denoting attributes peculiar to created beings. It is therefore impermissible to describe Him as a body, whether using the term jism or jasad.
For the practitioners of speculative theology, however, “body” has a broader meaning. They differ greatly over its meaning, both in their rational conceptions and in their conventional terminology. They say that anything that can be pointed to by a sensory gesture is a body. Beyond this, however, they disagree. Many of them say that anything of this kind is composed of indivisible atoms.
Some of them then say that a body consists, at minimum, of a single atom, provided that it is joined to another. Others say that the minimum is two atoms or more; others, four or more; others, six; others, eight; others, sixteen; and others, thirty-two. These are the views of those who hold that all bodies are composed of indivisible atoms. Others among the philosophers say that all bodies are composed of prime matter