And whoever says, “He is neither living nor dead, nor does He hear, see, or speak,” must consequently regard Him as dead, deaf, blind, and mute.

If he says, “Blindness is the absence of sight in something capable by its nature of possessing sight; something incapable of sight, such as a wall, is called neither blind nor seeing,” he is answered: “This is a convention you have adopted. Otherwise, whatever is described as lacking life, hearing, sight, and speech can be described as possessing death, blindness, muteness, and inability to articulate speech. Moreover, everything that exists can possess these attributes and their opposites, for Allah is able to make inanimate things living, just as He turned Moses’ staff into a serpent that swallowed the ropes and staffs. Furthermore, that which cannot possess these attributes is more deficient than that which cannot possess them while possessing their opposites.”

An inanimate thing described as neither seeing nor blind, neither speaking nor mute, is more deficient than a living being that is blind and mute. Thus, to say that the Creator cannot possess these attributes is to ascribe a greater deficiency to Him than to describe Him as mute, blind, deaf, or the like. Moreover, to regard Him as incapable of possessing them is to liken Him to an inanimate thing incapable of possessing any of them. This likens Him to inanimate things, not to living creatures. How, then, can someone who says this [object to] others for what he claims amounts to likening Him to a living being?