If the listener supposes that the apparent meaning of the attributes is that they resemble the attributes of created beings, he must conclude that none of that apparent meaning is intended. But if he believes that their apparent meaning is what befits the Creator and is proper to Him, he cannot deny this apparent meaning or deny that it is intended without evidence supporting that denial.

Neither reason nor revelation provides any basis for denying this except grounds of the same kind as those used to deny the other attributes. Thus, the same argument applies to them all. To explain: some of our attributes are concrete entities and bodies that are parts of us, such as the face and hand. Others are qualities and accidents that inhere in us, such as hearing, sight, speech, knowledge, and power.

It is well known that when the Lord described Himself as living, knowing, and powerful, the Muslims did not declare this apparent meaning unintended on the grounds that what it signifies in His case is the same as what it signifies in ours. Likewise, when He described Himself as having created Adam with His two hands, this did not require declaring its apparent meaning unintended on the grounds that what it signifies in His case is like what it signifies in ours. Rather, an attribute befits the one who possesses it. Since His holy essence is not like the essences of created beings, His attributes, like His essence, are not like their attributes. The relation of a created being’s attribute to that being corresponds to the relation of the Creator’s attribute to Him; yet the attribute in one case is not like the attribute in the other, nor is the one to whom it belongs like the other.

As the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“You will see your Lord as you see the sun and the moon.”

He thus likened the act of seeing to the act of seeing; he did not liken the One seen to the things seen.