the light of prophethood. Yet how different the two inheritances are:

How different the two heirs, and those from whom they inherit,
And how different each inheritor’s share! 1

The third text is from an imam who preceded these two imams: the imam and judge Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Habīb al-Kūfī (d. 182 AH), a companion of Abū Hanīfah.

Ibn Mandah said in his book al-Tawhīd (Allah’s Oneness): Muhammad ibn Abī Jaʿfar al-Sarakhsī informed us: Muhammad ibn Salamah al-Balkhī narrated to us: Bishr ibn al-Walīd, the judge, narrated to us, on the authority of Abū Yūsuf, the judge, who said:

“Allah’s oneness is not a matter of analogical reasoning. Have you not heard the words of Allah—Mighty and Majestic is He—in the verses in which He describes Himself as All-Knowing, All-Powerful, Strong, and Sovereign? He did not say: ‘I am knowing and powerful: for such-and-such a reason I have power; because of such-and-such a cause I know; and on this basis I exercise dominion.’ Thus, analogical reasoning is not permissible in matters of Allah’s oneness. He is known only through His names and described only by His attributes. Allah Most High has said in His Book:

‘O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, that you may become righteous’ 2—to the end of the verse.

And He said:

‘Have they not considered the dominion of the heavens and the earth and everything Allah has created?’ 3

And He said:

‘Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, the alternation of night and day, and the ships that sail through the sea’ 4—to the end of the verse.

Abū Yūsuf said: Allah did not say, ‘Consider how I am the All-Knowing, how I am the All-Powerful, and how I am the Creator.’ Rather, He said, ‘Consider how I created.’ Then He said: ‘And Allah created you; then