This is an objection long advanced by those who deny the divine attributes; indeed, Imam Ahmad mentioned it (1) [in The Refutation of the Jahmites, saying (2):
“The Jahmites said to us when we described Allah with these attributes (3): (4 If you claim that Allah has always existed alongside His light—Allah alongside His power and Allah alongside His greatness—then you have adopted the doctrine of the Christians 4) (4), when you claimed that Allah has always existed alongside His light and has always existed alongside His power.
We replied:
We do not say that Allah has always existed alongside His power and has always existed alongside His light (5). Rather, we say: Allah has always existed with His power and His light; there is neither a ‘when’ nor a ‘how’ to His power.
They said (6): You will never affirm divine oneness unless you say: Allah was, and nothing else existed.
We replied:
We do indeed say that He was, and nothing else existed. But when we say that Allah has always possessed all His attributes, are we not simply describing one God by all His attributes?
We gave them an analogy for this and said:
Tell us about this date palm: does it not have
(1) After the words “Imam Ahmad,” (N) and (M) contain a lengthy omission. I shall indicate where it ends, Allah willing.
(2) The following passage is from Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s treatise *al-Radd ‘alā al-Jahmiyya wa-l-Zanādiqa fīmā Shakkū fīhi min Mutashābih al-Qur’ān wa-Ta’awwalūhu ‘alā Ghayri Ta’wīlihi* (*The Refutation of the Jahmites and Heretics Regarding the Ambiguous Passages of the Quran That They Questioned and Misinterpreted*). It has been published several times. We shall collate the following text against the edition prepared by Sheikh Muhammad Hamid al-Fiqi and included in the collection *Shadharāt al-Balātīn min Tayyibāt Kalimāt Salafinā al-Sālihīn*, Cairo, 1375/1956. The passage appears on p. [0–9] 2 of that treatise, to which we shall refer as *al-Radd* (“the Refutation”). This entire passage is omitted from (N), which reads: “…until Imam Ahmad mentioned it. Second: It may be said: This doctrine… etc.”
(3) *Al-Radd* reads: “Then the Jahmite said to us, when we described Allah—on the authority of Allah—with these attributes.”
(4) The passage marked (4–4) is omitted from (A).
(5) (A) reads: “Allah has always existed alongside His light and has always existed alongside His power.”
(6) (B) alone reads: “Then he said.” This is a textual corruption.