neither the Book nor the Sunnah uses any of them (1) with respect to Allah, whether by way of negation or affirmation. Nor did any of the Companions, those who followed them in righteousness, or the other Muslim imams—whether from the Ahl al-Bayt or otherwise—use any of them with respect to Allah, whether by way of negation or affirmation.

The first people known to have spoken in such terms (2), both in negation and affirmation, were the adherents of newly introduced speculative theology: among the negators, the Jahmiyyah and the Mu‘tazilah; and among the affirmers, the corporealists from the Rāfidah and others.

The negators rejected these terms and extended their negation to attributes that Allah and His Messenger affirmed, such as His knowledge, power, will, love, pleasure, anger, and highness. They said, “He is not seen, nor does He speak the Quran or anything else. Rather, His being described as speaking means that He created speech in some body other than Himself (3),” and other such claims.

The affirmers, meanwhile, included under this heading matters that Allah and His Messenger had negated. They went so far as to say, “He is seen with the eyes in this world (4); people can shake hands with and embrace Him; and He descends to the earth,