the hands, nor is He above (1) anything, nor does anything draw near to Him; nor is He inside (2) the world or outside it, neither distinct from it nor spatially coincident (3) with it, and other such negative meanings, which it is inconceivable that (4) anything but the nonexistent could possess.

If he says, “I intended the first meaning,” he is told:

“That meaning is sound. However, those who state this negation without qualification have included within it (5) these negative meanings. They maintain that the affirmative attributes of perfection ascribed to Him (6) necessarily entail His being a body. Thus, every (7) positive affirmation that is mentioned, they say, ‘This is corporealism.’ Yet what they call corporealism cannot be negated (8) except through pure negation (9).

“Therefore, whenever anyone denies something, he says of the one who affirms it, ‘He is a corporealist’ (10).

[Thus, the extremist negationists among the Jahmiyyah and Bātiniyyah say of anyone who affirms that He possesses the Most Beautiful Names, ‘He is a corporealist.’ The Muʿtazilah and others like them, who affirm the names but not the attributes, say of anyone who affirms the attributes, ‘He is a corporealist.’ And those who affirm the attributes but not