five in number, like the senses of a human being: He has a hand and a foot (1), a nose and an ear, and a mouth and an eye (2). He hears through something other than that through which He sees (3); likewise, all His other senses are, in their view, distinct from one another.”
He said: “Abū Īsā al-Warrāq related that Hishām ibn Sālim claimed that his Lord had locks (4) of black hair (5), and that this was black light.
“As for the fifth sect, they claim that the Lord of the worlds (6) possesses pure radiance and sheer light (7). He is like a lamp that appears the same from whichever direction one approaches it (8). He has neither form nor limbs, and there is no variation among His parts. They deny that He is in human form or [in] (9) the form of any animal.”
He said (10): “The sixth sect of the Rāfidah (11) claim that their Lord is neither a body (12) nor a form (13), that He does not resemble created things, and that He neither moves nor remains still nor comes into contact.”
(1) N and M read: “He has a foot and a hand.”
(2) *Maqālāt* (p. 105) reads: “and an eye, a mouth.”
(3) *Maqālāt* reads: “and He hears through something other than that through which He sees.” N reads: “and He is hearing and seeing that through which He sees” (a corruption).
(4) *Al-Qāmūs al-Muhīt* states: “A *wafra* is hair gathered upon the head, hair hanging over the ears, or hair extending beyond the earlobes.”
(5) A reads: “a mass of black hair.”
(6) *Maqālāt* reads: “the Lord of the worlds.”
(7) N reads: “is loved”; M reads *mahatun*, which is a corruption. *Maqālāt* reads: “pure radiance and sheer light.”
(8) B reads *bi-nūrin* (“with a light”); A reads *bi-amrin* (“in one manner”), with the word *wāhid* (“one”) omitted.
(9) The word *alā* (“in”) is omitted in N and M.
(10) This occurs immediately after the preceding passage in *Maqālāt*, 1/105.
(11) M reads *al-Rawāfid*.
(12) A and B read *lā bi-jismin* (“not a body”).
(13) N and M read *wa-lā sūratan* (“nor a form”).