The People of Unity say that the polytheists are disbelievers because they specified [their worship]; had they generalized it to all of existence, they would have been monotheists. And the polytheists are less associated with partners than they are.

The Shaykh :"And the polytheists are less associated with partners than they are*** They specified this name with the idols". All right.
The polytheists, then, are atheists because they named some of the created things with the names of Allah. The Unity people are more severe in their shirk (associating partners with Allah) because they named all of existence with the names of Allah. The explanation is this: They made the created thing the very essence of the Creator. So if the created thing is the very essence of the Creator, the names of the Creator become names for the created thing.
"And for that reason they were people of shirk (associating partners with Allah) in their view*** Had they generalized it, there would have been no disbelief"
- I seek refuge in Allah - The polytheists are people of shirk (associating partners with Allah) in the view of the People of Unity. The polytheists are people of shirk, and the People of Unity: are people of tawhid (the oneness of Allah). All right, why? They said that the polytheists associated partners with Allah because they specified, they specified Allah. Pharaoh was a disbeliever because he specified, he said: If he had said that the whole universe is your Lord, he would have been a monotheist. The polytheists said: al-Lat, al-Manat, and al-Uzza are gods. If they had said that all existing things are gods, they would have become monotheists and would not have been polytheists - I seek refuge in Allah - The one who specifies divinity with a person or a group or something similar to that is a polytheist in the view of the People of Unity, and the one who says that the whole universe is God: this is a monotheist - May Allah protect us - Yes. And the second atheist.