Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And they returned with the anger of Allah”

He said: The “min” indicates origin, meaning the anger is from Allah; indeed, Allah was angry with them, as Allah the Exalted said: And the anger of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is one of His attributes, but it does not resemble the attributes of the created beings; it does not resemble the attributes of the created beings. When we become angry, our neck veins swell, our faces turn red, our hair stands on end, and a person loses his sanity, right? Yes. Do these symptoms occur in the anger of Allah? No, because there is nothing like Allah; rather, it is an anger befitting Allah (Mighty and Majestic). If we say this and accept that anger is a true attribute, our conscience is cleared, and we proceed according to what Allah and His Messenger commanded us. Some people, some of the people of distortion, say: “Anger means retribution, and it is not one of the attributes of Allah.” Others hold that it is the will to take retribution, so the meaning of is that He willed to take retribution from him. And according to the first view, they say “Allah was angry with him” means He took retribution from him. Those who say anger is retribution are those who do not affirm the will and do not affirm any of the attributes; rather, they affirm only the separate, created actions. And those who say it is the will affirm how many attributes for Allah? Seven attributes. They are the Asha'irah, and the first group are the Mu'tazilah and the Jahmiyyah. They say that Allah does not will, but He has created beings, so anger means this punishment and retribution that is separate from Allah. Both matters are false; both statements are false. As for the first group, the Mu'tazilah, we say that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: What does this mean? “When they angered us, we took retribution from them.” Is the condition not the conditioned, or is it? Because if “when they angered us” meant “we took retribution from them,” the statement would have no benefit; the meaning would be “when we took retribution from them, we took retribution from them,” which makes no sense. The meaning is “when they angered us, we took retribution from them,” which clearly indicates that anger is not retribution. As for the others, we say to them: If you affirm the will, what prevents you from affirming anger? If they say: “Anger is the boiling of the heart, the swelling of the veins, and the reddening of the eyes, and this is not befitting for Allah (Mighty and Majestic),” we say to them: The will is the inclination of a person to what benefits him or repels harm from him, and this is also a deficiency not befitting Allah. What is necessary for you regarding anger is necessary for you regarding the will. If you affirm the will, you must affirm anger; and if you deny anger, you must deny the will. Is that clear? The people of the Sunnah and the community are not required to do anything but say: We affirm anger, we affirm the will, and we affirm all the attributes of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), but we purify Allah the Exalted from resembling the created beings and being like them. Then, we do not imagine His attributes either; we do not imagine them. And we hold that it is forbidden for a person to imagine the attributes of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), because Allah is too great to be encompassed by minds, and eyes do not perceive Him, and minds do not encompass Him. Yes? So what do we say about anger according to the people of the Sunnah and the community? It is one of the attributes of Allah the Exalted, established for Him in truth, without asking how an attribute is or comparing Allah to creation.