Reading from the author's words, with commentary on them and collation of the manuscripts: "And with this, swearing by the might of Allah, and by the life of Allah, and the like of that which is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) swearing by it, does not fall under swearing by other than Allah; because the term (other) may be intended to mean the distinct and separate, and for this reason the Salaf and the other imams did not state that the Qur'an and the other attributes of Allah are other than Him, nor did they state that they are not other than Him; because the term (other) contains ambiguity, it may be intended to mean: the distinct and separate; so that the attribute of the described or a part of it is not included in the term: other. And it may be intended to mean: that which can be conceived, without conceiving what is other than it; so that it is other by this usage. And for this reason the people of contemplation disputed over the term: (other), and the dispute over that is verbal, but because of that there arose in the issues of the attributes doubts that do not become clear except by knowing what occurred in the terms of polysemy and ambiguities, as has been elaborated in other places. And for this reason a distinction is made between the statement of the one who says: the attributes are other than the essence, and his statement: the attributes of Allah are other than Allah, for the second is false; because the term of the name (Allah) includes His attributes, unlike the term of (the essence) which does not include the attributes, and for this reason it is not said: the attributes of Allah are an addition to Him (Glorified and Exalted is He), even if it is said: the attributes are an addition to the essence; because what is intended is that they are an addition to what the affirmers affirmed of the bare essence, and Allah the Exalted is the essence described by His necessary attributes, so the name Allah does not encompass a bare essence devoid of attributes at all, and the existence of that is not possible, and for this reason Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his debate with the Jahmiyyah: We do not say: Allah and His knowledge, and Allah and His power, and Allah and His light, but we say: Allah with His knowledge and His power and His light: He is one God. And this has been elaborated in other places.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The reader: "It may be intended to mean the distinct and separate, and for this reason the Salaf and the other imams did not state that the Qur'an and the other attributes of Allah are other than Him, nor did they state that they are not other than Him, because the term other contains ambiguity, it may be intended to mean: the distinct and separate, so that the attribute of the described or a part of it is not included in the term other"
The Shaykh : So it is not the attribute of the described.
The reader: "So it is not the attribute of the described or a part of it"
The Shaykh : Or a part of it.
The reader: "So it is not the attribute of the described or a part of it included in the term other. And it may be intended to mean: that which can be conceived, without conceiving what is other than it, so that it is other by this usage".
The Shaykh : Is the attribute of Allah the Exalted by this meaning other than Him or not? If we say that other is that which can be conceived without the other, it can be other, power is other than the possessor of power, and knowledge is other than the knower.
So other, we say for example: the created things are other than the Creator, so this is distinct and separate, so the otherness is complete.
The attribute is other than the described, meaning that it differs from the described in its reality, but it is an attribute for him, so it is not permissible to state that the attributes of Allah are other than Him, nor that they are not other than Him, because there is ambiguity in it.
"And it may be intended" Repeat this sentence.
The reader: "And it may be intended to mean: that which can be conceived, without conceiving what is other than it, so that it is other by this usage. And for this reason the people of contemplation disputed over the term other, and the dispute over that is verbal, but because of that there arose in the issues"
The Shaykh : Verbal, because if we detail this detail, we agree on this, if we say: if other is intended to mean the thing distinct from its other, then it is what? It is other, no doubt, the Creator is other than the created, and the key is other than the lock.
And if we intend by other that which is conceived without what is other than it, then the attributes of Allah are other by this consideration, that we can conceive knowledge, hearing, and sight as being other than the All-Hearing, other than the All-Knowing, and other than the All-Seeing. Continue.
The reader: "And for this reason the people of contemplation disputed over the term other, and the dispute over that is verbal, but because of that there arose in the issues of the attributes doubts that do not become clear except by knowing what occurred in the terms of polysemy and ambiguities, as has been elaborated in other places.
And for this reason a distinction is made between the statement of the one who says: the attributes are other than the essence, and his statement: the attributes of Allah are other than Allah, for the second is false, because the term of the name Allah includes His attributes, unlike the term of the essence which does not include the attributes"
The Shaykh : They are not included.
The reader: "Because the term of the name Allah includes His attributes, unlike the term of the essence which does not include the attributes, and for this reason it is not said: the attributes of Allah are an addition to Him (Glorified and Exalted is He), even if it is said the attributes are an addition to the essence, because what is intended is that they are an addition to what the affirmers affirmed of the bare essence, and Allah the Exalted is the essence described by His necessary attributes, so the name Allah does not encompass a bare essence devoid of attributes at all, and the existence of that is not possible, and for this reason Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his debate with the Jahmiyyah: We do not say Allah and His knowledge, and Allah and His power, and Allah and His light, but we say: Allah with His knowledge and His power and His light He is one God.
And this has been elaborated in other places".
The Shaykh : So it is not the attribute of the described.
The reader: "So it is not the attribute of the described or a part of it"
The Shaykh : Or a part of it.
The reader: "So it is not the attribute of the described or a part of it included in the term other. And it may be intended to mean: that which can be conceived, without conceiving what is other than it, so that it is other by this usage".
The Shaykh : Is the attribute of Allah the Exalted by this meaning other than Him or not? If we say that other is that which can be conceived without the other, it can be other, power is other than the possessor of power, and knowledge is other than the knower.
So other, we say for example: the created things are other than the Creator, so this is distinct and separate, so the otherness is complete.
The attribute is other than the described, meaning that it differs from the described in its reality, but it is an attribute for him, so it is not permissible to state that the attributes of Allah are other than Him, nor that they are not other than Him, because there is ambiguity in it.
"And it may be intended" Repeat this sentence.
The reader: "And it may be intended to mean: that which can be conceived, without conceiving what is other than it, so that it is other by this usage. And for this reason the people of contemplation disputed over the term other, and the dispute over that is verbal, but because of that there arose in the issues"
The Shaykh : Verbal, because if we detail this detail, we agree on this, if we say: if other is intended to mean the thing distinct from its other, then it is what? It is other, no doubt, the Creator is other than the created, and the key is other than the lock.
And if we intend by other that which is conceived without what is other than it, then the attributes of Allah are other by this consideration, that we can conceive knowledge, hearing, and sight as being other than the All-Hearing, other than the All-Knowing, and other than the All-Seeing. Continue.
The reader: "And for this reason the people of contemplation disputed over the term other, and the dispute over that is verbal, but because of that there arose in the issues of the attributes doubts that do not become clear except by knowing what occurred in the terms of polysemy and ambiguities, as has been elaborated in other places.
And for this reason a distinction is made between the statement of the one who says: the attributes are other than the essence, and his statement: the attributes of Allah are other than Allah, for the second is false, because the term of the name Allah includes His attributes, unlike the term of the essence which does not include the attributes"
The Shaykh : They are not included.
The reader: "Because the term of the name Allah includes His attributes, unlike the term of the essence which does not include the attributes, and for this reason it is not said: the attributes of Allah are an addition to Him (Glorified and Exalted is He), even if it is said the attributes are an addition to the essence, because what is intended is that they are an addition to what the affirmers affirmed of the bare essence, and Allah the Exalted is the essence described by His necessary attributes, so the name Allah does not encompass a bare essence devoid of attributes at all, and the existence of that is not possible, and for this reason Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his debate with the Jahmiyyah: We do not say Allah and His knowledge, and Allah and His power, and Allah and His light, but we say: Allah with His knowledge and His power and His light He is one God.
And this has been elaborated in other places".