'The very first step in religion is acknowledging Him, and the perfect way to acknowledge Him is to testify to Him, and the perfect way to testify to Him is to believe in His divine unity, and the perfect way to believe in His divine unity is to regard Him as absolutely pure, and the perfect way to regard Him as absolutely pure is to negate all attributes from Him, for every attribute is a proof of its own distinction from the thing to which it is attributed, and everything that is attached and attributed is distinct from the attribute. Thus, whoever attaches attributes to Allah, Glory be to Him, associates Him with something else, and whoever associates Him regards Him as two, and whoever regards Him as two identifies parts to Him, and whoever identifies parts to Him has indeed misunderstood Him, and whoever misunderstands Him singles Him out, and whoever singles Him out has confined Him, and whoever confines Him has enumerated Him. Whoever asks 'In what [is He]?' holds that he is contained, and whoever asks 'On what [is He]?' has excluded Him. He is [a Being] but not through any phenomenon of coming into being, He exists but not from non-existence. He is with everything but not in physical proximity, and is separate from everything but not through physical separation. He acts but without need for movements and instruments. He sees without need for an object of sight from among His creation. He is One such that he has no need for a source of comfort that may keep Him company nor any whom He may miss in his absence.'