As noted above, the traditionalist Ḥanbalī approach to the anthropomorphic descriptions of God in the revealed texts involved affirming the attributes while avoiding inquiry into their modality (kayfiyya) or meaning (maʿnā). The traditionalists affirmed the attributes, but with the caveats of bi-lā kayf (lit. “without how,” or without inquiring into modality) and imrār (lit. “passing over,” in the sense of passing over the attributes without comment and without inquiry into their meanings).
