their nuances diverse, there appears from the perfection of the One described by them something that was not known before. For this reason the affirmative attributes that Allah has reported about Himself are more numerous than the negative attributes He has denied of Himself.

• As for the negated attributes that Allah has disclaimed for Himself, every one of them is a mark of deficiency and is unbefitting of Him—such as incapacity, fatigue, injustice, or any likeness to created beings. These are usually stated in a concise form, for such brevity is more effective in exalting the One described and more complete in declaring Him transcendent. Detailing them without a compelling cause would amount to mockery and a belittlement of the One so described.

Do you not see that if you praised a king and said to him, “You are generous, brave, astute, decisive in judgment, victorious over your enemies,” and went on listing similar qualities of praise, that would constitute the highest commendation, for you have spelled out the affirmations?

If instead you said, “You are a king whom none of the rulers of this world in your era can equal,” that too would be lofty praise, because you have summarized through negation.

But were you to say, “You are a king who is not stingy, not cowardly, not poor, not a town crier, not a street sweeper, not a veterinarian, not a cupper,” and so on, detailing defects that do not fit his station, such speech would be regarded as mockery and a diminution of his due.

• A summary formulation may also occur with respect to Allah’s Names and affirmative attributes, as in His statement concerning the Names: “To Allah belong the Most Beautiful Names, so call upon Him by them” (Q. 7:180), and His statement concerning the attributes: “To Allah belongs the highest description” (Q. 16:60), that is, the loftiest attribute.

• Conversely, a detailed enumeration may appear in the negated attributes for certain reasons, among them:

1- To repudiate the false claims made by the lying fabricators about Him, as in His words: “Allah has not taken…"