exhaustion, incapacity, injustice, or any likeness to created beings. Everything that Allah, exalted is He, affirms for Himself is an attribute of perfection, as He says: “To Allah belongs the loftiest description” (al-Nahl 16:60). This holds whether the attribute is intrinsic—existing with Him eternally and forever—or active, manifested whenever His wisdom dictates, for the foundation of those active attributes is likewise everlasting. Allah has always been and will ever remain the Doer of whatever He wills.

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Among the attributes Allah Most High has affirmed for Himself are: life, knowledge, power, hearing, sight, will, speech, might, wisdom, forgiveness, and mercy.

• His life is perfect, entailing every quality of perfection. It is preceded by no non-existence and followed by no extinction. He says: “Put your trust in the Ever-Living who never dies” (al-Furqan 25:58). He also says: “He is the First and the Last” (al-Hadid 57:3), and: “Allah—there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer. Neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him” (al-Baqarah 2:255).

• His knowledge is complete, encompassing all things—great and small, near and far. It is preceded by no ignorance and followed by no forgetfulness. When Pharaoh asked Moses about past generations, Allah recounts that Moses replied: “Their knowledge rests with my Lord in a Record. My Lord neither errs nor forgets” (Ta-Ha 20:52). And He says: “Indeed, Allah is Knowing of all things” (al-Tawbah 9:115).

• His power is absolute; no inability precedes it and no fatigue follows it. Allah says: “Nothing in the heavens or on earth can frustrate Allah; surely He is All-Knowing, All-Powerful” (Fatir 35:44). And He says: “So that you may know that Allah is capable of all things and that…"