Eleventh: All His names are Most Beautiful; absolutely none of them is otherwise. We have already noted that some of His names are applied to Him from the angle of action—such as the Creator, the Provider, the Giver of life, and the Taker of life. This demonstrates that all His actions are pure goodness1, without any trace of evil. For had He committed evil, a name would have been derived for Him from that deed, and His names would no longer all be Most Beautiful—an impossibility. Evil, then, is not attributable to Him: just as it has no place in His attributes or His essence, it has no place in His actions. Evil is not ascribed to Him, whether as an act or as a description; it pertains only to the things He brings into being.

There is a distinction between the act and the thing acted upon: evil resides in the latter, which is separate from Him, not in the former, which is His own act. Reflect on this carefully, for it has remained hidden from many theologians; feet have stumbled over it and minds have gone astray, whereas Allah has guided those worthy of guidance.