Al-Jawāb as-Sahīh li-man baddala dīn al-Masīh - Ibn Taimiya - (3/208)

He, exalted be He, also says:
“Rely upon the Ever-Living who never dies.” ⦗al-Furqān 58⦘

The evidences for His being alive are many. Among them are the following:

It is firmly established that He is knowing, and knowledge can reside only in one who is alive. It is likewise established that He is all-powerful and possesses free choice, acting by His will; and a capable, willing agent can only be living.
He is the Creator of both the living and the non-living. The Creator is necessarily more perfect than the created, for every perfection found in a creature derives from its Creator. Hence it is impossible for the creature to surpass its Creator in perfection; rather, His perfection is far greater.

The philosophers who hold that the Necessary Being acts by the very necessity of His essence concede this point as well, saying: “Whatever perfection the effect possesses is derived from its cause; therefore, if He creates living beings, He is even more surely and eminently living.”

A living being is superior to a non-living one, as the Exalted has said:
“The living and the dead are not equal.” ⦗Fāṭir 22⦘

If, then, the Creator were not alive, it would follow that the contingent, originated, created being is more perfect than the Necessary, Eternal Creator—so that the least perfect of existents would surpass the most perfect of them. This argument actually covers the evidence they advanced, even though they did not articulate it fully; but their statement, “We affirmed that He is living in order to negate death from Him,”

وَقَالَ - تَعَالَى -: {وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى الْحَيِّ الَّذِي لَا يَمُوتُ} [الفرقان: ٥٨] . وَالدَّلَائِلُ عَلَى حَيَاتِهِ كَثِيرَةٌ: مِنْهَا: أَنَّهُ قَدْ ثَبَتَ أَنَّهُ عَالِمٌ، وَالْعِلْمُ لَا يَقُومُ إِلَّا بِحَيٍّ، وَثَبَتَ أَنَّهُ قَادِرٌ مُخْتَارٌ يَفْعَلُ بِمَشِيئَتِهِ، وَالْقَادِرُ الْمُخْتَارُ لَا يَكُونُ إِلَّا حَيًّا. وَمِنْهَا: أَنَّهُ خَالِقُ الْأَحْيَاءِ وَغَيْرِهِمْ، وَالْخَالِقُ أَكْمَلُ مِنَ الْمَخْلُوقِ، فَكُلُّ كَمَالٍ ثَبَتَ لِلْمَخْلُوقِ فَهُوَ مِنَ الْخَالِقِ، فَيَمْتَنِعُ أَنْ يَكُونَ الْمَخْلُوقُ أَكْمَلَ مِنْ خَالِقِهِ، وَكَمَالُهُ أَكْمَلَ مِنْهُ. وَالْمُتَفَلْسِفَةُ الْقَائِلُونَ بِالْمُوجِبِ بِالذَّاتِ يُسَلِّمُونَ هَذَا، وَيَقُولُونَ: كَمَالُ الْمَعْلُولِ مُسْتَفَادٌ مِنْ عِلَّتِهِ فَإِذَا كَانَ خَالِقًا لِلْأَحْيَاءِ كَانَ حَيًّا بِطَرِيقِ الْأَوْلَى وَالْأَحْرَى. وَمِنْهَا: أَنَّ الْحَيَّ أَكْمَلُ مِنْ غَيْرِ الْحَيِّ، كَمَا قَالَ - تَعَالَى -: {وَمَا يَسْتَوِي الْأَحْيَاءُ وَلَا الْأَمْوَاتُ} [فاطر: ٢٢] . فَلَوْ كَانَ الْخَالِقُ غَيْرَ حَيٍّ لَزِمَ أَنْ يَكُونَ الْمُمْكِنُ الْمُحْدَثُ الْمَخْلُوقُ أَكْمَلَ مِنَ الْوَاجِبِ الْقَدِيمِ الْخَالِقِ، فَيَكُونُ أَنْقَصُ الْمَوْجُودَيْنِ أَكْمَلَ مِنْ أَكْمَلِهَا، وَهَذَا الْوَجْهُ يَتَنَاوَلُ مَا ذَكَرُوهُ مِنَ الدَّلِيلِ، وَإِنْ كَانُوا لَمْ يُبَيِّنُوهُ بَيَانًا تَامًّا، لَكِنَّ قَوْلَهُمْ قُلْنَا إِنَّهُ حَيٌّ لِنَنْفِيَ الْمَوْتَ عَنْهُ.