This statement requires correction. Allah is described by the affirmative attributes of perfection—such as life, knowledge, and power—and once these are affirmed, every attribute of deficiency is automatically negated. The Most Exalted is not praised merely for negative attributes unless they carry within them a positive meaning, for sheer non-existence and simple negation contain no praise and no perfection. A nonexistent thing may be characterized by pure non-existence, and non-existence is nothing but denial, devoid of any excellence; true perfection lies only in existence.

For that reason the Book of Allah, exalted be He, adopts this very approach: it describes Him with the affirmative attributes of perfection and with negations that implicitly affirm those same perfections, as in His words:
“Allah—there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of all. Neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him.” ⦗al-Baqarah 255⦘

The denial of drowsiness and sleep points to the perfection of His life and His sustaining power, for sleep is the brother of death. This is why the people of Paradise will never sleep, despite their perfect comfort, just as they will never die.

Al-Qayyūm means the One who stands by Himself and sustains everything else. Were drowsiness or sleep to befall Him, His life and His sustaining providence would be diminished, and He would cease to be self-standing and all-sustaining. Allah illustrated this for the Children of Israel when they asked Moses, “Does your Lord sleep?” He kept him awake for three nights, then handed him glass vessels; when sleep finally overtook him, the vessels shattered.