And among His names is al-Qadir (the All-Powerful), and power, in view of His dominion over created things, entails realities that knowledge alone does not convey. His bringing the creatures into existence testifies to His power more emphatically than it does to His knowledge, and His exclusive possession of power is more evident than His exclusive possession of knowledge. Hence a number of speculative theologians, such as Abu al-Hasan al-Ashʿari and others, have said, “The attribute most particular to Him is the power to originate; no one else may be so described.” Long before him, Jahm ibn Ṣafwān had declared, “No capable being exists save Him; no other possesses any power at all.” Al-Ashʿari, it is true, allows that the creature has power, yet he affirms for it a power that exerts no real effect upon the object of power.

None of the rational have ever claimed that the attributes most particular to Him are life and knowledge, nor that no one else is living or knowing. Therefore, if any valid distinction were to be drawn, it would be more fitting to treat al-Qadir as a proper name and the rest as attributes than to do the reverse. How much more so when the very distinction is false! For the exalted names of Allah known to humankind are, in the usage of the Arabic language, both names and attributes: they denote meanings that are His attributes that subsist in Him. Thus al-Hayy points to life, al-ʿAlim to knowledge, and al-Qadir to power. This is the doctrine of the early generations of the ummah and of the vast majority of nations.

There does exist, however, an aberrant sect that maintains these names indicate no meanings whatsoever and are nothing more than proper nouns. People have also disputed about the words that may be used both for Him—glorified be He—and for others, such as al-Hayy, al-ʿAlim, and al-Qadir. The majority hold that such usage is literal in both instances, whereas a group, including Abu al-ʿAbbas al-Nashi, contend that the terms are literal with respect to the Lord—Mighty and Majestic—and figurative when applied to the creature.