As for attributes, when they are ascribed to Him—such as knowledge, power, speech, life, pleasure, anger, and the like—the very ascription shows that they are attributes belonging to Him, subsisting in His essence, and not created; for an attribute cannot exist by itself but must inhere in a subject. Therefore, once it is attached to Him, it is understood to be one of His own attributes.

That said, the name of an attribute is sometimes used for what is produced by means of that attribute: the object of power is called “power,” what is brought into being by the word is called “speech,” what is known is called “knowledge,” and that through which mercy is shown is called “mercy.” Hence the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said, “Verily, when Allah created mercy, on the day He created it He made it one hundred mercies.” Likewise, in the Divine saying reported by His Prophet, He said to Paradise, “You are My mercy; through you I show mercy to whom I will.”