has never ceased to possess all of His attributes—are we not, then, describing a single God invested with the totality of His attributes? We set forth an illustration, saying:

“Tell us about this date-palm: does it not have a jidhʿ (trunk), kurb (crown-sheath), līf (fibrous layers), saʿf (fronds), khuṣ (leaflets), and jummār (core)? Yet it still bears one name (1) and is called a date-palm by virtue of all those attributes. In the same way, Allah—to whom belongs the highest comparison—is, with all of His attributes, one God.

“We do not say that there was ever a time when He lacked power until He created power—for whoever is without power is powerless—nor do we say that He (2) was, at any moment in time (3), without knowledge (4) until He created and thereby came to know (5), for one who does not know is ignorant. Rather, we say that Allah has always been all-knowing, all-powerful, and sovereign (6), beyond any ‘when’ or ‘how.’

“Allah even referred to a disbelieving man named al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah al-Makhzumi, saying, ‘Leave Me with the one I created alone.’ (7) He (8) called him ‘alone,’ although the man possessed (9) two eyes, two ears, a tongue, two lips, two hands, two legs, and many other limbs. Thus He described him as ‘alone’ together with all his attributes. Likewise, Allah—to whom belongs the highest comparison—is, with all of His attributes, one God (10).”

He has therefore shown that whatever cannot be known through any attribute is non-existent—and this is the truth—and he has clarified that