Darʾ Taʿâroud al-ʿAql wa-n-Naql - Ibn Taimiya - (10/280)

A name that is also applied to others, but which refers to Him when used without qualification—such as the King, the Almighty, and the Forbearing—is exclusive to Him in its perfection and unrestricted application. No other shares it with Him in that respect.

A name that is also applied to others and does not refer specifically to Him when used without qualification—such as existent, speaking, and willing—is likewise exclusive to Him in its perfection, though not in its unrestricted application.

[Return to Ibn Rushd’s discussion in Manāhij al-adillah and Ibn Taymiyyah’s response]

It is evident that, when using names that are exclusive to Him in all circumstances, refer exclusively to Him when unqualified, or refer to Him by intention, the speaker must know that they apply specifically to Him; otherwise, he would not single Him out by them. Singling Him out by them necessarily entails knowing what is distinctive of Him and distinguishes Him from others. There must therefore be knowledge in people’s hearts by which He is uniquely identified and distinguished from others.

This knowledge cannot come through a universal syllogism whose conclusion conveys a universal meaning, since a universal contains nothing that singles out a particular. Rather, it may result from two syllogisms: one knows, for example, that everything that comes into existence has an originator, and that the Originator of all things that come into existence is nothing within this world and cannot be two. One thus knows that He is one and outside the world. Even so, the hearts’ orientation towards Him Himself goes beyond what a universal syllogism entails.

The same applies to all other objects of knowledge: they cannot be known through universal syllogistic reasoning alone, without being individually identified in external reality. This has been discussed at length in its proper place.

Thus, when Allah is mentioned, hearts turn towards Him, glorified is He, because of their innate knowledge of Him—more fully than they turn towards any other particular being or thing when it is mentioned.

Thus, if one says, “The sun”—or

والاسم الذي يسمى به غيره، وهو عند الإطلاق ينصرف إليه: كالملك، والعزيز، والحليم- يختص بكماله وإطلاقه، فلا يشركه في ذلك غيره. والاسم الذي يسمى به غيره ولا ينصرف إطلاقه إليه: كالموجود، والمتكلم، والمريد - يختص أيضاً بكماله، وإن لم يختص بإطلاقه. [عود إلى كلام ابن رشد في مناهج الأدلة ورد ابن تيمية] ومن المعلوم أن الأسماء التي يختص بها بكل حال، أو عند الإطلاق، أو تنصرف إليه بالنية يجب أن يعلم المتكلم بها اختصاصه بها، وإلا لم يخصه بها، وتخصيصه بها مستلزم لمعرفة ما يختص به ويمتاز به غيره، فلا بد أن يكون في القلوب من المعرفة ما تختص به، ويمتاز به عن غيره. وهذه المعرفة لا تكون بقياس كلي مدلوله معنى كلي، إذ الكلي لا تخصيص فيه، بل قد يحصل عن قياسين، مثل أن يعلم أن كل محدث له محدث، وأن المحدث للمحدثات ليس هو شيئاً من هذا العالم، ولا يكون اثنين، فيعلم أنه واحد خارج عن العالم، ومع هذا فإشارة القلوب إلى عينه خارجة عن موجب قياس الكلي. وهكذا سائر المعلومات لا يمكن أن تعلم بمجرد القياس الكلي غير معينة في الخارج، وقد بسط الكلام على هذا في موضعه. ولهذا إذا ذكر الله توجهت القلوب إليه سبحانه، لما في الفطرة من معرفته أبلغ مما توجه إلى معين غيره إذا ذكر. فإذا قيل: الشمس -أو