—Abd al-Azīz—after this:

“I did not say that the Creator has always been creating, or that the One who acts has always been acting. Rather, the act is an attribute, and Allah has power over it; nothing prevents Him from it.”

Abd al-Azīz thus affirmed an act within Allah’s power that is an attribute of His, not something created, and through which He created all created things. This explicitly shows that he distinguishes the act of creation from what is created, and the act from what is brought about by it. It also shows that the act is an attribute of Allah, within His power whenever He wills, with nothing preventing Him from it. This differs from the view of al-Ash‘arī and those who agree with him.

It remains to be said that some regard this act of creation—called takwīn (bringing into being)—as eternal, while others regard it as subject to His power and will. Abd al-Azīz explicitly stated that the act through which He creates created things is within His power. This is an explicit statement that, in his view, something related to Allah’s power subsists in His essence. Whatever exists and is within Allah’s power is necessarily willed by Him, as everyone agrees.

He also said:

“Bishr has acknowledged that Allah brought things into being through His power. I, however, said: ‘He brought them into being through His command and His speech, proceeding from His power.’”

He thus explicitly stated that the speech proceeds from His power, making Allah’s speech something within His power, although he regards it as an attribute of His.

This is the view of those who say that He has the power to speak and that His speech is by His will and power. It is not the view of those who say that speech is inseparable from Him and is unrelated to His power and will.