and, when one considers the distinct import of each Name—the first signifying knowledge, the second power, and the third mercy—they are mutually exclusive.

Anyone who denies that Allah’s Names point to His attributes, while styling himself a champion of the plain (zāhir) sense, is in fact echoing the creed of the extremist esoteric Qarāmiṭa who say, “One must not say that He is living, nor that He is not living,” thereby negating from Him both opposites. Those Qarāmiṭa do not object to a purely referential label, such as a pronoun; what they repudiate are the affirmative attributes contained in His Most Beautiful Names. Whoever shares their objective—no matter how loudly he claims fidelity to the literal sense—has joined ranks with the extremist Bāṭinite sect on this point. This is not the place for a detailed refutation.

Explanation

Because the author, may Allah have mercy on him, is deeply versed in this field, he could not but address the issue.

People have split into various camps concerning the Names of Allah, exalted be He. Some treat them as nothing more than proper names that convey no meaning whatsoever; others regard them as both proper names and descriptive attributes; while a third group declares, “We do not say that He is living, nor do we say that He is not living,” rejecting both assertions—these are the Bāṭinites. They argue that life and death can only be predicated of someone who is subject to them, whereas Allah, exalted be He, is subject to neither; hence, they say, a wall is described as neither living nor dead.

In answer to that we say to them: Your contention that life and death