[The reply of those who affirm the attributes]
Those who affirm the divine attributes do not accept this reasoning. They say instead: His most distinctive qualities are, in fact, the ones no other being can possibly share—such as His being the Lord of all realms, His all-encompassing knowledge, His absolute power over everything, His oneness as the only God, and the like. None of these descriptions applies to the attribute itself.

Within this camp there are several positions. Some refrain from calling the attributes eternal in their own right and simply say, “The Lord, together with His attributes, is eternal.” Others state, “He is eternal and His attribute is eternal,” yet avoid saying, “He and His attributes are two eternals.” Still others do say, “He and His attributes are two eternals,” while insisting that this in no way makes the attribute a partner in any of His exclusive prerogatives. Eternity (qidam), they explain, is not a property of the bare essence alone; rather, it belongs to the essence as qualified by its attributes. Indeed, in their view a pure essence devoid of attributes has no existence whatsoever, let alone a claim to eternity.

They may further clarify: “The essence is described as eternal and the attributes are described as eternal, yet the attributes are neither a god nor a lord—just as the Prophet is created and his qualities are created, while none of those qualities is itself a prophet.”