and likewise with the term “existence.” There is nothing outside the mind—apart from the Creator and the created—whose concrete being they could jointly possess. The intellect merely abstracts a universal, shared notion signified by the unrestricted word. Thus, when one says, “This exists” and “That exists,” the existence attributed to each is peculiar to it alone and shared by no other, even though the name is truly applied to both.

[God’s names and attributes belong to Him alone, even if the same words may, when left absolute, be applied to others]

For this reason God has called Himself by certain names and has given names to His attributes; once these names are attached to Him, they are His exclusively and no one shares them with Him. He has likewise named some of His creatures with names that are exclusive to them when joined to them—names that correspond to those divine names when the linkage and qualification are removed. Yet the mere coincidence of the two names does not entail that their referents are identical or even similar when the names are mentioned in absolute, unqualified form—much less when they are specified and linked. It certainly does not mean that the two referents become one and the same when the names are qualified and attached.

Thus God has called Himself “the Living,” saying, “Allah—there is no deity except Him, the Living, the Sustainer” (Qur’an 2:255). He has also called some of His servants “living,” saying, “He brings forth the living from the dead and brings forth the dead from the living” (Qur’an 10:31). Yet this Living is not like that living: the phrase “the Living” is a divine name unique to God, whereas the phrase “He brings forth the living from the dead” refers to created beings and is unique to them; rather