This, then, contradicts the claim of the negators. Mere visibility is not in itself a praiseworthy attribute, for what does not exist is simply not seen; the Qur’an contains several parallels to this point.
The gist is that commendation and exaltation can be expressed only through positive affirmation, for praise is tied to attributes of perfection—and perfection pertains solely to existent realities. Non-existence holds no perfection whatsoever. Hence, whoever restricts his description of God to sheer negations, asserting that He is nothing more than “existence limited by negations,” as Ibn Sīnā and other esotericists have said, has neither affirmed Him nor even established His existence, let alone attributed to Him perfection, praise, or exaltation. Far exalted is He above what the wrongdoers allege, sublimely high!
Given this, it is obvious that speech is an attribute of perfection, just as knowledge, power, hearing, and sight are attributes of perfection; and that one who speaks is more perfect than one who does not, just as a living being is more perfect than inert matter. For this reason Allah censured the lifeless objects that were worshipped for their inability to speak, saying:
“Do they not see that it cannot return any word to them?” (Ṭā Hā 20:89)
and likewise Abraham’s reproach:
“What is the matter with you that you do not speak?” (al-Ṣāffāt 37:92).
Whether the intent is to show that the worshipper surpasses the thing he worships—an impossible state of affairs—or to demonstrate that whatever is worshipped must possess attributes of perfection, the point stands.
Accordingly, it is also clear that one who speaks by his own power and volition is more perfect than one whose speech is not by his own will and power, but is instead an utterance inseparably bound to his essence. Likewise, anyone who has always been able to speak whenever he wills is more perfect than one who was first incapable of speech and only later gained the ability.
They therefore said: “The statements of the early generations and the leading Imams on this matter are in full harmony.”