and single, neither compound nor composite? This, then, is the familiar understanding with which Allah has endowed His servants by nature.

To clarify this, we have already explained that His name al-Ahad (the One) denies that He has any likeness whatsoever, thus ruling out false resemblance. His name al-Samad (the Self-Sufficient Master) excludes His being subject to separation or division, and the composition and embodiment involved in these. For He, glorified be He, has described Himself as al-Samad, just as He has described Himself as the One. In all His attributes, “There is nothing like Him” [al-Shūrā 11]. Rather, He is perfect in all His qualities, and nothing resembles Him in them. He is therefore perfect as al-Samad, just as He is perfect in His oneness. An individual creature may be described as one, as He says: