that, when used without qualification, indicate only precedence over something else, the name “the First” is more fitting. Thus, among His most beautiful names given in the Quran and Sunnah is “the First.” There is a distinction between the names by which He is invoked and the expressions used to speak about Him when needed to clarify their meanings, as explained elsewhere.

Thus, the speculative theologians who say that only Allah is qadīm, and that applying this term to anything else is figurative, define qadīm as that which was never nonexistent and has always existed. They define an originated thing as that which was nonexistent and then came into existence. They say, “Allah is qadīm, and everything other than Him is originated.” In their usage, prior nonexistence is included in the meaning of “originated.”

There is no doubt that anyone who says the world has always existed calls it qadīm. Nor is there any doubt that Allah, glorified be He, is qadīm, whether qadīm is understood as that which was not preceded by its own nonexistence or as that which