common element in names, meanings, and attributes exists only in minds, not in external reality. We have already explained that such a supposition is made only because of the need to dispel the notion of sharing present in the minds of the children of Adam, of whom it is said:

“And most of them do not believe in Allah without associating others with Him.” (106)

It is thus posited to reveal the dependence it entails, or to make clear Allah’s exaltedness above all others, that His is the highest description, and that He is most deserving of all praise and furthest removed from every deficiency. Similarly, one may suppose the existence of a counterpart to the Creator, a partner in His sovereignty, or the like. Its impossibility and the Creator’s freedom from it are not established merely by supposing it.

For everything from which the Creator is declared free must be conceived and hypothetically posited in the mind, so that it may be denied of the Lord and He may be declared free of it. This includes partners, children, equals, faults, deficiencies, and everything else ascribed to Him by the proponents of falsehood—far exalted is He above what the wrongdoers say. Of such people it is said:

“Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of Might, far above what they ascribe to Him.” (180)

The mind cannot affirm or deny anything before conceiving it. Thus nothing can be denied, nor can the Lord be declared free of it, unless it is known and conceived in the mind, even though it has no reality outside the mind. It is therefore hypothetically conceived through comparison and analogy with the created being possessing the relevant attribute. Once it has thereby become known, it is denied and negated, and the Lord is declared holy and free of it.

What we have said applies generally to everything posited as common to the Lord and His servants, whether names, attributes, or anything else. There is no common element in which the two are equal. Rather, He is more deserving than any existing being