common to both to affirming what distinguishes them, even though nothing common to them exists in external reality at all. Accordingly, meanings and expressions involving resemblance and commonality are affirmed, such as “existence,” “essence,” “the All-Knowing,” “the All-Powerful,” “the All-Hearing,” “the All-Seeing,” and other names and attributes of the Lord, glorified and exalted is He.

No one, therefore, may ever confine the distinction between Allah and anything else to some particular feature of the sort that distinguishes created beings from one another, so as to say that the only difference between Him and anything else is like that between such-and-such and such-and-such—even if he says this while granting his opponent’s position for the sake of argument. For even on that assumption, Allah has a true nature unique to Him, distinct from all created beings and unknown to His servants.

In short, no one knows the Lord’s true nature as the Lord knows Himself. The imam of all imams, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“I cannot encompass all praise of You; You are as You have praised Yourself.”