unless coupled with names indicating His creation of benefit. Thus, one does not say, “O Bringer of Harm” or “O Withholder,” except together with “O Bringer of Benefit,” “O Guide,” and “O Giver.” Such pairing expresses the comprehensiveness of His power, creation, and wisdom; it is in this form that these belong among His Most Beautiful Names, unlike either name mentioned alone.

Third, this objection can be turned against their own claim. They have ascribed to Him a self that is an attribute, so it should then be permissible to say, “O Possessor of a Self, forgive us.”

If it is objected that a genitive construction entails a distinction between its two terms, so that He cannot be identical with the self attributed to Him, the answer is: Scholars of Arabic agree that expressions such as “I saw Zayd himself” and “This is Zayd himself” may use either nafs or ʿayn to mean “himself.” The distinction here is that the words nafs and ʿayn have a broader range of reference than the referent of the noun to which they are attached, since both terms also apply to others. Attaching them to him restricts their reference.

In grammatical coordination, the distinction may concern the entities themselves or their attributes, as in the words of Allah Most High:

“Who created and proportioned (2), and Who determined and guided (3), and Who brought forth the pasture (4).” [al-Aʿlā 2-4]

The same applies to genitive constructions. Examples include the expressions “a garment of khazz cloth” and “a ring of silver”