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As for the questioner’s words, “What does it mean to say that this is literal?”: a literal expression is a word used in the sense for which it was coined. The term may also refer to the meaning assigned to a word and in which that word is used. In the terminology of scholars of legal theory, being literal or figurative is a property of expressions. They sometimes treat it as a property of meanings, but the former usage is more common.

These names and attributes were not coined to denote characteristics peculiar to created beings, whether used without qualification or ascribed to Allah Most High. They denote such characteristics only when ascribed to created beings.

Thus, the word “knowledge” is used without qualification, and it is also ascribed to the servant, as in His words:

“Allah bears witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Him, as do the angels and those endowed with knowledge. He upholds justice.”

It is also ascribed to Allah, as in His words:

“They encompass nothing of His knowledge except what He wills.”

When knowledge is ascribed to a created being, it cannot include the knowledge of the Creator, glory be to Him, nor is the created being’s knowledge like the Creator’s knowledge. When it is ascribed to the Creator, as in His words:

“He sent it down with His knowledge,”

it cannot include the knowledge of created beings, nor is His knowledge like theirs.

When “knowledge” is mentioned without qualification, it can be divided into categories: knowledge is divided into eternal knowledge and knowledge that has come into being. The word “knowledge” is general, encompassing both in its literal sense. Likewise, when