be blind or sighted, since it is capable of either, unlike an inanimate object, which is described as neither.”

Those who affirm the attributes reply:

“This is false for several reasons. First, existing things are of ‘two kinds’: those capable of possessing perfection, such as living beings, and those incapable of it, such as inanimate objects. It is well known that whatever is capable of possessing attributes of perfection is more perfect than whatever is incapable of them.

“Thus, if the Lord were incapable of possessing attributes of perfection, it would follow that He lacks them, and that a being capable of them—namely, a blind, deaf animal that cannot possess hearing or sight—would be more perfect than He. For a being capable of hearing and sight, even while lacking them, is more perfect than one incapable of them. How much more so, then, is one that actually possesses them! Their position would therefore entail that He is devoid of the attributes of perfection and that possessing them is impossible for Him.

“You have fled from likening Him to living beings, only to liken Him to inanimate objects! You claim to declare Him free of imperfections, yet you have described Him in terms of the greatest imperfection.

“(The second reason is that this distinction between negation and affirmation, on the one hand, and privation and possession, on the other, is a matter of terminology. Otherwise, everything that is not alive is called dead, as Allah, Exalted is He, says:

‘Those they invoke besides Allah create nothing, while they themselves are created.’

‘They are dead, not alive, and they do not perceive when they will be resurrected.’