If it is said, “One who can act through his speech or power without using his two hands is more perfect than one who acts with his two hands,” the reply is:

One who can act through his power or speech whenever he wills, and with his two hands whenever he wills, is more perfect than one who can act only through his power or speech and cannot act with a hand. For this reason, the human being is more perfect than inanimate things, such as fire and water, which act through forces within them. Suppose there are two beings: one can act only through a force within him, while the other can act both through a force within him and through his speech. The latter is more perfect. If we then suppose another who acts through a force within him, through his speech, and with his two hands whenever he wills, he is more perfect still.

As for attributes of imperfection, sleep is one example: a living being who is awake is more perfect than one who is asleep or drowsy. Neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Allah. Likewise, one who preserves something without being burdened is more perfect than one who is burdened by doing so. Allah Most High—His Kursī (Footstool) encompasses the heavens and the earth, and preserving them does not burden Him.

Likewise, one who acts without growing weary is more perfect than one who grows weary. Allah Most High created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in six days, and no weariness touched Him. Thus, the Lord is described in terms of knowledge, not ignorance; power, not inability; life, not death; hearing, sight, and speech, not deafness, blindness, and muteness; laughter, not weeping; and joy, not sorrow.