It may then be said:

His being, from eternity, the Creator of what is created throughout the endless future is comparable to His being, from eternity, Willing and Merciful. This makes clear the distinction between applying this designation to Him and applying an attribute to a created being in whom it will arise in the future.

On the first approach, being the Creator is analogous to having power; on this approach, being the Creator is analogous to being Merciful. This distinction leads back to the third line of reasoning: Allah, glorified be He, is, “in His essence,” the same before He acts as after He acts. His essence has not changed through His acts, nor has He acquired attributes of perfection through His acts as a created being does.

Al-Qādī also drew attention to this line of reasoning, saying:

“Furthermore, it is established that He is now the Creator. It is His essence that is the Creator, and His essence existed from eternity. If He had not been the Creator and then became the Creator, this would necessarily entail change and transformation in Him. Allah is exalted above that. Accordingly, this designation is analogous to the Merciful and the Forbearing.”

The fourth line of reasoning:

Creation is an attribute subsisting in His essence, not the created thing itself. Elsewhere, al-Qādī permitted saying, “He is eternal in His beneficence and bestowal of favors,” meaning that beneficence is an attribute subsisting in Him, distinct from the benefit bestowed. He prohibited saying, “O You whose creation is eternal,” because creation is the created thing. This is one of the two views held by our fellow scholars, and it is the view of the Karrāmiyyah and the Hanafīs. One group calls it takwīn (bringing into being).

The second view:

Creation is the created thing, as the Ashʿarīs maintain.

Al-Qādī said in ʿUyūn al-Masāʾil:

“Issue: Creation is distinct from the created thing, for creation is an attribute