or alongside it, or to its right or left. For if you sit to someone’s right, and that person then gets up and sits on your other side, you were previously to his right but are now to his left. Here, no change has occurred in your essence or in any of your real attributes, but only in pure relations.
“Once you understand this, we say: There is no avoiding the occurrence of change in relations. As for change in real attributes, the Karrāmiyyah affirm it, while all the other groups deny it. Thus, the distinction between the position of the Karrāmiyyah and that of others in this matter becomes clear.”
He said: “Several considerations demonstrate the invalidity of the Karrāmiyyah’s position.
“First: Every attribute of Allah must be an attribute of perfection and a quality of majesty. If any of His attributes originated in time, His essence would have lacked that attribute of perfection and majesty before it originated. Whatever lacks an attribute of perfection is deficient. It would therefore follow that His essence was deficient before that attribute originated within it, and this is impossible. Thus, it is established that the origination of an attribute within Allah’s essence is impossible.”
I say:
One may respond: What you have stated does not establish the point at issue. This can be explained through several considerations.
First: The argument rests on premises, not one of which they have established through either rational or revealed evidence: that every attribute of Allah must be an attribute of perfection; that His essence would be deficient before possessing that attribute; and that such deficiency is impossible.