and affirm the love that he has denied, on the grounds he mentioned, there would be no difference between the two positions. In that case, one must either deny all of these—which is impossible, since it is self-evidently known that Allah benefits creation and shows them kindness, and that this necessarily entails will—or affirm them all, as the scriptural texts do. Thus, if someone imagines that an unacceptable consequence follows from this, one of two things must be true: either that consequence does not follow, or, if it does, it is not unacceptable.

The second answer is that what is known with certainty is that Allah is eternal, necessarily existent, and perfect, and that He cannot have come into existence, be contingent, or have any imperfection. What remains open to examination, however, is whether these matters affirmed by the scriptural texts necessarily entail His having come into existence, being contingent, or having any imperfection. Allah is self-sufficient and necessarily existent in His own right. It is already established that the subsistence of attributes in Him does not entail His having come into existence, being contingent, or having any need.

To claim that He must depend upon His inseparable attributes is equivalent to saying that He depends upon His own essence. Yet it is known that He is self-sufficient in Himself, necessarily existent in His own right, and existent through Himself. Thus, if the notion that He needs Himself means that His essence subsists only through His own essence, this is true: Allah has no need of the worlds or of His creation, and He is self-sufficient in Himself. As for saying without qualification that He has no need of Himself, this is false, for He needs Himself. Either expression, when used without qualification, may suggest a false meaning. There is no creator but Allah Most High.

Thus, if He, glorified be He, is All-Knowing and loves knowledge, All-Pardoning and loves pardon, Beautiful and loves