the Self-Subsisting Sustainer of all, and the like among the meanings of His Most Beautiful Names. He cannot possess the opposites of these attributes. Thus He cannot be described by anything contrary to His life, His being self-subsisting and sustaining all, His knowledge, or His power—such as death, sleep, ignorance, incapacity, or weariness. Nor can He be described by the opposite of might, which is humiliation, or the opposite of wisdom, which is foolishness. Likewise, He cannot be described by the opposite of being on high, which is being below, or the opposite of being magnificent, which is being insignificant. Rather, He, glorified be He, is far above these deficiencies, which contradict the attributes of perfection established for Him. His possession of attributes of perfection excludes their opposites, which are deficiencies. Nothing is like Him in the attributes of perfection with which He is described. He is therefore free of any deficiency contrary to His perfection, and far above having any equal in any of His attributes. All that is meant by affirming His transcendence comes down to these two principles.

These two principles are indicated in Sūrat al-Ikhlās, which is equivalent to one-third of the Quran, in His words:

“Say: He is Allah, the One;
Allah, the Self-Sufficient Master.”

His name “the Self-Sufficient Master” encompasses the meanings of the attributes of perfection, as has been explained at length in the commentary on this surah and elsewhere. As related from Ibn ‘Abbās in Ibn Abī Talhah’s commentary, He is the One entitled to the attributes of supreme mastery, the All-Knowing