and possess the utmost completeness and perfection, with no deficiency,” this is correct. However, his assumption that, if some attributes are superior to others, the latter must be flawed or deficient is mistaken. The scriptural texts indicate that some of His names are superior to others; hence the expression, “He called upon Allah by His greatest name.” They also indicate that some of His attributes are superior to others, and some of His acts are superior to others. Thus, the transmitted reports mention His mighty name and His mightiest name, and His great name and His greatest name, as in the Sunan collections and in the report narrated by Ahmad and by Ibn Hibbān in his Sahīh, from Ibn Buraydah, from his father, who said:

“I entered the mosque with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and there was a man praying and supplicating: ‘O Allah, I ask You by my testimony that You are Allah: there is no god but You, the One, the Self-Sufficient, who neither begets nor is born, and to whom none is equal.’ The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘By Him in whose hand is my soul, he has indeed asked Allah by His greatest name, by which, when He is asked, He gives, and when He is called upon, He answers.’”

Anas said:

“I was sitting in the circle with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, while a man stood praying. After bowing and prostrating, he recited the testimony of faith and supplicated, saying in his supplication: ‘O Allah, I ask You, for all praise belongs to You. There is no god but You, the Bestower of favors, the Originator of the heavens and the earth. O Possessor of Majesty and Honor, O Ever-Living, O Self-Subsisting Sustainer of all!’ The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘By Him in whose hand is my soul, he has indeed called upon Allah by His greatest name, by which, when He is called upon, He answers, and when He is asked, He gives.’”

It is also established in the Sahīh