the others who affirm the divine attributes say to him:

“There are two replies to your argument.

The first is that the absence of a particular proof does not entail the absence of what it would prove. Suppose that the rational argument you have followed does not establish these attributes: it does not negate them either. You have no right to deny them without evidence, for the burden of proof rests on the one who denies just as it does on the one who affirms. Revelation has established them, and no rational or revealed evidence contradicts this. We must therefore affirm what is established by evidence unopposed by counter-evidence of comparable force.

The second is that these attributes can be established through rational arguments analogous to those used to establish the others. Thus, His benefiting His servants through kindness to them indicates mercy, just as specification indicates will. His honoring the obedient indicates His love for them, and His punishment of the disbelievers indicates His hatred of them—as His honoring of His allies and punishment of His enemies have been established through witnessed evidence and reports. The praiseworthy ends of His works and commands—that is, the commendable outcomes to which His works and commands ultimately lead—indicate His consummate wisdom, just as specification indicates will, and indeed more strongly, because of the strength of final causation.

This is why the Quran explains the blessings and wisdom in His creation more extensively than it explains how His creation indicates will alone.”