the second speaker. On this basis, attributes do not diminish what He has at all, and they are among the things asked for, as in the case of guidance.

One possible response is that, for some attributes, their like may not come to exist in a second subject until they cease to exist in the first: a colour that fades, for example, or scents that cling to a place and then disappear. Similarly, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, prayed that the fever of Medina be transferred to Mahyaʿah, which is al-Juhfah. Does such a transfer involve the original accident itself being transferred, or does its like come into existence without the original itself being transferred?

There are two views on this. Some allow that accidents can be transferred; indeed, some even allow that accidents can be made into independently subsisting entities. This is the position of Dirār, al-Najjār, and their followers, such as Burghūth and Hafs al-Fard. But if it is said that such a transfer occurs through the coming into existence of its like, without the original itself being transferred, then this occurs alongside the transformation and extinction of the original accident: it ceases to exist in that subject, and its like comes into existence in the second subject.

The second interpretation is that the word “diminish” here is used as it is in the hadith of Moses and al-Khidr, recorded in the two Sahīh collections, narrated by Ibn ʿAbbās from Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. It includes the following:

“When a sparrow alighted on the ship’s boat and dipped its beak into the sea, al-Khidr said to Moses: ‘O Moses, my knowledge and yours have diminished Allah’s knowledge no more than this sparrow has diminished this sea.’”

It is well known that Allah’s own knowledge, which subsists in Him, does not lose