There is a difference of opinion among Muslims regarding the attributes of Allah’s Essence, such as knowledge, power, and life. Some believe these attributes are identical to Allah’s Essence and that their difference from His Essence and from each other is only conceptual, not real. However, others believe that the attributes of Allah are additional to His Essence and not identical to it. What is the opinion of Allamah Khorasani on this matter?
There is no doubt that the attributes of Allah’s Essence are identical to His Essence; because His Essence cannot be conceived as separate from the attributes of His Essence. His Essence is not composed of different parts like His creation so that He would be Knowledgeable with one part and Powerful with another. ﴿سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ﴾[1]; “Glorified and Exalted is He above what they describe.” Rather, He is a Single, Perfect Reality, described at one time as Knowledgeable and at another as Powerful, and His life is nothing but His knowledge and power. In other words, His Essence, when considered in relation to things that can be known, is called the All-Knowing, and when considered in relation to things that can be done, is called the Powerful. Therefore, His knowledge is identical to His power that is applied to what can be known, and His power is identical to His knowledge that is applied to what can be done. Thus, the difference lies not in His knowledge and power, but in what they are applied to; because the difference between things stems from their nature, which refers to the limits of their existence, and there are no limits to the knowledge and power of Allah. Therefore, there is no difference between them, and it is clear that the multiplicity of names does not necessitate the multiplicity of what is named. ﴿سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَتَعَالَى عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ﴾[2]; “Glorified and Exalted is Allah above what they associate with Him.”