Attributes of the Divine Essence

The attributes of God can be divided thus: (a) attributes of the Essence (sifat al-dhAt), and (b) attributes of Activity (Sifat al-Fi'l)

Attributes of the Essence

The attributes of the Essence are those which describe God in a manner that adequately enables us to form some kind of conception of His essential nature. These attributes are, so to speak, derived from the station of the Essence; attributes such as Knowledge, Power and Life.

Attributes of Activity

As for the attributes of Activity, these pertain to the various kinds of action that emanate from God, actions by which He becomes described, such as creating, sustaining, forgiving, and the like. In other words, it is only in the measure that God actually creates and sustains that He can be called Creator and Sustainer, however much His Essence may contain principially the power to create, sustain, forgive, and so on.
To conclude this discussion, let us recall that all the active attributes of God spring from His Essence, and, in particular, from the perfections of His Essence; that is to say, God is the possessor of absolute perfection, which is the source of all the differentiated active perfections which He displays.

The attributes of the Essence are those which describe God in a manner that adequately enables us to form some kind of conception of His essential nature. These attributes are, so to speak, derived from the station of the Essence; attributes such as Knowledge, Power and Life. As for the attributes of Activity, these pertain to the various kinds of action that emanate from God, actions by which He becomes described, such as creating, sustaining, forgiving, and the like. In other words, it is only in the measure that God actually creates and sustains that He can be called Creator and Sustainer, however much His Essence may contain principially the power to create, sustain, forgive, and so on.

Attributes of the Divine Essence

Having noted the distinctions, within the realm of divine attributes, between the affirmative and the negative, and between the essential and the active attributes, it is appropriate to elaborate somewhat upon the most important questions relating to these attributes.

Knowledge

The knowledge of God, since it partakes of His very Essence, is eternal and infinite; In addition to possessing absolute knowledge of His own Essence, God is aware of all that is other than Him whether universal or particular realities, before or after creation. The Qur'an lays much stress upon this truth; for example:

Verily, God is aware of all things. (Sura al-'Ankabiit, 62)

And again:

Should He not know what He created? And He is the Subtle, the Aware. (Sura al-Mulk, 14)

In the sayings of the Imams of the ahl al-bayt, there is also great emphasis on the eternity and totality of God's knowledge. Imam. Sadiq says, for example:

'His knowledge of a place before its creation is like the knowledge of it after its creation; and His knowledge is thus as regards all things.'1

Power

The power of God, like His Knowledge, is eternal; and insofar as it, too, partakes of His very Essence, it is infinite. The Qur'an emphasizes the comprehensiveness of God's power thus:

And God is ever able to do all things. (Sura al-Ahzab,:27)

And again:

God has power to do all things. (Sura al-Kahf, :45)

Imam Sadiq stated:

'All things are equal before Him in respect of [His] knowledge, power, authority, dominion and all-cornprehensiveness. 2

Now; if the engendering of impossible things-those entities which cannot be- fall outside the domain of Goo's power and control. this is not due to the inadequacy of divine power; rather, it is due to the inadequacy inherent in the impossible: the impossible lacks receptivity to being, that is, it lacks the capacity to actualize itself. When asked about the engendering of impossible things, Imam 'Ali replied:

'God has no connection with incapacity, so that about which you ask cannot be.' 3

Now; if the engendering of impossible things -those entities which cannot be- fall outside the domain of Goo's power and control. this is not due to the inadequacy of divine power; rather, it is due to the inadequacy inherent in the impossible: the impossible lacks receptivity to being, that is, it lacks the capacity to actualize itself. When asked about the engendering of impossible things, Imam 'Ali replied:
'God has no connection with incapacity, so that about which you ask cannot be.' 

Will

An agent who is conscious of his activities is more complete than one who is not. A free agent, endowed with a will to perform his acts-such that he can choose to accomplish or not accomplish a given act-is more complete than an agent constrained and compelled [by some other agent] to do or not to do something, being helpless, and unable to choose for himself. Taking into account this point, and seeing that God is the most perfect agent in existence, it is altogether natural to assert that the Divine Essence is, by nature, an absolutely free agent, neither constrained from without nor imposed upon by anything other than Himself; and if it is said that God is 'one who wills' ( murid), the meaning is: that He has perfect liberty to will whatever He desires.
Will, in the conventional sense of a human faculty that is originated in time and is actualized gradually thereafter, does not figure in the Divine Essence. Hence we have the sayings from the ahl al¬bayt, intended to prevent error and deviation, to the effect that the will of God [ with regard to a given act] is identical to the accomplishment and realization of the act, as it is said:

'Will, in regard to man, is an inner state, which man strives to realize in outward action, but the will of God itself constitutes the consummation of the action, without this involving temporal origination.' 18

This explanation makes it clear that will, in the sense of liberty, is one of the attributes of the Essence, while in its aspect of existentiation, it is one of the attributes of Divine Activity.

1. Shaykh Saduq, Kitab al-tawhid, ch. 10, hadith no. 9.
2. Ibid., ch. 9, hadith no. 15.
3. Ibid., ch. 9, hadith no. 9.