Yet the Creator, the Exalted, has no adversary, no equal, and no partner; rather, He is One from all directions, possessing a single Name and a single Attribute. The Name is the Pre-eternal (al-Azal), He is named by no other, and none beside Him is named by it. The Attribute is Power (al-Qudrah), none beside Him is characterized by it, [and He is not described except by it] 1 . Aside from what we have mentioned of the Name and Attribute, those below Him may share in them with Him. Even our saying: "God" (Allah) has an explanation according to the people of the outward (al-zahir) and the inward (al-batin), and our master Muhammad the Greater, His glory is magnificent, may share in it with Him. Whatever is [other than] 2 that, the entirety of the world—both the elite and the common—may share in it with Him.
Thus, the form is the outward aspect of Him, whereas the Name and the Attribute are two spiritual, semantic realities (ma'nawiyyan) that cannot be perceived by the sense of sight, nor can they take shape in a mind. Rather, they must be spoken of, since each of them is a thing, and each thing among them possesses an existence in physical reality (al-'ayan),