Allah’s Power, Divinity, Beginninglessness and Eternity

1. Nothing can overcome Allah

وَلَا شَيْءَ يُعْجِزُهُ.
Nothing can render Him incapable.

To overcome someone here would mean preventing something that Allah wills to bring about, as though some obstacle could make His will ineffective. No such obstacle can exist in relation to Allah.

Allah is absolutely powerful. His power is not dependent upon a creature, obstacle, or external cause.

2. Allah’s will cannot be obstructed

Two imagined forms of resistance to Allah’s power are excluded:
1. Allah wills an act, but another being prevents its occurrence.
2. Allah does not will an act, yet another being carries it out independently of Him.

Both would give a creature an independent power opposed to Allah’s will. Wa lā shayʾa yuʿjizuhu excludes that notion.

3. Allah has power over all things

وَاللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ.
And Allah has power over everything. (Āl ʿImrān 3:29)

وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مُقْتَدِرًا.
And Allah has full power over all things. (Al-Kahf 18:45)

Both verses place all things under Allah’s power. No created being lies beyond that power or possesses power that could oppose it.

4. Nothing in heaven or earth can frustrate Him

وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيُعْجِزَهُ مِنْ شَيْءٍ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَلَا فِي الْأَرْضِ إِنَّهُ كَانَ عَلِيمًا قَدِيرًا.
Nothing in the heavens or on the earth can frustrate Allah; indeed, He is All-Knowing, All-Powerful. (Fāṭir 35:44)

Li-yuʿjizahu negates the possibility that anything could render Him incapable. Everything in heaven and earth is subject to His knowledge and power.

Nothing can obstruct the power of Allah.

5. There is no deity besides Allah

وَلَا إِلٰهَ غَيْرُهُ.
There is no deity other than Him.

Ilāh means an object of worship. The true deity alone possesses power and authority in the ultimate sense. No being other than Allah has the power that belongs to Allah.

Therefore Allah alone is the deity rightfully worshipped.

6. The true deity and invented objects of worship

Being a true deity differs from people treating someone or something as a deity.

People may designate other objects of worship. Their designation, however, does not make those things truly worthy of worship.

None has the power and authority of Allah. Thus invented objects of worship do not change the truth of wa lā ilāha ghayruhu.

7. Without beginning and without end

قَدِيمٌ بِلَا ابْتِدَاءٍ، دَائِمٌ بِلَا انْتِهَاءٍ.
He is without any beginning and remains forever without any end.

Qadīm bilā ibtidāʾ signifies that Allah has always existed; His existence did not begin at a particular point.

Dāʾim bilā intihāʾ signifies that His existence will never cease.

8. The testimony to Allah’s divinity

شَهِدَ اللَّهُ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ وَأُولُو الْعِلْمِ قَائِمًا بِالْقِسْطِ.
Allah bears witness that there is no deity but Him, as do the angels and those possessing knowledge; He upholds justice. (Āl ʿImrān 3:18)

The testimony establishes Allah as the only true deity. The angels and people of knowledge bear witness to this same reality.

Qāʾiman bil-qisṭ describes His upholding justice.

9. No one is equal to Him

وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ.
And there has never been anyone equal to Him. (Al-Ikhlāṣ 112:4)

Kufuwan denies an equal or counterpart. No other being can be on the same level as Allah.

His being without beginning or end expresses true beginninglessness and endlessness, not equality with the created world.

10. The true First and the true Last

The true First is the One before whom none could exist; the true Last is the One after whom none could exist.

True First: No other being precedes Him.
True Last: No other being succeeds Him.

Both apply to Allah. His existence depends on no predecessor and has no final limit.

11. Relative firstness and lastness

The relative first is one before whom something else may exist. The relative last is one after whom something else may exist.

Relative first: Its priority depends on a particular order or comparison.
Relative last: Its finality depends on a particular order or comparison.

These relative meanings cannot be equated with Allah’s true firstness and true lastness.

12. Allah is the First and the Last

هُوَ الْأَوَّلُ وَالْآخِرُ وَالظَّاهِرُ وَالْبَاطِنُ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ.
He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden, and He knows everything. (Al-Ḥadīd 57:3)

Al-Awwal affirms His true firstness, and Al-Ākhir His true lastness.

He existed when none else existed and will remain when none else remains. The verse also affirms His manifestation, hiddenness, and knowledge of all things.

13. Allah neither perishes nor ceases

لَا يَفْنَى وَلَا يَبِيدُ.
He neither perishes nor comes to an end.

Yafnā negates perishing, while yabīdu negates destruction or extinction.

Allah has always existed and will always remain. No form of perishing or destruction can apply to His essence.

14. Prophetic supplication: the First and the Last

اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ الْأَوَّلُ فَلَيْسَ قَبْلَكَ شَيْءٌ وَأَنْتَ الْآخِرُ فَلَيْسَ بَعْدَكَ شَيْءٌ.
O Allah, You are the First, and nothing is before You; You are the Last, and nothing is after You. (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Book of Remembrance and Supplication, chapter on what to say before sleep)

Fa-laysa qablaka shayʾ explains true firstness; fa-laysa baʿdaka shayʾ explains true lastness.

No created existence shares Allah’s absolute beginninglessness and endlessness.

15. The distinction between fanāʾ and bayd

Fanāʾ and bayd are nearly synonymous, yet a fine distinction is made between them.

Fanāʾ: A thing coming to an end of itself.
Bayd: A thing being destroyed through another’s destroying it.

Lā yafnā wa lā yabīdu excludes both kinds: Allah does not cease of Himself, nor can anything destroy Him.

16. Allah is beginningless and everlasting

Azalī means existing without beginning. Abadī means remaining forever.

Qadīm bilā ibtidāʾ expresses Allah’s beginninglessness. Dāʾim bilā intihāʾ and lā yafnā wa lā yabīdu express His endless existence.

His existence neither begins nor ends, whether by itself or through another cause.

17. Created beings perish; the Lord remains

كُلُّ مَنْ عَلَيْهَا فَانٍ ۝ وَيَبْقَىٰ وَجْهُ رَبِّكَ ذُو الْجَلَالِ وَالْإِكْرَامِ.
Everyone upon the earth is perishing, while the Face of your Lord, Possessor of Majesty and Honor, remains. (Ar-Raḥmān 55:26–27)

The verse contrasts the perishing of creation with Allah’s enduring existence. The existence of creatures is not of the same kind as the existence of Allah.

He alone remains eternally, possessing Majesty and Honor.

18. Everything is subject to perishing

كُلُّ شَيْءٍ هَالِكٌ إِلَّا وَجْهَهُ لَهُ الْحُكْمُ وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ.
Everything will perish except His Face. To Him belongs the judgment, and to Him you will be returned. (Al-Qaṣaṣ 28:88)

Lahu al-ḥukm establishes that judgment and authority belong to Allah. Wa ilayhi turjaʿūn speaks of creation returning to Him.

The continuance of a created thing rests on Allah’s will; it is not everlasting by itself.

19. Question: eight created things that endure

Question: The Throne, the Kursī, Paradise, Hell, ʿajb al-dhanab (the spine), souls, the Preserved Tablet, and the Pen are said not to be made to perish. If these endure, do they share Allah’s attribute of endlessness?

The eight things:
1. The Throne
2. The Kursī
3. Paradise
4. Hell
5. ʿAjb al-dhanab
6. Souls
7. The Tablet
8. The Pen

The question turns on the difference between a creature not being made to perish and Allah’s inherent everlastingness.

20. Two kinds of perishing

Answer: Perishing is of two kinds.

1. Possible perishing (fanāʾ imkānī): A thing can perish; its extinction is possible.
2. Actual perishing (fanāʾ ʿamalī): A thing actually perishes.

The possibility of extinction is not the same as its actual occurrence. This distinction resolves the question of enduring created things.

21. The eight things are not equal to Allah in eternity

The eight things do not undergo actual perishing, but their perishing remains possible. Allah could make them perish if He willed, even though He will not make them perish.

By contrast, Allah is subject to neither actual nor possible extinction. The possibility of perishing does not apply to His essence at all.

Therefore, their preservation by Allah does not make them partners in His inherent everlastingness. Allah’s permanence is inherent; theirs depends upon His will.

22. Power, divinity, beginninglessness and endlessness

وَلَا شَيْءَ يُعْجِزُهُ — Nothing can overcome Allah; He has absolute power.
وَلَا إِلٰهَ غَيْرُهُ — No one other than Him is the true deity.
قَدِيمٌ بِلَا ابْتِدَاءٍ، دَائِمٌ بِلَا انْتِهَاءٍ — He is without beginning and without end.
لَا يَفْنَى وَلَا يَبِيدُ — He neither perishes nor can be destroyed.

The distinction between possible and actual extinction further shows why a creature’s continued existence is not equal to Allah’s inherent eternity.