مَا زَالَ بِصِفَاتِهِ قَدِيمًا قَبْلَ خَلْقِهِ
Before creating anything, Allah was eternally possessed of His attributes.
لَيْسَ مُنْذُ خَلَقَ الْخَلْقَ اسْتَفَادَ اسْمَ الْخَالِقِ
Allah did not first acquire the name “Creator” when He created creatures.
How the passages fit: Allah possessed His perfect attributes before anything was created. The existence of a creature does not introduce a new perfection into Allah or change Him from deficiency to completeness.
Application: The Creator’s right to His name must be distinguished from the actual existence of created things. The attribute is eternal; individual creations come into being at their appointed times.
Limit of inference: An eternal divine attribute does not make created beings eternal.