مَا زَالَ بِصِفَاتِهِ قَدِيمًا قَبْلَ خَلْقِهِ
Before creating anything, Allah was eternally possessed of His attributes.
Clause structure: Mā zāla indicates continued existence. With biṣifātihi and qadīman it conveys the enduring, beginningless reality of the divine attributes.
Meaning and inference: Allah possessed His attributes before creating; the appearance of creatures did not originate His attributes.
Limit of inference: Arguing that no creature means no prior divine attribute makes an eternal attribute dependent on created existence.