reward and punishment, inducement and threat, glorification and praise, and fear and hope, and so on.

Also, just as the name of “Allāh” indicates the attributes that are identical with His Essence and indicate His freedom from defect (al-ṣifāt al-‘ayniyya wa’l-tanzīhiyya), so “All-Compassionate (al-Raḥīm)” hints at the attributes that are other than His Essence and pertain to action (al-ṣifāt al-ghayriyya al-fi‘liyya). As for “Most Merciful (al-Raḥmān),” it indicates the seven attributes that are neither identical with nor other than His Essence (lā ‘ayn wa lā ghayr), since it has the meaning of the Provider (al-Razzāq) and consists of the bestowal of continuance. For continuance is the repetition of existence; and existence necessitates a distinguishing attribute, a specifying attribute, and an effectuating attribute, and these are Knowledge, Will, and Power. Continuance, which is the result of the bestowal of sustenance, entails the certainty of Sight, Hearing, and Speech, for necessarily the Provider has sight in order to see the need of the recipient of providence if he does not seek it; and He has hearing in order to hear the recipient’s word when he asks; and He has speech in order to speak through intermediaries, when there are some. And these six necessitate the seventh, which is Life.

• If you were to ask: The precedence of “Most Merciful (al-Raḥmān),” which indicates great bounties, over “All-Compassionate (al-Raḥīm),” which indicates minute bounties, is the art of descending from great to small (ṣan‘at al-tadallī). While eloquence (al-balāgha) requires an ascent from lowest to highest (ṣan‘at al-taraqqī)?

You would be told: The latter is appended to the former in order to complete it, like eyebrows complete the eyes and the bridle the horse. Similarly, when the great depends on the minute the minute gains the superiority, like the key to the lock and the tongue to the spirit. Furthermore, this context (lit. station – al-maqām) being one of drawing attention to the bounties [rather than enumerating them or evoking gratitude for them], to alert [the reader to this fact since it is] less obvious is more appropriate. So the art of descending from great to small when (lit. in the context of) enumerating bounties and evoking gratitude for them becomes the art of ascending from small to great when alerting [the mind to them] and pointing them out.

• If you were to ask: Like such concepts as tender-heartedness, Merciful and Compassionate cannot be used in reference to the Most High. If what is meant by these is their results, which here would be the bestowal of bounty, what is the reason for such figures of speech (al-majāz)?