o
Rahim (Merciful) and Manan, "one who puts another under an obligation." In
the Tafsir-i-Bahr it is stated that there are three thousand names of God;
one thousand of which are known to angels; one thousand to prophets; whilst
one thousand are thus distributed, _viz._, in the Pentateuch there are
three hundred, in the Psalms three hundred, in the Gospels three hundred,
in the Quran ninety-nine, and one still hidden.

The following texts of the Quran are adduced to prove the nature of the
divine attributes:--

(1). Life. "There is no God but He, the Living, the Eternal." (Sura ii.
256). "Put thy trust in Him that liveth and dieth not." (Sura xxv. 60).

(2). Knowledge. "Dost thou not see that God knoweth all that is in the
heavens, and all that is in the earth." (Sura lviii. 8). "With Him are the
keys of the secret things; none knoweth them but He: He knoweth whatever is
on the land and in the sea; and no leaf falleth but He knoweth it; neither
is there a grain in the darknesses of the earth, nor a thing green or sere,
but it is noted in a distinct writing." (Sura vi. 59).

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(3). Power. "If God pleased, of their ears and of their eyes would He
surely deprive them. Verily God is Almighty." (Sura ii. 19). "Is He not
powerful enough to quicken the dead." (Sura lxxv. 40). "God hath power over
all things." (Sura iii. 159.)

(4). Will. "God is worker of that He willeth." (Sura lxxxv. 16). "But if
God pleased, He would surely bring them, one and all, to the guidance."
(Sura vi. 35). "God misleadeth whom He will, and whom He will He
guideth--God doeth His pleasure." (Sura xiv. 4, 32).

As this attribute is closely connected with the article of the Creed which
refers to Predestination, the different opinions regarding it will be
stated under that head.

There has never been any difference of opinion as to the existence of these
four attributes so clearly described in the Quran: the difference is with
regard to the mode of their existence and their operation. There is, first,
the ancient Sifatian doctrine that the attributes are eternal and of the
essence of God: secondly, the Mutazilite theory that they are not eternal;
and, thirdly, the Ash'arian dogma that they are eternal, but distinct from
His essence.

There is also great difference of opinion with regard to the next three
attributes--hearing, sight, speech. For the existence of the two first of
these the following verses are quoted, "He truly heareth and kno