[The Attribute of the Essence]

Answer – and Allah is the One who grants success and help: What is obligatory in knowing the attributes of Allah, exalted is He, is that the morally responsible person know that Allah is powerful over all things, so that no object of power incapacitates Him; and that He is knowing of all things, nothing at all is hidden from Him: He knows the treachery of the eyes and what the breasts conceal, He has encompassed everything in knowledge, and has counted all things in number; and that He is living and existent, there is no beginning to His life and His existence, and no end to that – so He is the Ever-Living who does not die – and that He is the First and the Last.
If he knows from that what we have mentioned, and believes it and his heart is at rest with it, then he has known what is obligatory for him of knowing those attributes. This knowledge which we have mentioned already contains within it the meaning of what the theologians mention when they say that He is “powerful by His Essence,” for the meaning of what we have mentioned and the meaning of what they have mentioned is one and the same.
For “powerful by His Essence” means that no object of power incapacitates Him; rather, He is powerful over all things, and that His Essence is not restricted to one particular object of power to the exclusion of another. This is exactly what we have mentioned, and the same is said concerning the rest (of the attributes).
It also includes the distinction between the power of Allah, glorified and exalted, and the power of the human being: the power of the human being is limited by limits which it does not cross, and it is attached to a single object of power which it does not go beyond; whereas the power of Allah, exalted is He, is not limited by any limit or by any object of power. This is the meaning of their saying: “Indeed, Allah is over all things competent, and He encompasses all things” – no object of power incapacitates Him.
After all this, there has not come any exposition of what the theologians mention, neither in the Book of Allah, exalted is He, nor in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace, in the detailed fashion which they have set out.
This is while reflection on the Essence of Allah is forbidden, and there is no way to attain the reality of knowing Him, exalted is He; minds are bewildered and understandings go astray: “...and they do not encompass Him in knowledge” [Taha:110]. He, glorified and exalted, is greater and mightier than that His greatness, His majesty, and His glory be encompassed. And Allah, exalted is He, has said: “And they ask you, [O Muhammad], about the soul. Say, ‘The soul is of the affair of my Lord. And mankind have not been given of knowledge except a little.’” [Al-Isra:85]
Thus, what has appeared to me is that there is no real fruit in what the theologians mention of detailed analysis, except as a translation and explanation, for example, of His saying, exalted is He: “And Allah is over all things competent” and [Al-Hashr] “Allah is, of all things, Knowing” [At-Taghabun]; there is no way to know what they say and to believe in it except through the knowledge that Allah is powerful over all things and knowing of all things.
Yes, what is required of the morally responsible person is faith and belief that Allah, exalted is He, is powerful, knowing, and so forth. As for their saying “by His Essence” (li-dhātihi) or “of His Essence” (bi-dhātihi), this is an additional phrase containing vagueness, because of the many meanings of the letters “lām” and “bāʾ”. If the “lām” is taken as causal, then the Essence becomes a cause for “being knowing” and so on; and perhaps this is the meaning intended by the one who speaks of “the more specific attribute that entails the four attributes,” namely His being existent, powerful, knowing, living.
And it may be causal in another sense, namely that it is said regarding a human being, for example: “He is able by a power,” that is, by virtue of a power which Allah has placed in him, such that if this power were taken away from the human being he would no longer be described as able. So when they applied to Allah, glorified and exalted, the name “powerful,” they wanted to distinguish between the Creator and the created, and so they said: “powerful by His Essence,” meaning that He is powerful not by virtue of some (separate) power, and that His attributes are not caused by anything other than Him.
And perhaps what is meant is that, if there must be causality, in order to differentiate between the power of the Creator and the power of the created, then it is said: “powerful by His Essence” and “knowing by His Essence,” meaning that He is powerful because He is Allah.
As for interpreting “lām” with any of its other meanings [besides this], that does not really stand except weakly.
And as for the “bāʾ” in their saying “powerful by His Essence,” if it is intended as causal, then the discussion regarding it is the same as the discussion regarding the causal “lām” exactly.
And if it is intended as indicating instrumentality – like “I wrote with the pen” – this is not valid in the case of Allah, exalted is He, except by way of metaphor; because Allah, exalted is He, creates and provides without any instrument, for only the created being is in need of instruments. To apply the term “instrument” to His Essence, exalted is He, is metaphorical, brought in order to distinguish between the act and power of the Creator and the act and power of the creation, and to affirm that for Him there is absolutely no instrument at all.
If it is said: If what has preceded is not known, in the detailed manner they mention, then knowledge of Allah is not complete, for it is necessary to know that these are essential attributes, not things added to the Essence or extra meanings, and so on.
We say: Reflection, after what we have presented, is blameworthy, and it suffices the morally responsible person to believe that Allah is powerful over all things, and that there is absolutely no similarity between the Creator and the creation, and that it is obligatory to believe in the Names and attributes of Allah, exalted is He, and to affirm them without (trying to) picture how they are.
And I hold that one of the things that ought to be done is to close the door of detailed and subtle analysis for the common people, the beginners, and those of weak understanding, for that may cast them into confusion, disorder, bewilderment, and doubt.
If it is said: The expression “knowing by His Essence,” and so on, is frequent in the speech of the Imams from the People of the House (peace be upon them) and in the speech of their scholars.
We say: Most of what this shows is permissibility, for they do not apply to Allah anything except what it is permissible to apply to Him, not that it is obligatory (to speak in that way).
If it is said: What is meant by their saying “by His Essence,” “of His Essence,” “essential knowledge,” and so on, is explanation, clarification, and interpretation of the knowledge of Allah, exalted is He, and His power, and so forth.
We say: Their saying “by His Essence,” “of His Essence,” “essential,” does not bring about any explanation, clarification, or interpretation; for Allah, exalted is He, says: “...and they do not encompass Him in knowledge” [Taha:110]. Before knowledge of the Divine Essence there are veils and curtains of greatness, majesty, and glory. In that case, explaining and interpreting what has been mentioned by reference to the Essence and “essential-ness” is an explanation and interpretation by means of what cannot be known.
If it is said: Perhaps what they intend is to show that there are no extra meanings (attached to the Essence), so that no one imagines that there is some power added to the Essence of the Powerful.
We say: It is enough to indicate that [by His saying, exalted is He], “And Allah is over all things competent” and “Allah is, of all things, Knowing”, and “There is nothing like unto Him” [Ash-Shura:11], and the like of that whose meaning is clear and intelligible – as in the report: “Reflect on the created thing, and do not reflect on the Creator”; “Whatever the imagination conceives, Allah is other than that”; “Tawḥīd is that you do not imagine Him”; and “...and they do not encompass Him in knowledge” [Taha:110] and “Nor is there to Him any equivalent.” [Al-Ikhlas:4].
In what we have mentioned, and the like of it, there is what suffices in place of what the theologians mention; rather, the exposition of Allah, exalted is He, is more beautiful, more complete, and clearer.

Source: Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.3