The transmitted supplication "O Living, O Self-Sustaining, I seek Your mercy" — how do we reconcile it with the prohibition against supplicating to an attribute?

Question:
The Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, says: The transmitted supplication "O Living, O Self-Sustaining, I seek Your mercy" — how do we reconcile it with the prohibition against supplicating to an attribute? This is not a supplication to the attribute, O

Answer:
my brother. This is seeking nearness to Allah through the attribute, just as one says, "I ask Him by His names and attributes." By His names, this is seeking nearness through the names and attributes. Mercy is among His attributes, Glorified and Exalted is He, so it is seeking nearness through the attribute, not a supplication to it. He did not say, "O Mercy of Allah." If he had said, "O Mercy of Allah," that would be a supplication to the attribute. Yes.