Affirming the descent and coming by the Self, and the application of the term “Yahya” (He gives life) to Allah the Exalted

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah preserve you, is it said that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, gives life by His Self, and in the descent He descends by His Self, or not?

Answer:
The descent is by His Self, the coming is by His Self, and the arrival is by His Self; there is no doubt about this. It is not that His command comes or His command descends, as the people of innovation say. No. As for the claim that He knows and gives life by His Self, this question has no basis. Allah, Exalted and Majestic is He, is Alive. One does not say “He gives life” (Yahya); one says “He is Alive” (Hayy). His attribute of life is eternal and has no beginning. If you say “He gives life” (Yahya), it implies that it had a beginning.