The Fourth Principle: Affirmative Attributes Are Attributes of Praise and Perfection, So the More Numerous and Varied Their Implications, the More the Perfection of the One Described by Them Appears; Therefore

The Shaykh :"The Fourth Principle: Affirmative Attributes are attributes of praise and perfection" There is no issue with this. We have previously stated that every attribute that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, affirmed for Himself is what? It is an attribute of perfection, containing no deficiency. "The more numerous and varied their implications, the more the perfection of the one described by them appears" Correct? Answer, everyone? It is correct. If I say, "So-and-so is generous," that is an attribute of praise. If I then say, "He is a benefactor," his perfection increases. If I say, "He is easy to deal with," meaning he is gentle with his brothers, his perfection increases further. The more numerous the affirmative attributes of perfection, the more the perfection of the one described by them appears. The Noble Qur'an is filled with mentions of the attributes of Allah, the Exalted, derived from His names. The more they are mentioned, the more the perfection of the one described by them, who is Allah, Mighty and Majestic, appears to us. It is not correct to say, "His perfection increased by them." It is not correct, because if we said that, what would it imply? It would imply that what was not made clear to us was a deficiency. Rather, we say that as they are mentioned, more of the perfection of the one described by them, who is Allah, Mighty and Majestic, appears to us. Regarding a created being, you may say that as its attributes of perfection increase, its perfection increases. There is no harm in that for a created being, because it is subject to deficiency. But for the Lord, you cannot use that expression, saying, "As they increase, His perfection increases." Rather, more of His perfection appears to us. Therefore, the affirmative attributes by which Allah informed us of Himself are far more numerous than the negative attributes, as is well known. Is it clear? Say, everyone, is it clear? The negative attributes can be counted on the fingers, but the affirmative attributes cannot be counted; they are in the dozens or hundreds. If you were to say to a king, "O King, you are brave, you are courageous, you are a statesman, you are generous, you show compassion to the poor, you build mosques, you build schools," would his status increase or not? He would be pleased and very pleased, and he might even write you a reward. But the negative attributes cannot be detailed. Detailing them could be an insult. If you were to say to a king, "Praise be to Allah, you are not a garbage collector, you are not a leper—the leper who cleans the toilets—you are not a donkey, you are not a bloodsucker," what would he say? He would immediately imprison you. Yes, why? Because these are not things the king was accused of, so you are denying them of him. For you to deny these things of him is considered an insult to him. Therefore, the negative attributes regarding Allah, Mighty and Majestic, although they contain praise and perfection, are few in number compared to the affirmative attributes. Now.