God, exalted is He, said, ﴿To God belong the most beautiful Names﴾ [al-Aʿrāf 7:180]. They are nothing other than the divine Presences required and determined by the rulings of possible beings. The rulings of possible beings are nothing other than the forms appearing within true existence. A divine Presence is a name for an Essence, attributes, and acts; or, if you will, say: an attribute of action and an attribute of incomparability.
These acts proceed from the attributes, and the acts are necessarily Names. Yet some He has applied to Himself and some He has not, although He has used a verbal expression, such as ﴿God plotted﴾ [Āl ʿImrān 3:54], ﴿God ridiculed﴾ [al-Tawba 9:79], ﴿I devise a device﴾ [al-Ṭāriq 86:16], and ﴿God mocks them﴾ [al-Baqara 2:15]. In such cases, forming an active participle from the expression is not impossible.
There are also indirect designations among them, such as ﴿Garments protecting you from the heat﴾ [al-Naḥl 16:81]. He, exalted is He, is the Protector; here the deputy is the garment, and there are similar cases. Among them are pronouns of the speaker, the absent person, and the person addressed, as well as general expressions such as God's saying, exalted is He, ﴿People, you are those in need of God﴾ [Fāṭir 35:15]. In this verse He has named Himself by everything that is needed. Everything that is needed is thus a Name of God, exalted is He, since there is no need except for Him, even if no such expression is applied to Him.
We consider only the meanings that give us
