Peace be upon you. Dear teacher, can we say that the power of God Almighty is unlimited, free from defect and imperfection like His essence, and identical with His essence? By saying it is identical with His essence, I do not mean that we should regard power as an attribute accompanying Him; rather, I mean that He is free from incapacity. God is therefore capable of doing all things. But since God Almighty is absolute beauty and perfection, He never does anything that entails evil or ugliness and is, in itself, futile, purposeless, and vain. Put simply, God’s power operates within the bounds of wisdom, what is in the best interests of creation, justice, and benevolence; it is not exercised beyond those bounds, even though He remains fully able and sovereign. Is this correct? May God reward you.
Is the Power of God Almighty Unlimited?
The essence and first answer at a glance (60-word summary)
God’s power is unlimited, is identical with His essence, and is free from every defect and imperfection. God is capable of doing all things; yet, because His essence is absolute beauty and perfection, He never does anything that entails evil or ugliness, or is futile and purposeless. Divine power operates within the bounds of wisdom, what is in the best interests of creation, justice, and benevolence.
Answer by Master Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat)
Teacher and researcher in the intellectual tradition of wisdom and the Ahl al-Bayt | Soroush Bamdadān Cultural CenterPower is one of the divine acts—in other words, it is an active attribute of God. God’s Essence is far exalted above being described in terms of power; it transcends power itself.
عن ابن أبی عمیر عن ابن أذینه عن أبی عبد الله ع فی قوله تعالى ما یکون من نجوى ثلاثه إلا هو رابعهم و لا خمسه إلا هو سادسهم- فقال هو واحد واحدی الذات بائن من خلقه و بذاک وصف نفسه و هو بکل شیء محیط بالإشراف و الإحاطه و القدره- لا یعزب عنه مثقال ذره فی السماوات و لا فی الأرض و لا أصغر من ذلک و لا أکبر بالإحاطه و العلم لا بالذات لأن الأماکن محدوده تحویها حدود أربعه فإذا کان بالذات لزمها الحوایه.
Al-Kāfī (Islamic edition), vol. 1, p. 127.
All attributes are, in one sense, attributes of God’s acts. In reality, no description applies to the divine Essence, for the Essence is beyond description. Thus, whatever is described is an attribute of divine action.
By convention, we may regard certain names as attributes of the Essence; in reality, however, these attributes negate attributes of the Essence, as in *Subḥān Allāh* and *Allāhu Akbar*.
Likewise, by convention, and in keeping with “neither negation nor assimilation,” we may regard oneness as an attribute of the Essence. In reality, this attribute negates attributes of the Essence and declares the Essence free of dependence on any attribute, transcending them all.
Indeed, Sūrat al-Tawḥīd explains oneness through self-sufficiency, self-sufficiency through “He neither begets nor is born,” and this through “nor is there anyone comparable to Him.” Thus, oneness means that nothing is comparable to the Essence.
Therefore:
In light of Imam Husayn’s explanation of *ṣamad*, *aḥad* means *ṣamad*, and *ṣamad* affirms that attributes do not issue from the Essence, nor the Essence from attributes; ultimately, it negates every possible equal to the Essence.
لم یلد و لم یولد. و لم یکن له کفوا أحد لم یلد لم یخرج منه شیء ... تعالى أن یخرج منه شیء و أن یتولد منه شیء کثیف أو لطیف- و لم یولد لم یتولد من شیء و لم یخرج من شیء
He is the One who describes, yet is in no need of attributes; He transcends description, attributes, and every subject of description.