The word ṣifah ("attribute"; pl., ṣifāt) is not found in the Qurʾān, but the verbal noun waṣf does appear there one time (6:139) and the imperfect of the first form of the verb thirteen times in the sense of "to ascribe or uphold a description, to attribute, with the idea of falsehood." This meaning is associated with Allāh (God) in 6:100, 23:91, 37:159, 37:180, and 43:82; these verses seem to indicate that every description of God is bound to fail.

In order to avoid certain confusions, one must remember that the Arabic grammatical categories do not correspond to those of Western languages. Arab grammarians divided words (kalimah; pl., kalām) into three categories: the verb (fiʿl), the ism, and the particle (ḥarf). But the term ism does not cover the term noun in Western grammar. In fact, the word ism includes, among other things, the maṣdar...