2. The Four Main Time Cycles:
Ibn Arabi stresses that 'everything in the world has to be based on (specific) divine Attributes' [I.293.5]. Although some Muslim scholars, following a famous hadith [Kanz: 1933, 1937], believe that the basic divine Names or Attributes of Allah can be limited to ninety-nine, Ibn Arabi considers them to be countless [III.146.35], while the ninety-nine Names that are referred to in some prophetic narrations are simply the main most Beautiful Names (al-asma' al-husna) of Allah. Of these many divine Names, there are four fundamental Attributes Life (hayat), Knowledge ( ilm), Ability (qudra) and Will (irada) that are necessary and sufficient for Allah to be described as God. Therefore those are considered to be the ultimate sources or 'mothers' (ummahat) of all other divine Attributes [I.469.25]. In relation to creation, however, three more Attributes are also necessary for Allah to be Creator: Hearing (sam ), Seeing (basar) and Speaking (kalam). Together, that makes the principial divine Attributes of Allah to be 'seven mother attributes : Life, Knowledge, Ability, Will, Hearing, Seeing and Speaking' [I.525.32].