But we find scattered sayings concerning God's knowledge, which the speakers and philosophers discussed, of a simple narrative nature, through which we can discern his opinion on this attribute. Al-Mahdi affirms God's absolute knowledge, and he often expressed this by the active participle, as in his saying: "Knower of the unseen and the seen." And his saying: "Knower of all new creations." And he expressed it at other times by attributing the attribute to God's essence, as in his saying: "To Him belongs might and perfection, and to Him belongs knowledge and choice." This shows that his opinion on whether God's knowledge is His essence or an additional attribute falls within his opinion on attributes in general, as we have explained previously. He is content with affirmation and the divinely ordained name, considering research beyond that to be research into the 'how'. Al-Mahdi strongly emphasized the absolute comprehensiveness of divine knowledge, making it infinite and inexhaustible. God's knowledge is infinite; His capabilities are infinite. God's knowledge is not limited. One manifestation of this comprehensiveness is that God's knowledge encompasses universals and particulars, contrary to what the philosophers believed, that God directly knows only universals. God "knows the unseen and the seen; nothing is hidden from Him on earth or in heaven." He knows what is on land and sea, and what is. Among the most discussed issues regarding the attribute of knowledge are: Is God's knowledge His essence or something separate from it? Is it one or multiple? Is it eternal or changing? Does it encompass particulars or not? See: Al-Juwayni, Al-Shamil; Al-Baghdadi, Usul al-Din; Abd al-Jabbar, Sharh al-Usul al-Khamsa; Al-Ghazali, Al-Iqtisad fi al-I'tiqad; Ibn Tumart, Al-Murshida; Ibn Tumart, Al-Aqida; Ibn Tumart, Risala fi Tawhid al-Bari. See page 196 of this research. Ibn Tumart, Risala fi Tasbih al-Bari. This is the opinion of most speakers, except for what is attributed to Al-Juwayni regarding his saying that God's knowledge is finite based on the finiteness of what enters existence. See: Ammar al-Talibi, Ara' Abi Bakr ibn al-Arabi al-Kalamiyya.