Islam > Glossary > Tʿlqat ʿlm al-waajib taʿaal-aā
Discover the meaning of the term Tʿlqat ʿlm al-waajib taʿaal-aā (تعلقات علم الْوَاجِب تَعَالَى) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 2 min readThey are of two kinds: one is eternal, and the other is contingent. That which is eternal is actual infinite, and that which is contingent is actual finite. The objects of relation of the eternal attribute are of two types: the first comprises the primordial infinite realities such as non-existences and universal essences among the possible and impossible things.
The second comprises the identities and individualities that will exist in the everlasting future, meaning in the present and the future, not restricted by time but in a universal manner, just as it relates to the universal non-renewable matters. Since these objects of relation are infinite, the relations of knowledge to them are also necessarily infinite, because the infinity of the objects of relation necessitates the infinity of the relations. If it is objected that infinity is invalid according to the proofs set forth in the books of rational sciences and kalam, we reply: if we concede those proofs, they only indicate the invalidity of the infinity of external existents, not the epistemic ones.
As for the contingent, finite objects of relation, they are none other than the renewable, finite things, meaning those that have acquired existence now or previously. These relations are contingent and actual finite due to the necessity of the originated nature of their objects and their finitude, whether they are gathered together or successive in existence, because every existing being is finite. And we only said that they are actual finite because those relations, as well as their objects, are potential infinite in the sense that they do not terminate at a limit beyond which no other relation or object can be conceived.