Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.
The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم described Allah تعالى as possessing ḥayā’. Allah’s ḥayā’ is an attribute befitting His majesty and perfection. Its nature cannot be comprehended by human intellect, and it is not like the ḥayā’ of created beings. Among the meanings of Allah’s ḥayā’ are His mercy, generosity, kindness, and forbearance. He سبحانه وتعالى is too gracious to expose His servant and disgrace him when he commits a sin, just as He is too gracious to turn away one who raises his hands to Him and asks Him.
Allah’s ḥayā’ is established in the Sunnah, and it is a ḥayā’ of generosity, kindness, grace, and majesty, unlike the ḥayā’ of created beings, which may arise from weakness, fear, or inability.
Allah سبحانه وتعالى is perfect in His Names and Attributes. Everything with which He is described is in a manner befitting His greatness, and His attributes cannot be compared with the attributes of His creation.
Part of the perfection of His mercy, generosity, and forbearance is that He is too gracious to expose His servant and disgrace him. He does not hasten to punish him despite his many shortcomings. Rather, He conceals his faults, gives him respite, and opens for him the doors of repentance and forgiveness.
Among its effects is also that He is too gracious to turn away His servant when he raises his hands to Him, calls upon Him, and asks Him. This is part of His mercy and generosity toward His servants.
Allah تعالى also loves people of ḥayā’. Thus, ḥayā’ is a noble character that Allah loves, and the believer should adorn himself with it in his words and actions.
Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله said:
“He is Al-Hayiyy, and He does not expose His servant
when he openly persists in disobedience.
Rather, He casts His covering over him;
He is the Concealer and the Possessor of forgiveness.”
This illustrates one aspect of the effects of Allah’s ḥayā’: His concealing of His servants and not hastening to expose them, while opening for them the door of repentance and forgiveness.
Al-Hayiyy is Allah تعالى, who possesses ḥayā’ in a manner befitting His majesty. His ḥayā’ is a ḥayā’ of generosity, mercy, grace, and forbearance. It does not resemble the ḥayā’ of created beings, and the nature of this attribute cannot be comprehended by human intellect.
Among its effects are His concealing of His servants, not hastening to disgrace them, His generosity toward those who call upon Him and ask Him, and His love for people of ḥayā’.
And Allah knows best.