Wisdom (al-hikma)

Sha'rawi holds that the root sense of hikma is the bit placed in a horse's mouth to control it, and that calling God wise means that He controls creatures so they do not move without guidance ¹. The verse in which the angels acknowledge that knowledge is God's is al-Baqara 32.

He holds that wisdom is that every movement has an aim, so that movements fit together ¹. He gives examples: in law, wisdom is drawing the sound ruling; in poetry, weighing words in their metres; in medicine, diagnosing a disease and its remedy; in engineering, designing a hospital to suit patients, doctors and equipment ¹.

He holds that God being wise requires that He be knowing, because His knowledge is what lets Him make everything wisely, and that God gives each creature knowledge in proportion to its need ¹.

The etymology Sha'rawi gives has not been checked against a lexicon. No philosophical or theological account of divine wisdom is set out here and none is checked.