The Forty-Sixth Question
How many character traits did He grant him as a gift?
The answer: Three hundred character traits. These are those mentioned by the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace: God has three hundred character traits, and whoever assumes the character of one of them enters the Garden.
For this reason he said of the three hundred that they are upon Adam’s heart, peace be upon him, meaning these character traits God granted Adam. Any of his descendants whose constitution is complete receives these three hundred character traits. Whoever does not attain Adam’s completeness has of them in proportion to the completeness he has been given. Among them are the complete and the more complete.
These character traits lie beyond acquisition. They are not acquired through work, but God gives them as a special distinction. Their character cannot be assumed, for they have no effect in created existence. Rather, they are in themselves preparations for divine self-disclosures corresponding to their number. None of those self-disclosures occurs except for one possessing these character traits.
Sufficient for you are character traits that, for the one possessing and qualified by them, relate only to God, having no relation at all to creatures. In the Prophet’s saying, may God bless him and grant him peace, “Whoever assumes the character of one of them,” he intended whoever is qualified by any of them, meaning whoever has them established within him.
(The Divisions of Character Traits According to Their Object)
Character traits are of three kinds: traits whose character can be assumed only toward created existence, such as the Merciful; traits whose character can be assumed toward created existence
Notes
Translator’s note TN3577-1: The text distinguishes possessing a bestowed character trait, khuluq, from deliberately assuming its character, takhalluq. Although the quoted report uses the latter form, the author explains it here as simply being qualified by the trait. “The three hundred” are described as being upon Adam’s heart, linking their rank with the three hundred traits.
