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Is it permissible to describe things as "immortal" or "everlasting" (khalid) – such as "this is an immortal book," "his morals are everlasting," "his story is everlasting," "his stances are everlasting," "his biography is everlasting" – without intending to describe persons with this attribute?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

There is no legal impediment to describing something as eternal, as the origin of eternity is permanence and steadfastness. Ibn Faris, in "Maqayis al-Lughah," explained that the letters kha, lam, and dal signify steadfastness and adherence, and he mentioned examples such as "Jannat al-Khuld" (the Garden of Eternity) and "akhlad ila al-ard" (inclined to the earth). The Prophet (peace be upon him) approved the name "Khalid" and did not change it. The description does not imply imperishability but rather a long duration and permanence until a certain time.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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