(asmāʾ-i dhātiyya) According to reason and the sharia (sharia—the sacred law), the imam (principal) names are seven in number, neither more nor less. All other names are subordinate to these. These names are: Ḥayy, ʿĀlim, Murīd, Qāʾil, Qādir, Jawwād, and Muqsit. (Inshāʾ, 33)
The asmāʾ-i dhātiyya (essential names), even if it is possible for them to be conceived and thought of, are those whose existence (wujūd) does not depend on the wujūd (existence) of another (i.e., they do not terminate in, nor are they contingent upon, the existence of another), such as the names ʿĀlim (and Qādir, according to Kāshānī). These are also called asmāʾ-i awwaliyya (primordial names), mafātiḥ al-ghayb (keys of the unseen), or aʾimma-i asmāʾ (imams of the names). (Kāshānī, 28; Jāmiʿ, 76)
aʾimma-i asmāʾ (imams of the names or principal names) is the term given to the following seven divine names (asmāʾ ilāhiyya): Ḥayy, ʿĀlim, Murīd, Qādir, Samīʿ, Baṣīr, and Mutakallim. All other names are essentially derived from and based upon these seven. Some have substituted Jawwād and Muqsit for Samīʿ and Baṣīr. In my view, the names Jawwād and Muqsit are not among the principal names, but are secondary names. For the names jud (generosity) and ʿadl (justice) are not independent from the names of knowledge (ʿilm), will (irāda), and qudra (power). In fact, not only do they depend on these names, but they also require all the other names. For the outpouring (fayḍ) of the names jud and ʿadl in a just manner depends on perceiving the receptivity (istiʿdād) of the locus of fayḍ, on hearing the supplication (dua) of the one who asks in the language of receptivity, and on responding to the supplication of the one whose receptivity corresponds to the fixed archetypes (aʿyān-i thābita) with the word "Kun" (Be). These two names are just like the names Mujīd, Khāliq, and Razzāq, which are among the names of rubūbiyya (lordship).
Some have accepted the name Ḥayy as the imam (principal) name because it precedes the attribute of knowledge (ʿilm). For life (ḥayāt) is a condition for knowledge; without life, there can be no knowledge. Therefore, the condition must precede the conditioned. In my view, the name ʿĀlim is more appropriate for this. For imamate is a relative state that requires the existence of one who follows. At the same time, the imam is more noble than the one who follows. Knowledge, however, must come after that which is known. Yet for life, nothing is required except Ḥayy itself, which is the Essence (Dhāt) itself. That knowledge is more noble (or prior) than Ḥayy is quite clear. For this reason, some have said that knowledge is the first thing by which the Essence is determined, apart from Ḥayy. For the fact that knowledge does not require a relation (nisba) such as wājib (necessary) and wujūb (necessity) does not necessitate its precedence by nature. Do you not see that a balanced temperament is a prerequisite for the vitality of the body? There is no doubt that, for the body, life is prior to temperament in terms of nobility. (Kāshānī, 33; Jāmiʿ, 77)
(See also: asmāʾ/asmāʾ Allāh)