the fact that the latter is created while the former is the Creator. The former is necessarily existent, whereas the latter is contingently existent.

It is related that the soldiers of Satan came to him and said, “Our master, we see that you rejoice at the death of a single scholar, yet you do not rejoice at the death of thousands of worshippers. This worshipper, who worships Allah night and day, glorifies Him, declares His oneness, fasts, and gives charity—yet your joy at the death of a thousand such people is not like your joy at the death of one scholar.”

He said, “Yes; I will show you why.” So he went to a worshipper and said to him, “O shaykh, is Allah able to place the heavens within an egg?”

The worshipper replied, “No.” This was a grave error.

Then he went to a scholar and asked him, “Is Allah able to place the heavens in an egg?”

The scholar replied, “Yes.” He asked, “How?” The scholar said, “His command, when He wills a thing, is only that He says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is. So, if He said to the heavens, ‘Be within an egg,’ they would be.” He then said, “Look at the difference between this one and that one.”

The point is that we must state it without qualification and say: Indeed, Allah is able to do all things.

If someone were to ask: “A phrase frequently used by people is, ‘Indeed, He is able to do whatever He wills.’ Is this permissible?”

We would say: It is not permissible unless the will is qualified by a specific matter. For if you say, “Indeed, He is able to do whatever He wills,” it may give the impression that He is unable to do what He does not will, whereas He is able to do both what He wills and what He does not will.

However, when the will is qualified by a specific matter, it is correct, as in the saying of Allah, Most High: