into him—just as the livelihood of the newborn, his appointed life span, his deeds, and whether he will be wretched or blessed are all inscribed after his body has been fashioned and before the soul is breathed into him.

Likewise, when one says of the Messiah—peace be upon him—“he was before the world existed,” the meaning is simply that he had already been written down and mentioned before the world came into being.

For it is rigorously authenticated in the Ṣaḥīḥ on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“Allah ordained the destinies of all creatures fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth, and His Throne was upon the water.”

And in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, on the authority of ʿImrān ibn Ḥuṣayn, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“Allah was, and there was nothing before Him. His Throne was upon the water, and He wrote in the Record everything that would occur; then He created the heavens…”