the knowledge were to contain or encompass it, for (1) knowledge is not, in and of itself, a thing that could be said either to encompass or to be encompassed. Rather, what is meant (2) is that the existent is such that no other existent is alongside it, or that the self-subsistent being is such that no other self-subsistent being is alongside it (3).
Existents are of two kinds: that which subsists in itself and that which subsists through something else. What subsists through another—attributes and accidents—exists wherever its subject exists, for attributes and accidents inhere in a single locus. As for that which subsists in itself, it cannot be present where another self-subsistent being is present; [instead, it must be separate from everything else, existing where nothing else exists] (4), or where no other self-subsistent being exists. This is what is intended by the statement that Allah is upon the Throne and above the universe. Once this privative sense of “direction” is understood, the majority of rational humans—Muslims, Jews, Christians, polytheists, Magians (5), and Sabians (6),—
(1) In S: “ida” (if).
(2) In S: “bil-ma‘na” (in the meaning).
(3) In S and T: “wa anna” (and that).
(4) The portion enclosed in brackets is an addition found in S and T.
(5) The Majus (magians) are fire-worshippers who claim that the world has two primordial governing principles—light and darkness—and maintain that good is the work of light while evil is the work of darkness. This sect originated in Persia. Majusiyya (magianism), an ancient religion, was erroneously called al-din al-akbar (the “Greater Religion”) and al-milla al-uzma (the “Supreme Community”), and is listed among the sects mentioned by the authors of al-Maqalat. See al-Zabidi, Taj al-‘Arus, 4:245; al-Isfarayini, al-Tabsir fi al-Din, p. 150; al-Shahrastani, al-Milal wa al-Nihal, 1:230–244; al-Razi, I‘tiqadat Firaq al-Muslimin wa al-Mushrikin, with al-Murshid al-Amin by Taha ‘Abd al-Ra’uf and Mustafa al-Huwari, pp. 134–137.
(6) Sabiʾ (plural Sabiʾun) denotes one who abandons his religion, i.e., an apostate. The Sabiʾun worshipped the planets and stars; since these celestial bodies disappear from view, they fashioned images to represent them and named these images after the respective planets.