But if what is meant is conceiving meanings in things other than the Lord, these are not needed in worshipping Him Most High. Nor does the worshipper of Allah need to form conceptions suited to his love for Allah and worship of Him, given his awareness of what brings about love for Allah and worship of Him alone. For worshipping Allah alone is achieved when one knows of Allah that which brings about love for Him; one need not know anything about another that would bring about love for Allah. Even supposing that conceiving something other than Him brings about love for Him, he has nevertheless called for seeking what draws the imaginative and estimative faculties toward estimative conceptions suited to the holy realm.

Thus, whether these things are attributes of Allah or things that give rise to love for Allah, he has classified them as estimative conceptions.

This entails that Allah is above His creation in several respects.

The first:

He has stated that animals—rational and non-rational alike—perceive in particular sensible things particular meanings that are neither sensible nor conveyed through the senses. This is the faculty of estimation, as explained earlier.

If, alongside this, he has said that the commanding faculty must be brought into submission to the tranquil faculty, so that the imaginative and estimative faculties are drawn toward estimative conceptions suited to the holy realm and turn away from those suited to the lower realm, then estimative conceptions suited to seeking Allah alone can arise only by conceiving in Him a meaning that draws the heart toward Him.

The very conception of Him—glory be to Him—precludes His having any partner, for He is One and has no partner. They say that His species is confined to Him as an individual, so it cannot be