its end. If Allah were in an upward direction, He would be below in relation to the inhabitants of the other side, which is untenable.”

[Responses to him on several grounds: The first ground]

One response is as follows:

It may be said: Those who hold that the world is spherical say that its outer boundary is uppermost, while its centre, which is within the earth, is lowermost. They say that the sky is above the earth in every direction, and the earth is beneath it in every direction.

They also say that directions are of two kinds: real and relative. There are two real directions: above and below. The celestial spheres and whatever lies above them are above in an absolute sense, while whatever lies within them is below in an absolute sense.

Relative directions, however, are determined in relation to a living creature. Whatever is aligned with its head is above it; whatever is aligned with its feet is below it; whatever is aligned with its right side is to its right; and whatever is aligned with its left side is to its left. Whatever lies ahead of it is in front of it, and whatever lies behind it is at its rear.

They say that these directions change: what is above a creature may become below it. A ceiling, for example, may sometimes be above it and sometimes below it. On this understanding, if a man were suspended with his feet toward the sky and his head toward the earth, or an ant walked beneath a ceiling with its feet toward the ceiling and its back toward the earth, then this