by life, not death. When knowledge and ignorance are opposed, He is described by knowledge, not ignorance; when power and incapacity are opposed, by power, not incapacity; when speech and muteness are opposed, by speech, not muteness; when hearing and sight are opposed to deafness and blindness, by hearing and sight, not deafness and blindness; when self-sufficiency and need are opposed, by self-sufficiency, not need; when existence and nonexistence are opposed, by existence, not nonexistence; and when being separate from the world and being intermingled with it are opposed, by being separate from it, not intermingled with it. If, being separate from the world, He must be either above it or alongside it, then He must be described as being above it, not alongside it, much less beneath it.

The opponent concedes that He is described by exaltedness in rank and supremacy in dominion. Exaltedness in rank means that He is more perfect than the world, while supremacy in dominion means that He has power over the world. Thus, if He is separate from the world, the fullness of His exaltedness entails that He is above the world, neither alongside it nor beneath it. Since being above is an attribute of perfection, it is inseparable from His essence. Therefore, whenever anything other than Him exists, He can only be above it; He is never not above it.

This is established in the authentic report recorded in Sahīh Muslim and elsewhere, in which Abū Hurayrah relates that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to say in his supplication:

“You are the First, and nothing is before You; You are the Last, and nothing is after You; and You are the Most High