the heavens or on earth? Glory be to Him! He is exalted far above what they associate with Him.’”

This meaning occurs frequently in the Quran. He, glorified is He, makes clear that He has neither prescribed nor permitted the worship of anyone besides Him. Indeed, He explains that if there were gods other than Allah in the heavens and the earth, both would fall into ruin. For just as it is impossible for anyone besides Him to be a lord who brings things into being, it is impossible for anyone besides Him to be a god to be worshipped.

If making a slave a partner in a limited dominion—so that one seeks favors from him as from his master, and fears him as one fears his master—is impossible and entails corruption, then making a created slave a partner to his Creator and Owner is all the more impossible and necessarily entails corruption.

This is because a person fears someone only out of fear that he might harm him. If he knows that this person cannot harm him except by Allah’s permission, then it is Allah, Most High, whom he must fear.

Likewise, if he places his hope in someone only because he hopes to benefit from him, yet that person cannot benefit him except by Allah’s permission, then it is Allah in whom he must place his hope. For that person can neither benefit nor harm except by Allah’s permission. This is unlike a slave owned by a human being, for—although he may use the property only with his master’s permission, and may not withhold it from anyone authorized by