toward them, to preserve what is here and sustain its existence. The one who commands is Allah Most High.

All of this is conveyed by His saying, Most High:

‘We come willingly.’”

He said:

“An analogous argument would be this: if someone saw a great assembly of people endowed with reason and excellence, intent upon specific tasks that they never neglect even for the blink of an eye, although those tasks are neither necessary to their existence nor something they need, he would know with absolute certainty that they have been charged and commanded to perform those tasks. He would know that they have a commander who has obliged them to render this unceasing service, continually caring for others; that this commander is greater in standing and higher in rank than they; and that they are like slaves made subservient to him.

This is the meaning to which the Mighty Book points in His saying, glorified be He:

‘Thus We showed Abraham the dominion of the heavens and the earth, so that he might be among those endowed with certainty.’

And when a person considers a further point, namely that each of the seven planets