commanders is linked to the first commander or not, there is no doubt that, if they existed of themselves—that is, were eternal, without a cause or a giver of existence—it would be possible for them not to submit to a single commander who directs them, and not to obey him. The same applies to the commanders in relation to the first commander.

If this is not possible for them, then there is a relationship between them and him that requires them to heed and obey. This means nothing more than that they belong to him in their very existence—not in some accidental attribute, as in the case of a master and his slaves, but in their existence itself. There is no servitude here additional to their essence; rather, those very essences are constituted by servitude.

This is the meaning of His saying, exalted is He:

“There is no one in the heavens and the earth who will not come to the Most Merciful as a servant.”

This ownership is the dominion of the heavens and the earth which Allah revealed to Abraham in His saying, exalted is He:

“Thus We show Abraham the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and so that he may be