and descends when He wills, and does whatever He wills, unlike lifeless idols, which do not move unless they are moved.

You, al-Marīsī, have advanced childish arguments to deny that Allah moves or changes place. You claimed that when Abraham, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saw a star, the sun, and the moon, he said:

“This is my Lord.” But when it set, he said, “I do not love those that set.”

(al-Anʿām: 76)

You then said, “Thus Abraham withheld love from every god that departs,” meaning that if Allah descends from one heaven to another, or descends on the Day of Resurrection to call His servants to account, He has set and departed, just as the sun and moon set, whereupon Abraham disavowed their lordship. Had a Turk unable to speak Arabic clearly, or a non-Arabic-speaking Byzantine, drawn this analogy, it could have been no uglier or more absurd than yours.

Woe to you! [Who] among Allah’s creation [has said] that Allah, when He descends or moves—or descends for the Day of Reckoning—sets within something, as the sun sets in a muddy spring? Allah does not set within anything other than Himself when He descends or rises, as the sun, moon, and stars do. Rather, He is above everything, encompassing everything in all His states of descending and rising. He does whatever He wills and does not set within anything; rather, all things bow humbly before Him. The sun, moon, and stars are created beings. When you say that they have set, they have set within something created, in a muddy spring, as Allah Most High said. Allah is higher and more exalted: nothing encompasses Him, and nothing contains Him.