—nor by any of the Companions of our Prophet, may God’s blessings and peace be upon him, or by those who followed them in righteousness. What the Scriptures and the messengers have affirmed is that God is the Creator of all things. Everything apart from Him—whether the heavenly spheres, the angels, or anything else—is created and originated, brought into being after having been nothing, preceded by its own non-existence. Nothing in the universe is co-eternal with God: no spheres, no angels, whether one calls them “intellects,” “souls,” or anything else.

Al-Bukhārī records, on the authority of ʿImrān ibn Ḥuṣayn, that when a delegation from Yemen came to the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—they said, “We have come to gain understanding of the religion and to ask you about the beginning of this affair.” He replied: “God was, and there was nothing before Him; His Throne was upon …”