does not affirm a Lord distinct from the world has not affirmed a Lord at all. For if he denies this distinctness, one of two conclusions follows inescapably: either He is this very world—in which case his statement holds true, since the world is not distinct from its own essence and self. This is how the adherents of the unity of existence arrived at their position: they first professed negation, then the identity of Creator and creation.

Or he must say: “There is no Lord, whether distinct from the world or co-located with it, whether inside it or outside it,” as do the eternalists who deny the Maker.

As for this third position, which combines two contradictories—affirming a Lord other than the world while denying that He is distinct from it, and affirming a self-subsisting Creator who is neither within the world nor outside it, neither above it nor beneath it, neither behind it nor before it, and neither to its right nor to its left—it is a claim with something concealed within it. The mind cannot even conceive of it, let alone assent to it. If conceiving of it is rationally impossible, the impossibility of assenting to it is clearer still. It describes sheer nonexistence and pure negation; to reason and innate nature, it applies more evidently to nonexistence than to the Lord of all worlds.

Apply this negation and the expressions conveying it to an impossible, nonexistent thing; then apply them to the exalted, self-subsisting Essence, which does not indwell the world, nor does the world indwell it. Then consider which of these two objects of thought they more fittingly describe. Rouse yourself, and stand sincerely before Allah, reflecting privately on this matter, free from doctrines and their proponents, from desire, partisan zeal, and prejudice, sincerely seeking guidance from Allah. Allah is too generous to disappoint a servant whose condition is such. This question requires no more than affirming a self-subsisting Lord distinct from His creation; indeed, that is precisely what the question itself means.

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Those who affirm the Creator, exalted is He, are of two kinds: those who affirm His oneness and those who associate partners with Him. Those who associate partners with Him are themselves of two kinds:

The first are those who associate partners with Him in His lordship and His right to worship, such as the Magians and those who