He said: Ibn Mandah argued for affirming direction on the grounds that the Quran states that Allah Most High is over the Throne and in heaven, and that the Sunnah likewise states this, as well as stating that Paradise is His dwelling and that He is there. Since these things are places in their own right, this indicates that He is in a place.

I say: These statements by the judge, Ibn Mandah, and others like them imply that the direction being affirmed is something that actually exists. Hence they reported that those who deny direction say that He is neither in a direction nor outside it, and that it is other than Him. Yet his forthcoming words imply that direction and limit are something of Allah Most High Himself—namely, that which faces the Throne itself. It is this that is described as a direction and a limit.

He then mentioned that this is among the attributes of the Divine Essence, and went on to say: Once His being established over the Throne, His being in a direction, and this being among the attributes of the Divine Essence have been established, is it permissible to apply the term “limit” to Him? Ahmad explicitly used this term in the report transmitted by al-Marrūdhī. When Ibn al-Mubārak’s statement, “We know Allah to be over the Throne, with a limit,” was mentioned to him, Ahmad said, “That has reached me,” and he approved of it. Al-Athram said: I said to Ahmad, “It is related from Ibn al-Mubārak: