from entering. Thus He Most High is one and unique; none can share in His most distinctive attributes.

He said: “In several places in our book, we have disallowed speaking of a limit without qualification. It must, however, be regarded as permissible in the sense we have explained.”

Then he said: “Ahmad’s differing statements concerning the affirmation of a limit must be understood as referring to two different cases. Where he said, ‘He is over the Throne with a limit,’ he meant that what faces the Throne of His Essence constitutes a limit and a direction for Him. Where he said, ‘He is over the Throne without a limit,’ he meant the directions other than the one facing the Throne: above, behind, in front, to the right, and to the left.

“The distinction between the direction below, which faces the Throne, and the other directions is what we have mentioned: the direction below faces the Throne, as established by the evidence, and the Throne is bounded. Thus, that of His Essence which faces it may be described as a limit and a direction. This does not apply to what lies beyond that, since it does not face anything bounded; rather, it extends to the right, to the left, and above