that accurately expresses it? For by this expression we have not affirmed any attribute beyond what is in the Quran and Sunnah. Rather, we have clarified what the proponents of falsehood have denied: the existence of the Lord Most High, His distinctness from His creation, and the reality of His being.

They also say to them: The Quran and Sunnah indicate this meaning, as shown earlier in Imam Ahmad’s argument based on passages of the Quran indicating that Allah Most High has a limit distinguishing Him from created beings, and that He is separate and distinct from creation, such that the command can ascend and rise to Him, and He can come—as indeed He does. We shall establish this in its proper place. For the Quran sometimes conveys a meaning through direct denotation, and sometimes