[I say: His words,]

“Those who have affirmed no reality for Him in their description of Him,”

show that their statements imply His nonexistence.

His words,

“Nor have they established His oneness in speaking of Him,”

accord with what Ibn Kullāb stated: that the One is He who is distinct from creation. Whoever does not acknowledge this does not acknowledge His oneness.

His words,

“All this indicates that He is not within His creation, nor is His creation within Him, because He is established above His Throne,”

clarify the meaning of what he stated in al-Mūjaz, as transmitted by Ibn Fūrak, when he said in answer to the questions: “Do you say that He is outside the world? If you mean that things are not within Him, nor He within things, the meaning is correct.” They also show that he did not mean by this mere negation coupled with affirming that He is above the Throne, as he explicitly states here. This is further confirmed by his explanation that all the statements of those who describe Him through negation ultimately amount to negation, and that they affirm no reality for Him and do not establish His oneness.

“Another proof:

Allah, mighty and majestic, says:

‘Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth.’ [al-Nūr: 35]

He thus called Himself Light. According to the Muslim community, light must have one of two meanings: