must judge Him as one would a created being, since He would be within a created being, or a created being would be within Him. Since it is impossible for our Lord to enter into created beings and thus become part of them, or for them to enter into Him and thus become part of Him, we find no third possibility other than that He is separate from the things He created. They neither enter into Him nor touch Him, and He neither enters into them nor touches them. Were this not so, He would have the same status as they do.

“If they say, ‘Then He must have length and breadth,’ they are told, ‘This is impossible, for He is one, unlike other beings that are one, and great, with a greatness that cannot be measured against created beings. Just as He is great and knowing, unlike those who know, so too He is one and great, unlike others that are one and great.’ If you say, ‘A great being can only be divisible,’ you are told, ‘Then a knowing being can only be divisible, as must a hearing or seeing being—for you are reasoning by analogy with created beings.’”

Ibn Fūrak said: “Some have reported from Ibn Kullāb that