of all else and power over all things than what those who deny the attributes say. For they say that He cannot act by His own agency, descend or ascend, come or arrive, nor create in His servants a strength by which they bear His Throne, upon which He is, such that they bear Him, while He is above His Throne, only through His strength and power. This is more perfect than His being incapable of such a thing and unable to sustain Himself except by Himself.

Likewise, when He creates causes, brings other things into existence through them, and governs the affairs of the heavens and the earth, this more fully and perfectly demonstrates His power than creating something alone without creating in another being a power through which He brings it into existence. For one who can create powers within created beings has greater power than one who cannot. Thus, His creation of living beings, with their faculties, perception, and movements, is among the greatest signs of His power and strength. Allah Most High says:

“Indeed, it is Allah who is the Provider, the firm possessor of strength.” {58}

[al-Dhāriyāt 58]

Uthmān ibn Sa‘īd al-Dārimī said in his refutation of al-Marīsī and his companion:

“More astonishing than all this is your measuring Allah by the dimensions of the Throne, its size and weight, whether small or large. You claimed, like blind children: ‘If Allah is larger than the Throne, smaller than it, or equal to it, then if