As for the claim that these people affirm existing entities beyond the world and say that Allah must be in one of them rather than the others, we know of no one who has said this. If anyone has said it, his particular view should be addressed, rather than attributing it to the people of knowledge and faith who say that Allah is above the Throne.

The source of many people’s error here, however, is that directions are of two kinds: relative and variable, or fixed, inherent, and real. The former are relative to a living creature. Every living creature has six directions: the direction it faces, which is in front of it; the direction it leaves behind, which is behind it; a direction to its right; a direction to its left; a direction above it; and a direction below it. These directions shift and change with its movement and have no fixed, inherent character.

The only real, fixed, inherent directions are those of above and below. Above is what lies above the world; below is Sijjīn and the lowest of the low, namely the bottom of the world, its depths and interior. If this is so, then Allah’s being separate from the world necessitates that He be