in every respect; rather, there must be something through which that separation is manifestly realized.

The thirty-third point: We do not concede that when one says, “This is separate from that, distinct from it, or apart from it,” all that is meant is that its reality is unlike the other’s. Rather, what is meant is that one is situated apart from the other and is separate from it, such that its spatial location differs from the other’s. This is the familiar meaning of these expressions. Difference in reality, by contrast, means dissimilarity, for realities are either different or alike.

It is well known that when one says that Allah is separate from the world, distinct from it, and apart from it, the intended meaning is not that Allah is unlike the world. Thus, when Ibn al-Mubārak was asked, “How do we know our Lord?” he replied, “By His being above His heavens, upon His Throne, separate from His creation.” This separation does not mean dissimilarity; rather, it means that He is separate from His creation. The idea is self-evident and clear.

In every known instance in which the expressions ‘a thing’s separation from another,’ ‘its distinctness from it,’ and ‘its being apart from it’ are used, one is separate from the other. Even when these expressions convey superiority and dissimilarity—as when one says, “This one is distinguished from that one by such-and-such,” or, “This one stands apart from his peers by such-and-such”—in all these instances there is the sense of