and when Abū al-Hudhayl sought to apply consistently his argument that temporally originated events must be finite, he held that the movements of the inhabitants of Paradise and Hell must cease.

The point here is that the necessity of a finite duration and span of existence—even if spatial regions are finite, or that which occupies space is finite—does not entail that something must be above it, for beyond what exists there are not further existing things extending without end. His refutation of this has already been discussed.

Further, he may be told: You have offered no argument establishing that this is impossible, so this line of reasoning does not constitute a proof. As for your statement, “He would not be above all things; rather, spatial regions would be higher still,” this is an appeal to a particular wording, although you do not affirm its meaning. For on your view, too, nothing is above Him, let alone all things, except in the sense of power and governance. Your opponent affirms this meaning while also affirming this other sense of being above, and would thus have