Likewise, concerning his statement in the second argument, “If His being in that direction were necessary, that direction would differ from others and would therefore be existent, so that there would be another eternal existent alongside Allah,” he may be told: The existence of an eternal attribute is not impossible for Allah, as those who affirm the divine attributes agree; alternatively, we do not concede that it is impossible. Spatial extent—the spatial region included in what is denoted by the entity occupying it and inseparable from it—is even more intrinsic to it than its essential attributes. For an existent that occupies a spatial region cannot be the very entity it is without the spatial region constituted by its encompassing sides. What cannot exist eternally alongside Allah is something separate from Him. The eternal thing in question, however, is included in what is denoted by Him, not external to Him.

As for his statement in the third argument, “If it is permissible to claim that something must necessarily be situated in a particular direction, it is permissible to claim that some bodies must necessarily occupy a particular spatial region; in that case, it would not be possible to sustain