and this becomes clear through the second argument: what you have mentioned applies to all things above—the Throne, the Kursī (Seat), the seven heavens, and what they contain of Paradise, angels, celestial bodies, the sun and moon, winds, and other things. These bodies are spherical, as you have mentioned, and it is known that they are truly above the earth. Yet, according to what you have stated, these things would always be beneath some people just as they are above others. They would thus be described as beneath some people in a hypothetical, relative sense, even though their real, established position is above. They are also above in an actual relative sense, rather than a hypothetical relative sense.

If that is so, and if the absurdity to which it leads is no greater than—or is less than—that involved here, then there is nothing objectionable in it. The point is that Allah is above the heavens, and this holds true on every supposition.

This becomes clear through the third argument: what you have mentioned in this respect is not denied. Just as it is known through calculation and reason, it is also established by the Book and the Sunnah. Allah Most High says:

“He is the First and the Last, the Most High and the Most Near.” [al-Hadīd 3]

Muslim also narrated in his Sahīh, on the authority of Abū