simply joining them together, thereby increasing their size, makes them different in essential nature; or it is said that they were alike in essential nature but became different in essential nature through being separated.

The second response is to say: There is no doubt that this argument amounts to saying that, if He were upon the Throne, He would be an immense body, and that, if He were a body, it would necessarily be possible for Him to come apart. It has already been explained that, among those who affirm that He is upon the Throne, some reject the first premise and others reject the second.

Furthermore, Allah Most High has declared in His Book that He is al-Samad. The early generations—the Companions, the Successors, and others—generally said that al-Samad is the One Who has no hollow interior. They used other similar expressions indicating that its meaning is that He does not come apart. The Arabic language also supports this, for the word al-Samad conveys gathering and joining together, as in the expression samadtu al-māl, meaning “I gathered the wealth together.” Some of the most accomplished practitioners of speculative theology, and others, have said that