He should therefore be asked: What grounds have you for denying that Allah’s Throne is a body that He created and commanded His angels to carry? He said:

“And eight will bear the Throne of your Lord above them that Day.” {17}
[al-Hāqqah 17]

And Umayya says:

“Glorify Allah, for He is worthy of glory;
our Lord is great in heaven,
in the loftiest edifice—He who preceded mankind
and fashioned a throne above heaven.”

He said: Further evidence that rising above here does not mean taking control is that, if it did, the Throne should not have been singled out for His taking control of it rather than the rest of His creation. He has control over both the Throne and all His creation; on your account, the Throne has no distinction. This demonstrates the falsity of his claim.

He should also be told that rising above does not mean taking control in the sense conveyed by the Arabs’ expression, “So-and-so rose over such-and-such,” meaning that he took control of it: that is, he gained mastery over it after previously lacking it. Since the Creator cannot be described as acquiring mastery after