and this entails that physically pointing upward toward Him is valid, which is what was to be established.

The thirty-first argument: It may be said that the substance of what you have stated is this: Since people have never observed a living being possessed of knowledge and power except as a body, they readily came to believe that, when they invoke a living being possessed of power and knowledge, that being is a body. It follows that He is in a place. Since being above is nobler than being elsewhere, the supplicant readily assumes that the One whose greatness he acknowledges, if He is in a direction, must be above.

In short, this means that the various nations, earlier and later, who unanimously raise their hands to Allah in supplication, have done so only because they believe that Allah is a body. The basis for this belief is that they have never witnessed a living being possessed of knowledge and power except as a body, so they have believed the same of the One they invoke. They have affirmed a place for Him, since a body must occupy space, and have specifically placed Him above because that is nobler. Thus, the substance of this is an account of the basis on which worshippers raise their hands.

It may therefore be said to him: Either this is their basis or it is not. If it is not their basis, this response is invalid and the argument stands. It is then established that they raise their hands to Allah only because they know immediately, without inference, that the One whom they ask to fulfil their needs and ease their difficulties is in that direction.

If, however, this is their basis, then he has reported that the nations who raise their hands in supplication agree that Allah is a body, since they have never witnessed anything existent except as a body. In that case, this is an even stronger argument against him. For the nations who agree