and special privilege the like of which He did not accord Iblīs, through His saying, Most High:

“what I created with My two hands” [Sād: 75].

This indicates, in two ways, that what is meant here is the attribute we have mentioned.

First: according to our opponent, Iblīs was created by the same power and blessing by which Adam was created. Had Adam not differed from Iblīs in this respect, these words would not have established any superiority. They were spoken in a context that called for establishing superiority; if the two were alike in the means of their creation, Allah’s argument against Iblīs on this point would not have been established. This would not have escaped Iblīs, who could have said: “You created me by the same means by which You created Adam. What superiority over me, then, does he possess by virtue of what You have mentioned?” Any position that entails Allah’s inability to establish His argument, and removes the distinction between two things in the very respect in which He intended to distinguish them, is false and impossible.

Second: He ascribed creation—which is an act—to His hand, glory be to Him. Whenever an act is ascribed to a hand, it can only be ascribed to that which is specifically associated with the act. That can only be the hand we have mentioned. This is clear and evident.

As another proof, we say: there is no doubt that departing from the literal and ordinarily apparent meaning of a statement in favour of a figurative meaning can only be justified by one of three things.

First: an impediment to the literal meaning arises that prevents it from being applied