And the second argument is that He would have to increase as places increased through further creation, and decrease as they decreased through reduction. This applies to those among them who say that He is in every place without extending beyond the world: as places increased, He would necessarily increase, and as they decreased, He would necessarily decrease.

The third argument is that this would require calling upon Him and directing one’s entreaties to Him downward, to the right, and to the left. This contradicts the consensus of the Muslims, for one’s entreaties are directed to Him Himself, wherever He is. Thus, if He were on earth just as He is above the Throne, entreating Him here would be like entreating Him there.

Before him, al-Ashʿarī had invoked this same principle of divine transcendence in his well-known book al-Ibāna, citing His transcendence above being established over filth as grounds for