of creation, and than His speech which they recite.

Imam Ahmad then answered their argument, saying:

“As for the meaning of His words, blessed and exalted is He, ‘And He is Allah in the heavens and on the earth’ [al-An'ām 3], this means that He is the God of those in the heavens and the God of those on earth. He is upon the Throne, and His knowledge encompasses everything below the Throne. No place is beyond Allah’s knowledge, nor is His knowledge confined to one place rather than another. Likewise, He, exalted is He, says: ‘So that you may know that Allah has power over all things, and that Allah encompasses all things in knowledge.’ {12} [al-Talāq 12]”

Imam Ahmad then presented a rational argument by analogy to demonstrate that this is possible, employing a fortiori reasoning. He said:

“To illustrate this: if a man held in his hand a cup of clear glass with something in it, his sight would encompass the cup without his being inside it. Thus Allah, glorified is He—to whom belongs the highest example—encompasses all His creation