that neither was distinguished from the other by knowledge and power as such, but rather by particular knowledge and particular power. Moreover, those among Ahl al-Sunnah who say that the prophets and Allah’s righteous servants are superior to the angels do not say that they were created with the perfection by which they surpass the angels. Rather, they say that Allah brings them from one state to another until, at their final stage, they are superior to the angels at theirs. Thus, all groups agree that Adam was not created with a degree of knowledge and power that distinguished him from all other individual beings and bodies. Indeed, among individual beings and bodies were those whose distinction from Adam in knowledge and power was even greater.

The third point is this: sharing certain attributes and remote concomitants either justifies saying, “Allah created the being possessing those attributes in Allah’s image,” or it does not. If it does not, then your claim is invalid that Adam’s being created with these attributes—which you have classified as some of the concomitants—justifies the statement, “Allah created Adam in