the imams of the Muslims and all the people of the Sunnah and the community agree: knowledge that He is above the world is innate and rational, whereas knowledge of His rising over the Throne comes through revelation and the revealed Law. This is also the position of the leading theologians who affirm the divine attributes, such as Abū Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn Sa‘īd ibn Kullāb, Abū al-‘Abbās al-Qalānisī, and others. What we have seen of al-Ash‘arī’s writings likewise indicates this. Although Ibn Fūrak presented this as a point of disagreement between him and Ibn Kullāb, we have already demonstrated his error in this regard.

The point is that His being above creation is known through reason, while His rising over the Throne is known through revelation. For Allah conveyed through the messengers—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon them—matters beyond the grasp of reason, even though this belongs to the recognized truths that can be known