to attain its perfections. If that is so, this analogy entails that Allah needs the world just as the world needs Him. This is among the most abhorrent forms of disbelief and likening Allah to His creation. For if comparison is admissible, it is admissible only with respect to attributes of perfection, whereas this likens Allah to His creation in attributes of deficiency.

Furthermore, the soul remains apart from the body for as long as Allah wills. According to the proponents of philosophy, its separation from the body lasts longer than its association with it, since they hold that it never reunites with the body after separating from it. This would entail that Allah’s withdrawal from governing the world lasts many, many times longer than His governance of it—assuming this analogy to be valid.

The eighteenth point: Allah is the Lord of the entire world, its Creator and Originator