over the world would, if it were by a finite duration, entail that the Creator came into existence; if by a duration with no beginning, it would entail that duration is eternal. By this reasoning, they concluded that duration and time are eternal.”

We say:

The substance of this argument is that those who liken Allah to creation claimed that the Creator’s separation from the world can only be conceived in terms of spatial direction. From this they concluded that God is in a spatial direction.

The eternalists claimed that the Creator’s precedence over the world can only be conceived in terms of time. From this they concluded that duration is eternal.

Once this is established, we say:

The judgments of the imagination are either admissible concerning Allah Most High or inadmissible. If they are admissible, those who liken Allah to creation must accept the eternalists’ position: that the Creator precedes the world by an infinite duration. They must therefore affirm that time has no beginning, yet they do not affirm this. Likewise, the eternalists must accept the position of those who liken Allah to creation: that the Creator, exalted is He, is spatially separate from the world—yet they do not affirm this. Thus, this contradiction applies to both groups.