nor does it take them beyond what befits Him, for protective jealousy is aversion to something, and such aversion may be ascribed to Him. Allah Most High says:

‘But Allah disliked their setting out, so He held them back.’ [al-Tawbah 46]”

He said: “As for the term ‘person,’ I have seen some hadith scholars hold that it may be applied to Him. The justification is that His words ‘No person’ express a negation that presupposes an affirmation, which implies a shared category. Thus, saying ‘No man is more generous than Zayd’ implies that the term ‘man’ applies to Zayd. Likewise, saying ‘No person has greater protective jealousy than Allah’ implies that this term applies to Him.”

He said: “Abū al-Hasan al-Dāraqutnī included in his Kitāb al-Ru'ya (The Vision) evidence supporting this view. He cited the previously mentioned hadith of Laqīt ibn 'Āmir and his question to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace): ‘How, when we fill the earth and He is one person?’ The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) approved what he said.”

He said: “Ahmad cited this hadith in the first part of the Musnad of the Kufans, and 'Abd Allāh said: