from being a composite, corporeal entity assembled by someone, or from being susceptible to division and separation. His name al-Samad rules this out in His case. As for what some call composition—namely, the presence of qualities that are distinct in themselves—this is indispensable to everything that exists. Denying it therefore amounts to denying existence and the Necessary Existent. Thus His name al-Samad entails affirming this sense of combination, while excluding that sense of composition and corporeality which must be denied of Him.

The truth of this surah’s meaning is therefore known through sound reason. Had we not already set out the basis of this discussion when presenting the rational proofs, we would have elaborated on it here. We have also treated it at length in the Response to the Egyptian Objections.

The eighteenth point: his statement, “This expression must therefore be understood figuratively, because a body of this nature is free from separation and distinctness from anything else, and He—glorified and exalted be He—is necessarily