first, that His essence is such that it cannot be conceived as having a cavity, nor can it be conceived as being subject to division, combination, connection, or separation; second, that division and separation are impossible for it.

If, then, your figurative interpretation of this noble Name commits you to the same implications as its literal meaning—the meaning given by the Companions and the Successors, which is literal in Arabic—then abandoning the latter for the former, venturing into all manner of pitfalls for no benefit whatsoever, makes you like someone who crosses seas, trackless wastes, and barren deserts for trade, only to sell his gold for gold of the same weight and quality, or for something inferior. Or you are like someone who seeks refuge from the scorching ground in a fire. It is well known that this is not the conduct of people of reason and faith, quite apart from the lies and fabrications against the Lord of the worlds that it involves.

The nineteenth point further clarifies this: there is no difference between someone saying, “Al-Samad is the One into whom nothing else enters and from whom nothing else emerges,” and saying: