But these philosophers should be told:

There is no doubt that both you and these speculative theologians contradict what the divine scriptures declare, just as you contradict the plain dictates of reason. Whoever agrees with a wrongdoer in his wrongdoing deserves to be told:

“Today, since you have done wrong, it will not benefit you that you share in the punishment.” [al-Zukhruf: 39]

You yourself have acknowledged that the divine accounts declare that the form of the universe—that is, the form of the heavens and the earth—came into existence.

As for your statement:

“The apparent meaning of revelation is that existence itself and time extend continuously in both directions,”

nothing in the Quran apparently indicates that any existence other than Allah’s, or any time existing outside Him, exists alongside Him. What you have cited indicates only that the Throne existed before the heavens. This is true, but it does not indicate that the Throne’s existence is beginningless. Its creation is mentioned in the hadiths, such as the forthcoming hadith of Abū Razīn, alongside the Quran’s statements that He is the Lord of the Throne and other such descriptions.

Likewise, its mention of a time preceding this time, which is tied to the motion of the celestial sphere, does not indicate that the earlier time is eternal and beginningless, coexisting with Allah Most High. Nor does its mention of matter from which the heavens and the earth were created imply that this matter is eternal and beginningless. This is in addition to the Quran’s description of Him as “the Creator of all things” [al-Zumar: 62] in more than one passage, and “the Lord of all things” [al-An‘ām: 164].