As for his statement, “No ‘above’ overshadows Him, no ‘below’ bears Him up, no boundary faces Him, no ‘beside’ crowds Him, no ‘behind’ encompasses Him, and no ‘in front’ bounds Him. No ‘before’ brought Him forth, no ‘after’ caused Him to perish, no ‘whole’ encompassed Him, no ‘was’ brought Him into existence, and no ‘is not’ deprived Him of existence”—most of this language is ambiguous: some of it is true and some is false.

His statement, “No ‘above’ overshadows Him,” is true, since its apparent meaning is that nothing is above Allah. Likewise, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said in the authentic hadith:

“You are the First, and nothing is before You; You are the Last, and nothing is after You; You are the Outward, and nothing is above You; You are the Inward, and nothing is beneath You.”

As for his statement, “No ‘below’ bears Him up,” if he means that Allah is not above creation, this is not true. When the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “You are the Outward, and nothing is above You,” he did not say, “You are not above anything.” Rather, he said, “You are the Inward, and nothing is beneath You.” He did not say, “You have no ‘below’,” nor did he say, “You are not described