The third form of comparison is this: if we compare the superior members of each kind, then those next in rank with their counterparts in the other kind, which of the two groups is superior?

On the view that righteous human beings are superior, one may say: there is no doubt that the lower-ranking angels are superior to many human beings, while the superior human beings are superior to the superior angels. Yet the difference between “the superior members of the two groups” is greater; as for the difference between “their lower-ranking members,” this is unknown. Allah knows His creation best.

The fourth form is to ask: is the essence of an angel and angelic nature superior, or the essence of a human being and human nature?

This is comparable to our knowing that a living being, insofar as it is alive, is superior to a dead one; that strength and knowledge, considered as such, are superior to weakness and ignorance; that the male essence is superior to the female essence; and that the essence of a horse is superior to that of a donkey. Yet within the inferior kind there may be individuals better than many individuals of the superior kind: as with a donkey, a mouse, and an infirm horse; a righteous woman compared with a wicked man; and a strong, wicked man compared with a weak, infirm one.

The reason this classification is confined to these forms is that anything may be considered in particular, in general, or without qualification. Many important questions receive conflicting scholarly answers, and opinions concerning them become confused, because distinctions and distinctions of superiority are not made.

Thus, if you say: a human being