and predominant; this may vary from person to person and according to their circumstances.

The thirteenth proof (1)—an inquiry that reveals the true nature of the issue—is as follows:

When comparing two things in respect of superiority, one must first identify the excellence in question, then consider which of them possesses the greater claim to it. Moreover, we are speaking only of the superiority of righteous human beings once they have attained perfection and reached their ultimate goal and fullest development. This occurs only when they enter Paradise, attain nearness to Allah, dwell in the highest ranks, and are greeted by the Most Merciful, who grants them special nearness to Himself and reveals Himself to them. They delight in gazing upon His noble Face, while the angels attend to their service by their Lord’s permission. Whoever investigates this matter should consider this carefully. Most of those who have erred, when comparing the two kinds of beings, have viewed the angels in their completeness and perfection, while viewing human beings in this lowly, troubled life, which is not worth a mosquito’s wing in Allah’s sight. This is not a fair comparison.

I therefore say: the superiority of one being over another lies only in its nearness to Allah, exalted is He, and in the greater distinction of His choosing and the grace of His selecting us, even though we do not comprehend the reality of this.

This is the general account. Superiority is also assessed according to qualities that are, in themselves, pure report and unalloyed perfection, such as life, knowledge, power, purity, cleanliness, wholesomeness, and freedom from deficiencies and faults. We shall therefore discuss these two forms of excellence:

(As for the first: Allah, exalted is He, created the Garden of Eden and planted it with His Hand, and He has not disclosed