but everything said to have risen over something else is above it. What Allah stated occurred after the creation of the heavens and the earth was “rising over,” not elevation as such. It is also possible that He had risen over it before creating the heavens and the earth, when His Throne was upon the water; then, when He created this world, He was above it without having risen over it; then, when He created this world, He rose over it. The fundamental principle is that His elevation above created things is an inseparable attribute of His, just as are His greatness, majesty, and power. As for “rising over,” it is an act that He—glorified and exalted be He—performs by His will and power. Hence His words:

“Then He rose over.”

For this reason, rising over is among the attributes known through revelation and established by transmitted reports. His elevation above created things, however, is regarded by the leading scholars who affirm the divine attributes as one of the attributes known through reason as well as revelation. This is the position adopted by Abū Muhammad ibn Kullāb and others, the later of the two views held by al-Qādī Abū Ya‘lā, and the position of the vast majority of the people of the Sunnah and hadith and the thinkers who affirm the divine attributes.

This matter and others like it have confused many people only because they have come to suppose that the attributes ascribed to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, are of the same kind as those ascribed to their own bodies. They therefore think that this entails combining two opposites, since being above the Throne while descending would be impossible for bodies like theirs. Yet something that helps them understand how this is possible is knowledge of their own souls, their attributes, and their actions: the soul may ascend from a sleeping person to heaven without having left the body. As the Exalted says:

“Allah takes the souls at the time of their death, and those that do not die during their sleep. Then He keeps those for which He has decreed death and releases the others for a specified term.”

Likewise, concerning one who prostrates, it was said by