this; at other times, they make statements that entail denial and the negation of His attributes. Thus, those among them who deny worship nothing, while those who affirm worship everything. It is also said: Since nothing exists except the Creator and creation, the Creator is separate from creation.

If someone says, “He is in a direction,” or, “He is not in a direction,” he is asked: “Does ‘direction’ refer to something existent or nonexistent?” If it is something existent, then—since nothing exists except the Creator and creation, and the Creator is separate from creation—the Lord is not within an existent, created direction. If direction is something nonexistent, in that what lies beyond the world is called a direction, then if the Creator is separate from the world, and what lies beyond the world is called a direction without being something existent, Allah would be in a nonexistent direction in this sense.

Yet there is no difference between saying, “He is within something nonexistent,” and saying, “He is not within anything other than Himself,” for all rational people agree that what is nonexistent is not a thing.

There is no doubt that by the word “direction” they sometimes mean something existent and sometimes something nonexistent. Indeed, a single speaker may combine both meanings in his discourse. Once the ambiguity is removed, the truth of the matter becomes clear. If someone says, “If He were in a direction, that direction would be coeternal with Him,” he is told: “That would follow if ‘direction’ meant something existent other than Him. Allah is not in a direction in this sense.”

If he says, “If He could be seen, He would be in a direction, and that is impossible,” he is told: “If you mean that He would be in an existent direction, then that is impossible. For something existent can be seen even if it is not within another existent thing. The world, for example, has a surface that can be seen, yet it is not within another world.”

If he says: “I mean that He must be in what is called a direction, even if it is nonexistent; for if He were