a thing in external reality. An example is His saying:
“His command, when He wills a thing, is only to say to it, ‘Be,’ and it is.”
The word “thing” in the verse encompasses both senses. Thus, He has power over every thing that exists and everything the mind conceives as existing, provided that its existence is conceivable. Nothing is excluded from this, nor is anything added to it. As He, the Exalted, says:
“Yes, We are able even to restore his fingertips.”
And He says:
“Say: He has power to send punishment upon you from above you or from beneath your feet.”
It is established in the two Sahīh collections that when this was revealed, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “I seek refuge in Your Face.” When the words “or divide you into factions” were revealed, continuing the verse, he said, “These two are less severe.” Thus, He has power over the first two, even though He has not brought them about. He also says:
“And We sent down water from the sky in due measure and settled it in the earth, and We are certainly able to take it away.”
The Quran commentators said: We are certainly able to take it away, so that you die of thirst, your livestock perish, and your lands fall into ruin.
It is well known that He has not taken it away. This is like His saying:
“Have you considered the water that you drink?”
through to His saying:
“And do you repay your provision with denial?”
This shows that He has power to do what He does not do. For He has stated that, had He willed, He would have made the water bitterly salty, yet He has not done so. Similar examples are:
“Had We willed, We would have given every soul its guidance.”
“Had your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed.”
“Had Allah willed, they would not have fought one another.”
In more than one passage, He has stated that, had He willed, He would have done things that He has not done. If He did not have power over them, then even if He willed them, He could not do them.
The third question:
He has power over all things, and this includes