the acts of His servants and everything other than their acts. Most of the Muʿtazilites say that a servant’s acts are not within His power.

(The fourth question:

This also includes His own acts. The revealed texts affirm both, as in His words, Exalted is He:

“Is not He who created the heavens and the earth able to create their like?”

“Is He not able to give life to the dead?”

“Yes, We are able even to restore his fingertips.”

There are many similar passages. Power over concrete entities is mentioned in passages such as His words:

“And We have certainly created man.”

“Does he think that no one will have power over him?”

It is also explicitly affirmed in the Quran and Sunnah. As for the Quran, He says:

“Even if We take you away, We will certainly exact retribution from them.”

He thus makes clear that He, glorified is He, has power over them themselves. This explicitly affirms His power over created entities. He also says:

“You are not set over them to compel them.”

And:

“You are not set over them as a controller.”

There are other similar passages. By implication, these indicate that the Lord is the One who compels them and exercises control over them, which necessarily entails His power over them. His words:

“And he thought that We would have no power over him”

—according to the interpretation of al-Hasan and others among the early generations who understood this as referring to power—are evidence that Allah has power over him and others like him. Similarly, there is the account of the man who left instructions to his family:

“‘If Allah has power over me, He will surely punish me as He has never punished anyone in all creation.’ When they had burned him, Allah, Exalted is He, restored him and asked him, ‘What prompted you to do what you did?’ He replied, ‘Fear of You, my Lord.’ So He forgave him.”

He was mistaken in saying, “If Allah has power over me, He will surely punish me,” as the hadith indicates, and Allah