a thing and its opposite. Yet his words:

“From Him, and to His exalted height, it comes forth and returns,”

contradict the oneness of existence. For what is it that comes forth from Him and returns to Him, if there is only one being?

His words:

“I am nothing in the fabric of the cosmos,
For I am like a shifting shadow,”

also contradict the oneness of existence, because a shadow is distinct from that which casts it. Thus, likening the created being to a shadow necessarily entails affirming two distinct beings. The same applies to likening it to a ray of light: the sun’s rays are not the sun’s disk itself. Likewise, this applies to likening it to the light of a lamp or anything similar. Christians use these comparisons to illustrate divine indwelling and union.

(I said to one of them who was present with me and spoke along these lines: “If you liken the created being to the rays of the sun and fire, and the Creator to fire and the sun, then this comparison makes no distinction between Christ and anyone else. On this view, everything other than Allah is comparable to rays and light. What, then, distinguishes Christ from Abraham and Moses? Indeed, on this view, what distinguishes him from any other created being?”

I kept repeating this argument to him, with a group of people present, until he understood it thoroughly. It became clear to him and those present that their claim was false and had no basis in reality, and that what they affirmed concerning Christ was either impossible for anyone or shared by Christ and others. In either case, singling Christ out in this way was invalid.

(I also explained to him) that there was no miraculous sign brought by Christ for which Moses had not brought a greater one.