as in His saying:

“They have no knowledge of it except the following of conjecture.”

Such an exception does not indicate inclusion. If the intended meaning were, “Everything nonexistent, except Allah, is vain,” it would follow that the Real, Most High, is nonexistent. This is the most utterly false of claims.

Second: “Everything” explicitly includes existing things; by common agreement, it cannot be restricted to nonexistent things.

Third: According to the people of the Sunnah and rational people generally, what is nonexistent does not fall within the expression “everything,” let alone constitute its exclusive meaning.

Fourth: If the meaning were, “Everything nonexistent is vain,” this would be a mere tautology. Indeed, the word “nonexistence” indicates negation more clearly than the word “vain.” How, then, could what is clear be explained by what is obscure?

Fifth: Had he intended this, he would have said, “Everything other than Allah is vain.” This wording would more readily admit the meaning intended by these heretics than the actual wording does, although even that expression does not indicate their intended meaning.

Since the hadith does not mean what they claim, it is now clear that everything other than Allah is vain in the two senses of vanity explained earlier.

The first concerns a beneficial object of pursuit. What is vain is that which brings no benefit when pursued. Anything other than Allah—if intentions and deeds are directed towards it—is vain, and the command to do so